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I just stumbled over this article, and it is not immediately clear to me from the hatnote above the lead section or from the lead section what the article is about. Is it about religious organizations which consider themselves to be"'national churches' in the ethnic sense" (quoting the hatnote) of some particular ethnic group or of some particular nation, about churches which are considered to be such by consensus of members of a particular ethnic group, by governmental dictate within a nation-state, or by some other measure?

I see that the article contains a table of countries in which it is asserted without support that thePhilippine Independent Church is the "National church" (within the meaning of of that term this article) of thePhilippines. The Philippine population is Catholic by a very large majority (probably something over 80% -- see theReligion in the Philippines article). In that particular case it seems to me as if that assertion re the designation of a national church (within the meaning of that term in this article -- whatever that might be) for the Philippines needs review.Wtmitchell(talk)(earlierBoracay Bill)23:14, 6 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I agree that the article is problematic. The table raisesWP:SYN alarm bells -- each row is supported by a quote from a separate book. There is no guarantee that any one author cited had the same definition of "national church" as any of the others (or the same definition as the Wikipedia article, whatever that might be). In addition, there is no distinction between current and former status. I think the table format should really be abandoned as misleading; churches with state recognition as "national churches" could be discussed understate church, as is already done for theChurch of Scotland. Churches which describe themselves as "the national church of X" are more problematic. In many cases it may be mere wishful thinking; even more credible cases may be controversial or contested by those who identify with the nation but not the church. What about the "national" Christian church in a majority non-Christian nation?Category:National churches is similarly problematic.jnestorius^(talk)17:13, 28 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

FWIW, here is one (very POV) source which offers two alternative definitions:^[1]

What is meant by the phrase National Church? If it means confined to, and comprehended by, the nation, and governed solely and exclusively by the authority of the nation, ... the National Churchof England didbegin with Henry VIII. If it means that part of the Church which ... includes the people of a single nation, and has the lower and subordinate parts of its organization within the limits of a single nation, partaking of the spirit and characteristics and acknowledging the authority of that nation, then we may speak of it as a National Church [fromAugustine of Canterbury].

jnestorius^(talk)14:52, 30 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

would be nice to have more sources about the National church, I don't know about this term, but I would like to add more source only if I can get more information about this topic.AlfaRocket (talk)14:05, 14 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Editor2020, in Ukraine there are two national churches both Catholic and Orthodox. There is no separate nation like "Western Ukraine". Both Greek Catholic and Orthodox church have jurisdictions across whole Ukraine and represent whole Ukraine.Aleksandr Grigoryev (talk)05:21, 6 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

OK.Western Ukraine.Editor2020 (talk)23:04, 6 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I don't see how the Roman Catholic Church being the majority religion in a nation suddenly makes her their national church. The Roman Catholic structure is dilberately supranational and is supposed to be independent from national concerns. After all, "Catholic" comes from the Greek word for universal, with Rome merely referencing the city where the Pope lives and works. Considering this, Malta should probably be removed.Holden3172 (talk)20:22, 27 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

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