Patriarch
The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church, the Church of the East are termed patriarchs. The word is derived from Greek πατριάρχης, meaning "chief or father of a family", a compound of πατριά, meaning "family", ἄρχειν, meaning "to rule". A patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family; the system of such rule of families by senior males is termed patriarchy. A patriarch has been the logical choice to act as ethnarch of the community identified with his religious confession within a state or empire of a different creed; the term developed an ecclesiastical meaning, within the Christian Church. The office and the ecclesiastical circumscription of a Christian patriarch is termed a patriarchate. Abraham and Jacob are referred to as the three patriarchs of the people of Israel, the period during which they lived is termed the Patriarchal Age; the word patriarch acquired its religious meaning in the Septuagint version of the Bible.
In the Catholic Church, the bishop, head of a particular autonomous Church, known in canon law as a Church sui iuris, is ordinarily a patriarch, though this responsibility can be entrusted to a Major Archbishop, Metropolitan, or other prelate for a number of serious reasons. Since the Council of Nicaea, the bishop of Rome has been recognized as the first among patriarchs; that Council designated three bishops with this'supra-Metropolitan' title: Rome and Antioch. In the Pentarchy formulated by Justinian I, the emperor assigned as a patriarchate to the Bishop of Rome the whole of Christianized Europe, except for the region of Thrace, the areas near Constantinople, along the coast of the Black Sea, he included in this patriarchate the western part of North Africa. The jurisdictions of the other patriarchates extended over Roman Asia, the rest of Africa. Justinian's system was given formal ecclesiastical recognition by the Quinisext Council of 692, which the see of Rome has, not recognized. There were at the time bishops of other apostolic sees that operated with patriarchal authority beyond the borders of the Roman Empire, such as the Catholicos of Selucia-Ctesephon.
Today, the patriarchal heads of Catholic autonomous churches are: The Bishop of Rome, as head of the Latin Catholic Church The Armenian Catholic Patriarch of Cilicia and head of the Armenian Catholic Church, formed 1740, recognised 1742 The Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Babylon and head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, formed 1552, recognised 1553 The Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria and head of the Coptic Catholic Church, established 1824 The Maronite Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and all the East and head of the Maronite Catholic Church, established 685 The Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria and of Jerusalem, head of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. However, differences exist in the mode of accession. Whereas the election of a major archbishop has to be confirmed by the pope before he may take office, no papal confirmation is needed for a newly elected patriarch before he takes office. Rather, a newly-installed patriarch is required to petition the pope as soon as possible for the concession of what is called ecclesiastical communion.
Furthermore, patriarchs who are created cardinals form part of the order of cardinal bishops, whereas major archbishops are only created cardinal priests. Titular patriarchs do not have jurisdiction over other Metropolitan bishops; the title is granted purely as an honor for various historical reasons. They take precedence after the heads of autonomous churches in full communion, whether pope, patriarch, or major archbishop; the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, established 1099. The Patriarch of the East Indies a titular patriarchal see, united to Goa and Daman, established 1886; the Patriarch of Lisbon, established 1716. The Patriarch of Venice, established 1451; the Patriarch of Aquileia – with rival line of succession moved to Grado - dissolved in 1752. The Patriarch of Grado – in 1451 merged with the Bishopric of Castello and Venice to form the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Venice; the Patriarch of the West Indies – a titular patriarchal see, vacant since 1963. The Latin Patriarch of Antioch – title abolished in 1964.
The titular Latin Patriarch of Alexandria – title abolished in 1964. The Latin Patriarch of Constantinople – title abolished in 1964; the Latin Patriarchate of Ethiopia – 1555 to 1663, never effective, only held by Iberian Jesuits The pope can confer the rank of Patriarch withou
Vatican City
Vatican City Vatican City State, is an independent city-state enclaved within Rome, Italy. Established with the Lateran Treaty, it is distinct from yet under "full ownership, exclusive dominion, sovereign authority and jurisdiction" of the Holy See. With an area of 44 hectares, a population of about 1,000, it is the smallest state in the world by both area and population; the Vatican City is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state ruled by the pope who is, religiously speaking, the bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church. The highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergy of various national origins. Since the return of the popes from Avignon in 1377, they have resided at the Apostolic Palace within what is now Vatican City, although at times residing instead in the Quirinal Palace in Rome or elsewhere; the Holy See dates back to early Christianity, is the primate episcopal see of the Catholic Church, with 1.3 billion Catholics around the world distributed in the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches.
