After the council of 879/880, the Church in Bulgaria did not return to the jurisdiction of the Church of Rome. Since the decision on that matter belonged exclusively to the emperor, the Bulgarian Church gained autocephaly (independence) in relation to the Patriarchate of Constantinople and received the same status as the Church of Cyprus had enjoyed since 431. Its bishops were given the right to elect their own archbishop, but in everything else the continuity with its previous position was indisputable. The liturgy was still held in Greek, but the coming of Methodius’ disciples from Moravia in 886 brought the introduction of the new Slavic liturgy, which did not change the essence of the Church in Bulgaria, for it remained fully Byzantine.