The many churches of the Orthodox Church are distinct in terms of administration and local culture , but for the most part exist in full communion with one another , with exceptions such as lack of relations between the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia ( ROCOR ) and the Moscow Patriarchate ( the Orthodox Church of Russia ) dating from the 1920s and due to the subjection of the latter to the hostile Soviet regime . The various autocephalous and autonomous synods of the Orthodox Church are distinct in terms of administration and local culture , but for the most part exist in full communion with one another . The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia ( ROCOR ) has recently united with the Moscow Patriarchate ( MP ) ; these two branches of the Russian Orthodox Church had separated from each other in the 1920s due to the subjection of the latter to the hostile Soviet regime ( see Act of Canonical Communion ) .