Our status as a “Particular Church” under the The Roman Catholic Church’s Statement on the validity of our Autocephalous Catholic Tradition by (then) Pope Benedict XVI:

The declaration on the unity and salvific universality of Jesus Christ and the Church, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (now BXVI), then prefect of the Roman Catholic Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith stated:

“Therefore, there exists a single Church of Christ, which subsists in the Catholic Church, governed by the Successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him. The Churches which, while not existing in perfect communion with the Catholic Church, remain united to her by means of the closest bonds, that is, by apostolic succession and a valid Eucharist, are true particular Churches. Therefore, the Church of Christ is present and operative also in these Churches, even though they lack full communion with the Catholic Church, since they do not accept the Catholic doctrine of the Primacy, which, according to the will of God, the Bishop of Rome objectively has and exercises over the entire Church.”