What Does Autocephalic Mean?

: independent of external and especially patriarchal authority —used especially of Eastern national churches.

Is the Catholic Church autocephalous?

Autocephalous churches are particularly prominent within the Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy. ... Oriental Orthodoxy separated from Chalcedonian Christianity in the fifth century, and is therefore separate from both the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches.

What is the difference between an autonomous and an autocephalous church?

The Armenian Church has two Patriarchates in Jerusalem and Constantinople." Kephale (κεφαλή) means "head" in Greek, whereas nomos (νόμος) means "law"; hence, autocephalous (αὐτοκέφαλος) denotes self-headed, or a "head unto itself", and autonomous denotes "self-legislated".