ABSTRACT
The principle of bringing the gospel and the liturgy to each people in its own language led to the establishment of numerous national churches, each one restricted to the nationality in question. Alongside the old independent patriarchal churches of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem there a number of old national churches such as the Catholicate of Georgia and the Church of Cyprus. The development of Orthodoxy in all the various nation-states was characterized by a close relationship between Church and state. The numerous Orthodox churches in exile owe their particular character to the special conditions under which each specific group went into exile. Each of the national churches had its independent supreme head. The splintering-off of the old so-called "schismatic" churches was brought about by both political and dogmatic causes. The manner in which these emigrant churches were linked with their home churches was again highly individual.
