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The Serbs migrated to the Balkans during the reign of Byzantine emperor Heraclius (610-641). Unknown to them at the time, the Serbs had settled on both sides of the line of Roman emperor Theodosius I. The region they had settled had for centuries been alternatively under the religious jurisdictions of Rome and Constantinople. The Serbs were converted in several waves of, the last major one taking place between 867 and 874 AD.
Finally, most of the Serbs fell under the authority of the Church of Constantinople and had by 1219 acquired a Church of autocephalous status.
Following the arrival of the Ottomans and mass migrations of Serbs to lands under the CatholicGeneral meaning Catholic means universal or whole''. With respect to the Christian Church, the early Christians used the term to refer to the whole undivided church. It is in that sense that all Christians today claim ownership of the term, including Prot Hapsburgs of AustriaAustria is a landlocked country in Central Europe, a federation of nine states. Austria is bordered by Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the, a portion of the Eastern Orthodox Serbs were uniatized under pressure, that is converted to Roman Catholicism while maintaining the Eastern RiteThe Eastern Rites are the rites used by many of the ancient Christian churches of Eastern Europe and the Middle East that are in the Catholic Communion but do not follow the Latin Rite. The churches that use these rites are called the Eastern Catholic Chu. The descendants of some these Serbs, living mostly in Žumberak are under a separate jurisdiction, the Eparchy of Krizevci.
The Serb Orthodox Church includes eparchies of Orthodox believers in Serbia and Montenegro, Republika Srpska ( Bosnia-Herzegovina), Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Hungary. The SOC also includes vicariates in Romania and Albania in accordance with the Romanian and Albanian churches. The SOC also has jurisdiction over the Serb diaspora in the Americas, Western Europe and Australia. The issue over the Orthodox jurisdiction in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is a subject of debate between the SOC and the Macedonian Orthodox Church which has yet to gain recognition of autonomy from the SOC although it does operate on the territory of the former Yugoslav republic.