The independent Vatican City-state, on the other hand, came into existence in 11 February 1929 by the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and Italy, which spoke of it as a new creation, not as a vestige of the much larger Papal States, which had encompassed much of central Italy. Within the Vatican City are religious and cultural sites such as St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums, they feature some of sculptures. The unique economy of Vatican City is supported financially by the sale of postage stamps and souvenirs, fees for admission to museums, sales of publications; the name Vatican City was first used in the Lateran Treaty, signed on 11 February 1929, which established the modern city-state. The name is taken from the geographic location of the state. "Vatican" is derived from the name of an Etruscan settlement, Vatica or Vaticum meaning garden, located in the general area the Romans called vaticanus ager, "Vatican territory". The official Italian name of the city is Città del Vaticano or, more formally, Stato della Città del Vaticano, meaning "Vatican City State".
Although the Holy See and the Catholic Church use Ecclesiastical Latin in official documents, the Vatican City uses Italian. The Latin name is Status Civitatis Vaticanæ; the name "Vatican" was in use in the time of the Roman Republic for a marshy area on the west bank of the Tiber across from the city of Rome. Under the Roman Empire, many villas were constructed there, after Agrippina the Elder drained the area and laid out her gardens in the early 1st century AD. In AD 40, her son, Emperor Caligula built in her gardens a circus for charioteers, completed by Nero, the Circus Gaii et Neronis called the Circus of Nero. Before the arrival of Christianity, it is supposed that this uninhabited part of Rome had long been considered sacred, or at least not available for habitation. A shrine dedicated to the Phrygian goddess Cybele and her consort Attis remained active long after the Constantinian Basilica of St. Peter was built nearby; the low quality of Vatican water after the reclamation of the area, was commented on by the poet Martial.
Tacitus wrote, that in AD 69, the Year of the Four Emperors, when the northern army that brought Vitellius to power arrived in Rome, "a large proportion camped in the unhealthy districts of the Vatican, which resulted in many deaths among the common soldiery. The Vatican Obelisk was taken by Caligula from Heliopolis in Egypt to decorate the spina of his circus and is thus its last visible remnant; this area became the site of martyrdom of many Christians after the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64. Ancient tradition holds. Opposite the circus was a cemetery separated by the Via Cornelia. Funeral monuments and mausoleums and small tombs as well as altars to pagan gods of all kinds of polytheistic religions were constructed lasting until before the construction of the Constantinian Basilica of St. Peter's in the first half of the 4th century. Remains of this ancient necropolis were brought to light sporadically during renovations by various popes throughout the centuries, increasing in frequency during the Renaissance until it was systematically excavated by orders of Pope Pius XII from 1939 to 1941.
The Constantinian basilica was built in 326 over what was believed to be the tomb of Saint Peter, buried in that cemetery. From on, the area became more populated in connection with activity at the basilica. A palace was constructed nearby as early as the 5th century during the pontificate of Pope Symmachus. Popes came to have a secular role as governors of regions near Rome, they ruled the Papal States, which covered a large portion of the Italian peninsula, for more than a thousand years until the mid-19th century, when all the territory belonging to the papacy was seized by the newly created Kingdom of Italy. For most of this time the popes did not live at the Vatican; the Lateran Palace, on the opposite side
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis. The term referred to the bishop of the chief city of a historical Roman province, whose authority in relation to the other bishops of the province was recognized by the First Council of Nicaea; the bishop of the provincial capital, the metropolitan, enjoyed certain rights over other bishops in the province called suffragan bishops. The term is applied in a similar sense to the bishop of the chief episcopal see of an ecclesiastical province; the head of such a metropolitan see has the rank of archbishop and is therefore called the metropolitan archbishop of the ecclesiastical province. Metropolitan bishops preside over synods of the bishops of their ecclesiastical province, are granted special privileges by canon law and tradition. In some churches, such as the Church of Greece, a metropolis is a rank granted to all episcopal sees, their bishops are all called the title of archbishop being reserved for the primate.
See also: Catholic Church hierarchy and Diocesan bishop In the Latin Church, an ecclesiastical province, composed of several neighbouring dioceses, is headed by a metropolitan, the archbishop of the diocese designated by the Pope. The other bishops are known as suffragan bishops; the metropolitan's powers over dioceses other than his own are limited to supervising observance of faith and ecclesiastical discipline and notifying the Supreme Pontiff of any abuses. The metropolitan has the liturgical privilege of celebrating sacred functions throughout the province, as if he were a bishop in his own diocese, provided only that, if he celebrates in a cathedral church, the diocesan bishop has been informed beforehand; the metropolitan is obliged to request the pallium, a symbol of the power that, in communion with the Church of Rome, he possesses over his ecclesiastical province. This holds if he had the pallium in another metropolitan see, it is the responsibility of the metropolitan, with the consent of the majority of the suffragan bishops, to call a provincial council, decide where to convene it, determine the agenda.
