"By tradition, the head of one Orthodox Church visits the territories of others as they are listed in the diptych. The diptych currently has 15 Church jurisdictions: the Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Russian, Georgian, Serb, Romanian, Bulgarian, Cypriot, Greek, Albanian and Polish Orthodox churches, the Orthodox Church in the Czech Lands and Slovakia, and the Orthodox Church in America."
If this is true, then why did Metropolitan Jonah of OCA visit Moscow first? Was that merely caused by conflicting schedules, or was it a statement about Moscow's place in the diptychs?
It is an agency news article, not ecclesiological essay. It can be wrong or it's only MP tradition. My Church's Primate visits the others but not right after enthronement and not in the order in dyptychs.
Speaking of Mother Churches: aside from OCA, the Polish Orthodox Church would be considered as a daughter Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, right? It got its first thomos of autocephaly from Constantinople in 1924 but I understand that Moscow denounced this thomos and issued its own in the 1950's.
Actually in 1948.
The Orthodox in Poland prior to XVIIth (1685 or something like that) century were under the jurisdiction under the Metropolitanate of Kiev - an autonomous Church under the EP. Then it was annexed by MP due to political reasons. In 1924 it was granted an autocephaly by EP. During the WWII it was under ROCOR Bishop Seraphim of Berlin. In 1948 CoP due to political reasons it abandoned the EP's thomos and was greeted the MP's thomos.
And what is Georgia's Mother Church?
It depends on what you call a Mother Church;
- the Church which first preached Christian faith on the area
- the Church which first had the jurisdiction over the area
- the Church which had the jurisdiction over the area right after the Church became autocephalous
- the Church which first granted the autocephaly
Between 320 to 466 Georgians were under AP. In 466 CoG became autocephalous. In 1811 it was annexed by the MP. In 1917 it declared itself an autocephalous again what was confirmed by the MP in 1943.
The Orthodox Church of Czech and Slovak Lands would be a daughter Church of Serbia, although it got its first thomos of autocephaly from Moscow and only later from Constantinople. Is this correct?
Prior to 20th century the Orthodox in area of Czech Republic and Slovakia were under the Churches of Serbia or Romania but almost all of them became U-banned-word. In 1921 the Catholic Priest was ordained to the Bishop by CoS. A few years after there was a schism and some of the Orthodox went to the EP. During the WWII they went to Russians which eventually gave them autocephaly which was given also by the EP almost 50 years later.
