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The article presents a study of the history of the Eastern Orthodox Church focusing on the changes it went through politically and theologically as national Orthodox Churches gained independence in many of the Slavic countries. The author questions the applicability of the major theological doctrines of the Orthodox Christianity such as the Symphony, the Counciliarity and the Autocephaly in the modern context. Other topics such the Orthodox respect and use of the native language, the relations with the political leaders of the sovereign state are also discussed. Finally an overview of the history Orthodox Church in the Ottoman Empire, the Russian Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire is proposed.

The article discusses the results of the 1887 census effectuated in the Sarajevo Mitropoly (orthodox archbishopric diocese) of Bosnia-Herzegovina soon after the Austro-Hungarian occupation of this area began in 1878. The author argues that the census primarily reflects the Orthodox Church situation under the Muslim Ottoman regime as its most significant data had been in fact collected under the Ottomans when the orthodox church was solely obedient to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, before the Austrians interfered in ecclesiastical affairs allowing for the Patriarchate's spiritual power only. Yet, the data from 1887, mostly of demographic nature, informs us on the political and sociological shift brought about by the new regime and how the Orthodox Church had to adapt to it.