Full communion is the normal relationship among autocephalous and autonomous churches of the Orthodox Church. Clergy may concelebrate and the faithful of those churches may worship and receive the sacraments at each other's parish and monastic communities.
A break in communion is known as schism, and may be brief or prolonged. Usually the term schism is not used except when the break has no definite end in sight. A suspension of concelebration is not the same as a break in communion—faithful and clergy may still receive the sacraments together at each other's altars, but clergy may not celebrate divine services together. When a suspension in concelebration has occurred, the phrase full communion is not typically used to describe those churches' relation with each other. Thus, while the word communion and the phrase full communion generally have the same meaning, the use of just communion may imply an impediment exists such as suspension of concelebration.