It is his prerogative to preside over the provincial council. No provincial council can be called. All Latin Rite metropolitans are archbishops. Titular archbishops are never metropolitans; as of April 2006, 508 archdioceses were headed by metropolitan archbishops, 27 archbishops lead an extant archdiocese, but were not metropolitans, there were 89 titular archbishops. See Catholic Church hierarchy for the distinctions. In those Eastern Catholic Churches that are headed by a patriarch, metropolitans in charge of ecclesiastical provinces hold a position similar to that of metropolitans in the Latin Church. Among the differences is that Eastern Catholic metropolitans within the territory of the patriarchate are to be ordained and enthroned by the patriarch, who may ordain and enthrone metropolitans of sees outside that territory that are part of his Church. A metropolitan has the right to ordain and enthrone the bishops of his province; the metropolitan is to be commemorated in the liturgies celebrated within his province.
A major archbishop is defined as the metropolitan of a certain see who heads an autonomous Eastern Church not of patriarchal rank. The canon law of such a Church differs only from that regarding a patriarchal Church. Within major archiepiscopal churches, there may be ecclesiastical provinces headed by metropolitan bishops. There are autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches consisting of a single province and headed by a metropolitan. Metropolitans of this kind are to obtain the pallium from the Pope as a sign of his metropolitan authority and of his Church's full communion with the Pope, only after his investment with it can he convoke the Council of Hierarchs and ordain the bishops of his autonomous Church. In his autonomous Church it is for him to ordain and enthrone bishops and his name is to be mentioned after that of the Pope in the liturgy. In the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the title of metropolitan is used variously, in terms of rank and jurisdiction. In terms of rank, in some Eastern Orthodox Churches metropolitans are ranked above archbishops in precedence, while in others that order is reversed.
Primates of autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Churches below patriarchal rank are designated as archbishops. In the Greek Orthodox Churches, archbishops are ranked above metropolitans in precedence; the reverse is true for some Slavic Orthodox Churches and for Romanian Orthodox Church, where metropolitans rank above archbishops and the title can be used for important regional or historical sees. In terms of jurisdiction, there are two basic types of metropolitans in Eastern Orthodox Church: real metropolitans, with actual jurisdiction over their ecclesiastical provinces, honorary metropolitans who
Reader (liturgy)
In some Christian churches, a reader is responsible for reading aloud excerpts of scripture at a liturgy. In early Christian times the reader was of particular value due to the rarity of literacy. In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, the term "lector" or "reader" can mean someone who in a particular liturgy is assigned to read a Biblical text other than the Gospel, but it has the more specific meaning of a person, "instituted" as a lector or reader, is such when not assigned to read in a specific liturgy. This is the meaning. In this sense, the office was classed as one of the four minor orders and in recent centuries was conferred only on those preparing for ordination to the priesthood. With effect from 1 January 1973, the apostolic letter Ministeria quaedam of 15 August 1972 decreed instead that: What up to now were called minor orders are henceforth to be called ministries. Ministries may be assigned to lay Christians. Two ministries, adapted to present-day needs, are to be preserved in the whole Latin Church, those of reader and acolyte.
The functions heretofore assigned to the subdeacon are entrusted to the reader and the acolyte... The reader is appointed for a function proper to him, that of reading the word of God in the liturgical assembly. Accordingly, he is to proclaim the readings from sacred Scripture, except for the gospel in the Mass and other sacred celebrations, he may insofar as may be necessary, take care of preparing other faithful who are appointed on a temporary basis to read the Scriptures in liturgical celebrations. That he may more fittingly and fulfill these functions, he is to meditate assiduously on sacred Scripture. Aware of the office he has undertaken, the reader is to make every effort and employ suitable means to acquire that warm and living love and knowledge of Scripture that will make him a more perfect disciple of the Lord. Canon 1035 of the Code of Canon Law requires candidates for diaconal ordination to have received and have exercised for an appropriate time the ministries of lector and acolyte and prescribes that institution in the second of these ministries must precede by at least six months ordination as a deacon.
