Editing Autocephaly (section)

{{short description|Eastern Christian hierarchical practice}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=June 2016}}
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'''Autocephaly''' ({{IPAc-en|ɔː|t|ə|ˈ|s|ɛ|f|əl|i}}; {{etymology|el|''αὐτοκεφαλία'' (autokephalia)|self-headed}})<ref>{{cite book |last1=Swedberg |first1=Richard |last2=Agevall |first2=Ola |title=The Max Weber Dictionary: Key Words and Central Concepts |date=2005 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-5095-0 |page=13 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Max_Weber_Dictionary/_c3Mcnh8hCgC?hl=en&gbpv=0 |language=en}}</ref> is the status of a [[hierarchy|hierarchical]] [[Christian church]] whose head [[bishop]] does not report to any higher-ranking bishop.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Patte |first1=Daniel |title=The Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity, Two Volume Set |date=20 November 2019 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-5326-8943-7 |page=89 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Cambridge_Dictionary_of_Christianity/6dXaDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 |language=en}}</ref> The term is primarily used in [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] and [[Oriental Orthodoxy|Oriental Orthodox]] churches. The status has been compared with that of the churches ([[Anglican Communion#Provinces|provinces]]) within the [[Anglican Communion]].{{sfnm |1a1=Avis |1y=2016 |1p=26 |2a1=Gros |2a2=McManus |2a3=Riggs |2y=1998 |2p=176 |3a1=Haselmayer |3y=1948 |3p=8 |4a1=Lawrence |4y=1963 |4p=124}}