Editing Autocephaly (section)

===Modern-era historical precedents===
Following the [[London Conference of 1832|establishment]] of an [[Kingdom of Greece|independent Greece]] in 1832, the Greek government in 1833 unilaterally proclaimed the Orthodox church in the kingdom (until then within the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate) to be autocephalous; but it was not until June 1850 that the mother church (i.e. the Ecumenical Patriarchate), under the Patriarch [[Anthimus IV of Constantinople|Anthimus IV]], [[Tomos dated June 29, 1850|recognized this status]].{{sfn|Karagiannēs|1997|p=24}}

In May 1872, the [[Bulgarian Exarchate]], set up by the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] government two years prior, broke away from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, following the [[Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee|start of the people's struggle]] for national self-determination. The [[Bulgarian Orthodox Church|Bulgarian Church]] was recognized in 1945 as an autocephalous patriarchate, following the end of World War II and after decades of schism. By that time, Bulgaria was ruled by the Communist party and was behind the "[[Iron Curtain]]" of the [[Soviet Union]].

Following the [[Congress of Berlin]] (1878), which established [[Principality of Serbia|Serbia]]'s political independence, full ecclesiastical independence for the [[Metropolitanate of Belgrade]] was negotiated and recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1879. Additionally, in the course of the [[Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire|1848 revolution]], following the proclamation of the [[Serbian Vojvodina]] (''Serbian Duchy'') within the [[Austrian Empire]] in May 1848, the autocephalous [[Patriarchate of Karlovci]] was instituted by the Austrian government. It was abolished in 1920, shortly after the dissolution of [[Austria-Hungary]] in 1918 following [[World War I|the Great War]]. Vojvodina was then incorporated into the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes]]. The Patriarchate of Karlovci was merged into the newly united [[Serbian Orthodox Church]] under Patriarch [[Dimitrije, Serbian Patriarch|Dimitrije]] residing in [[Belgrade]], the capital of the new country that comprised all the Serb-populated lands.

The autocephalous status of the [[Romanian Orthodox Church|Romanian Church]], legally mandated by the local authorities in 1865, was recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1885, following the [[Treaty of Berlin (1878)|international recognition]] of the independence of the [[United Principalities|United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia]] (later [[Kingdom of Romania]]) in 1878.{{sfn|Hitchins|1994|p=92}}

In late March 1917, following the [[February Revolution|abdication]] of the Russian tsar [[Nicholas II]] earlier that month and the establishment of the [[Special Transcaucasian Committee]], the bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church in [[Georgia within the Russian Empire|Georgia, then within the Russian Empire]], unilaterally proclaimed independence of the [[Georgian Orthodox Church]]. This was not recognized by the Moscow Patriarchate until 1943, nor by the Ecumenical Patriarchate until 1990.{{sfnm |1a1=Grdzelidze |1y=2010 |1p=172 |2a1=Grdzelidze |2y=2012 |2p=61}}<ref>{{cite news |date=15 March 2017 |title=Автокефалия на волне революции: Грузинское православие в орбите Российской церкви |url=http://www.ng.ru/ng_religii/2017-03-15/15_417_georgia.html |language=ru |work=Nezavisimaya Gazeta}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Αἱ λοιπαί Αὐτοκέφαλοι Ἐκκλησίαι: Ἐκκλησία τῆς Γεωργίας |url=https://www.patriarchate.org/-/ekklesia-tes-georgias |trans-title=Other Autocephalous Churches: Church of Georgia |language=el |location=Istanbul |publisher=Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople |access-date=15 January 2019}}</ref>

In September 1922, [[Orthodoxy in Albania|Albanian Orthodox]] clergy and laymen proclaimed autocephaly of the [[Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania|Church of Albania]] at the [[Orthodox Congress (Albania)|Great Congress]] in [[Berat]]. The church was recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople in 1937.

The independent [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate|Kyiv Patriarchate]] was proclaimed in 1992, shortly after the [[Declaration of Independence of Ukraine|proclamation of independence]] of [[Ukraine]] and the [[dissolution of the USSR]] in 1991. The Moscow Patriarchate has condemned it as schismatic, as it [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)|claims jurisdiction over Ukraine]]. Some Orthodox churches have not yet recognized Ukraine as autocephalous. [[2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism|In 2018, the problem of autocephaly in Ukraine became a fiercely contested issue]] and a part of the overall [[Russia–Ukraine relations#Euromaidan and aftermath|geopolitical confrontation]] between Russia and Ukraine, as well as between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.<ref>{{cite web |date=1 July 2018 |title=Ecumenical Patriarch Takes Moscow Down a Peg over Church Relations with Ukraine |url=https://en.lb.ua/news/2018/07/01/6246_ecumenical_patriarch_takes_moscow.html |website=LB.ua |location=Kiev |publisher=Gorshenin Institute |access-date=15 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |date=2 July 2018 |title=Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew: 'As the Mother Church, It Is Reasonable to Desire the Restoration of Unity for the Divided Ecclesiastical Body in Ukraine' |url=https://www.patriarchate.org/news-archives/-/asset_publisher/N2gTPQxXwPlE/content/oikoumenikos-patriarches-einai-logikon-na-epithymomen-os-meter-ekklesia-ten-apokatastasin-tes-enotetos-tou-en-oukrania-dieremenou-ekklesiastikou-somat?_101_INSTANCE_N2gTPQxXwPlE_languageId=en_US |location=Istanbul |publisher=Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople |access-date=15 January 2019}}</ref><ref name="bloombergclergy">{{cite web |last=Satter |first=Raphael |date=27 August 2018 |title=Russian Cyberspies Spent Years Targeting Orthodox Clergy |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-27/unholy-hackers-orthodox-clergy-targeted-by-russian-spies |work=Bloomberg News |agency=Associated Press |access-date=15 January 2019}}</ref>