Instituted lectors, who are all men, are obliged, when proclaiming the readings at Mass, to wear an alb. Others who perform the function of lector, but who are not instituted in the ministry of lector, are neither required nor forbidden by universal law of the Latin Church to wear an alb: "During the celebration of Mass with a congregation a second priest, a deacon, an instituted reader must wear the distinctive vestment of their office when they go up to the ambo to read the word of God; those who carry out the ministry of reader just for the occasion or regularly but without institution may go to the ambo in ordinary attire, but this should be in keeping with the customs of the different regions." Like other lay ministers, they may wear an alb or "other suitable attire, legitimately approved by the Conference of Bishops". Neither the England and Wales episcopal conference nor that of the United States has specified a particular alternative attire. While in the dioceses of the United States of America, a cassock and surplice may be worn as "appropriate and dignified clothing"The General Instruction of the Roman Missal speaks as follows of those who, without being lectors in the specific sense, carry out their functions at Mass: "In the absence of an instituted lector, other lay people may be deputed to proclaim the readings from Sacred Scripture, people who are suited to carrying out this function and prepared, so that by their hearing the readings from the sacred texts the faithful may conceive in their hearts a sweet and living affection for Sacred Scripture."The General Instruction thus makes no distinction between men and women for proclaiming the scriptural readings in the absence of an instituted lector.
In its sections the same document lists the lector's specific duties at Mass. Traditionalist Catholic organizations such as the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest and the Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney are authorized to use the pre-1973 rite for their members who receive the office of lector; the Society of St. Pius X and other traditionalist Catholic bodies in dispute with the Holy See, such as sedevacantists, use it without seeking authorization. In the Eastern Orthodox Church and in the Eastern Catholic Churches of Byzantine tradition, the reader is the second highest of the minor orders of clergy; this order is lower than the subdeacon. The reader's essential role is to read the Old Testament lessons and the Epistle lessons during the Divine Liturgy and other services, as well as to chant the Psalms and the verses of the Prokimen and certain antiphons and other hymns during the divine services. Due to this fact, it falls to the reader within a parish to construct the variable parts of the divine services according to the very compl
Military chaplain
A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases they will work with local civilians within a military area of operations. Although the term chaplain had Christian roots, it is used today in military organizations to describe all professionals specially trained to serve any spiritual need, regardless of religious affiliation. In addition to offering pastoral care to individuals, supporting their religious rights and needs, military chaplains may advise the executive on issues of religion, ethics and morals as affected by religion, they may liaise with local religious leaders in an effort to understand the role of religion as a factor both in hostility and war and in reconciliation and peace. Military chaplains represent a religion or faith group but work with military personnel of all faiths and none; some countries, like the Netherlands and Belgium employ humanist chaplains who offer a non-religious approach to chaplain support.
In the United Kingdom, the Ministry of Defence employs chaplains, but their authority comes from their sending church. Royal Navy chaplains undertake a 16-week bespoke induction and training course, including a short course at Britannia Royal Naval College, specialist fleet time at sea alongside a more experienced chaplain. Naval chaplains called to service with the Royal Marines undertake a commando course at Commando Training Centre Royal Marines, Lympstone and if successful serve with a front-line Royal Marines unit. British Army chaplains undertake seven-weeks training at The Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre Amport House and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Royal Air Force chaplains must complete 12 weeks Specialist Entrant course at the RAF College Cranwell followed by a Chaplains' Induction Course at Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre Amport House of a further 2 weeks. In the United States, the term, nomination, is not applied to the process of becoming a military chaplain. Individuals volunteer, if they are accepted, they are commissioned as military staff officers in the Chaplain Corps.
Members of the clergy who meet the qualifications for service as an officer in the military are free to apply for service with any of the three United States Chaplain Corps: the Army and Air Force each has a Chaplain Corps, with Navy chaplains assigned to serve with Marine Corps units, Coast Guard units, the Merchant Marine Academy. Some clergy, like rabbis, can apply without permission from any individual or organization within their faith group; as the application process proceeds, the military determines whether the applicant will meet standards in areas such as health, physical fitness, education, past criminal history, suitability for service, which includes supporting the free exercise of religion for men and women of all faiths, an endorsement from an endorsing agency, recognized by the Department of Defense, representing one or more faith groups in the United States, will be required, in part to ensure that the separation of church and state is honored. Neither the government as a whole nor the military in particular will be put into the position of determining whether an individual is a bona fide priest, rabbi, etc.
Although ordination is required for chaplain service, some "equivalent" status is accepted for individuals from religious groups which do not have ordination, such as the Church of Christ. Additionally, in cases where an endorsing agency is not yet established for an individual's religion, it is possible for him or her to be endorsed by the endorsing agency of another group, a process, followed for the first Muslim chaplains in the military. In any event, this endorsement is recognized as necessary, but not sufficient for acceptance as a chaplain: in other words, the military will not accept an individual for service as a chaplain, nor allow him or her to continue to serve, without such an endorsement remaining in force; the Geneva Conventions are silent on. However, the Conventions do state that chaplains are non-combatants: they do not have the right to participate directly in hostilities, it is assumed that during World War II, chaplains were unarmed. Crosby describes an incident where a US chaplain became a trained tank gunner and was removed from the military for this "entirely illegal, not to mention imprudent" action.
At least some British chaplains serving in the Far East, were armed: George MacDonald Fraser recalls "the tall figure of the battalion chaplain, swinging along good style with his.38 on his hip" behind the lead platoon during a battalion attack. Fraser asks, "if the padre shot, what would the harvest be... apart from three ringing cheers from the whole battalion?" The Reverend Leslie Hardman, the British Second Army's senior Jewish chaplain, who became well known for his work amongst the liberated prisoners after the capture of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, was a
Papal legate
A papal legate or apostolic legate is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters; the legate is appointed directly by the pope. Hence a legate is sent to a government, a sovereign or to a large body of believers or to take charge of a major religious effort, such as an council, a crusade to the Holy Land, or against a heresy such as the Cathars; the term legation is applied both to the territory concerned. The relevant adjective is legatine. In the High Middle Ages, papal legates were used to strengthen the links between Rome and the many parts of Christendom. More than not, legates were learned men and skilled diplomats who were not from the country they were accredited to; the Italian-born Guala Bicchieri served as papal legate to England in the early 13th century and played a major role in both the English government and church at the time. By the Late Middle Ages it had become more common to appoint native clerics to the position of legate within their own country, such as Cardinal Wolsey acting as legate to the court of Henry VIII of England.
The reason for this switch in policy could be attributed to a change in attitude on the eve of The Reformation. Papal legates summoned legatine councils, which dealt with church government and other ecclesiastical issues. According to Pope Gregory VII, writing in the Dictatus papae, a papal legate "presides over all bishops in a council if he is inferior in rank, he can pronounce sentence of deposition against them". During the Middle Ages, a legatine council was the usual means that a papal legate imposed his directives. There are several ranks of papal legates in diplomacy; the most common form of papal legate today is the apostolic nuncio, whose task it is to strengthen relations between the Holy See and the Roman Catholic Church in a particular country and at the same time to act as the diplomatic representative of the Holy See to the government of that country. An apostolic nuncio is equivalent in rank to that of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, although in Catholic countries the nuncio ranks above ambassadors in diplomatic protocol.
A nuncio has the same diplomatic privileges. Under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, to which the Holy See is a party, a nuncio is an ambassador like those from any other country; the Vienna Convention allows the host state to grant seniority of precedence to the nuncio over others of ambassadorial rank accredited to the same country, may grant the deanship of that country's diplomatic corps to the nuncio regardless of seniority. Pro-nuncio was a term used from 1965 to 1991 for a papal diplomatic representative of full ambassadorial rank accredited to a country that did not accord him precedence over other ambassadors and ex officio deanship of the diplomatic corps. In those countries, the papal representative's precedence within the corps is on a par with that of the other members of ambassadorial rank, so that he becomes dean only on becoming the senior member of the corps. For countries with which the Holy See has no diplomatic relations, an apostolic delegate is sent to serve as a liaison with the Catholic Church in that country, though not accredited to its government.
This highest rank is awarded to a priest of cardinal rank. It can either be focused or broad in scope; the legate a latere is the alter ego of the Pope, as such, possesses full plenipotentiary powers. "born legate", i.e. not nominated individually but ex officio, namely a bishop holding this rank as a privilege of his see, e.g. archbishops of Canterbury, Esztergom, Salzburg and Cologne. The legatus natus would act as the pope's representative in his province, with a legatus a latere only being sent in extraordinary circumstances. Although limited in their jurisdiction compared to legati a latere, a legatus natus were not subordinate to them. "sent legate", possessing limited powers for the purpose of completing a specific mission. This commission is focused in scope and of short duration; some administrative provinces of the Papal states in Italy were governed by a Papal Legate. This has been the case in Pontecorvo and in Viterbo. In four cases, including Bologna, this post was awarded to Cardinals.
The title could be changed to Apostolic Delegate, as happened in Frosinone in 1827. Papal diplomacyNuncio – an envoy whose diplomatic status is recognized by the receiving state – a titular archbishop. Internuncio – a lower rank than Nuncio for a papal diplomatic representative, a title used at a time when states sent to some less important countries diplomatic representatives, called Envoys or Ministers, lower in rank than Ambassadors. Papal apocrisiarius List of papal legates to EnglandOtherPontifical legate Catholic Encyclopedia: Legate WorldStatesmen - Italy to 1860 - Papal State Maseri, Pellegrino. De Legatis et Nunciis Apostolicis Iudiciis Ecclesiasticis Civilibus
