Patriarch

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The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), and the Church of the East are termed patriarchs (and in certain cases also popes).

The word is derived from Greek πατριάρχης (patriarchēs),^[1] meaning "chief or father of a family",^[2] a compound of πατριά (patria),^[3] meaning "family", and ἄρχειν (archein),^[4] meaning "to rule".^[2][5][6][7]

Originally, 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. Historically, a patriarch has often 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 (such as Christians within the Ottoman Empire). 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, Isaac, and Jacob are referred to as the three patriarchs of the people of Israel, and the period during which they lived is termed the Patriarchal Age. The word patriarch originally acquired its religious meaning in the Septuagint version of the Bible.^[8]

Catholic Church[edit]

Patriarchs[edit]

In the Catholic Church, the bishop who is 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.^[9]

Since the Council of Nicaea, the bishop of Rome has been recognized as the first among patriarchs.^[10] That Council designated three bishops with this 'supra-Metropolitan' title: Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch. In the Pentarchy formulated by Justinian I (527–565), the emperor assigned as a patriarchate to the Bishop of Rome the whole of Christianized Europe (including almost all of modern Greece), except for the region of Thrace, the areas near Constantinople, and along the coast of the Black Sea. He included in this patriarchate also the western part of North Africa. The jurisdictions of the other patriarchates extended over Roman Asia, and the rest of Africa. Justinian's system was given formal ecclesiastical recognition by the Quinisext Council of 692, which the see of Rome has, however, 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:^[11]

• The Bishop of Rome (Pope), as head of the Latin Catholic Church^[12]
• 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; in his case, Antioch is the actual and sole patriarchate, Alexandria and Jerusalem are just titular (once residential) patriarchates vested in his see
• The Syrian Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and all the East and head of the Syriac Catholic Church

Major archbishoprics[edit]

Four more of the Eastern Catholic Churches are headed by a prelate known as a "Major Archbishop,"^[13] a title essentially equivalent to that of Patriarch and originally created by Pope Paul VI in 1963 for Josyf Slipyj:^[14]

• The Major Archbishop of Kiev-Halych and head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
• The Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly and head of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
• The Major Archbishop of Trivandrum and head of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church
• The Major Archbishop of Făgăraş and Alba Iulia and head of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church

Within their proper sui iuris churches there is no difference between patriarchs and major archbishops. However, differences exist in the order of precedence (i.e. patriarchs take precedence over major archbishops) and in the mode of accession. Whereas the election of a major archbishop has to be confirmed by the pope before he may take office,^[15] 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.^[16][17] Furthermore, patriarchs who are created cardinals form part of the order of cardinal bishops, whereas major archbishops are only created cardinal priests.

Titular Latin patriarchates[edit]

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.

Historical Latin patriarchates[edit]

• 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 (later a residential Patriarchate itself).
• 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

Patriarch as title ad personam[edit]

The pope can confer the rank of Patriarch without any see, upon an individual Archbishop, as happened on 24 February 1676 to Alessandro Cescenzi, of the Somascans, former Latin Titular Patriarch of Alexandria (19 January 1671 – retired 27 May 1675), who nevertheless resigned the title on 9 January 1682.

"Patriarch of the West"[edit]

In theological and other scholarly literature of the Early Modern period, the title "Patriarch of the West" (Latin: Patriarcha Occidentis; Greek: Πατριάρχης τῆς Δύσεως) was mainly used as designation for the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome over the Latin Church in the West. From 1863 to 2005, the title "Patriarch of the West" was appended to the list of papal titles in the Annuario Pontificio, which in 1885 became a semi-official publication of the Holy See. This was done without historical precedent or theological justification: There was no ecclesiastical office as such, except occasionally as a truism: the patriarch of Rome, for the Latin Church, was the only patriarch, and the only apostolic see, in the "west".

The title was not included in the 2006 Annuario. On 22 March 2006, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity offered an explanation for the decision to remove the title. It stated that the title "Patriarch of the West" had become "obsolete and practically unusable" when the term the West comprises Australia, New Zealand and North America in addition to Western Europe, and that it was "pointless to insist on maintaining it" given that, since the Second Vatican Council, the Latin Church, for which "the West" is an equivalent, has been organized as a number of episcopal conferences and their international groupings.^[18]

Though the formulation "Patriarch of the West" is no longer used, the pope in that role issues the Code of Canon Law for the Latin Church. During the Synod of Bishops on the Middle East in 2009, Pope Benedict XVI appeared, as patriarch of the Latin Church, with the other patriarchs, but without the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, though he was present at the same Synod.^[19]

Current and historical Catholic patriarchates[edit]

Current and historical Catholic patriarchates

Type	Church	Patriarchate	Patriarch
Patriarchs of autonomous particular churches	Latin	Rome	Pope Francis
	Coptic	Alexandria	Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak
	Syrian	Antioch	Ignatius Joseph III Younan
	Maronite	Antioch	Bechara Boutros al-Rahi
	Greek-Melkite	Antioch	Youssef Absi
	Armenian	Cilicia	Krikor Bedros XX Gabroyan
	Chaldean	Babylon	Louis Raphaël I Sako
Major archbishops of autonomous particular churches	Ukrainian	Kiev-Halych	Sviatoslav Shevchuk
	Syro-Malabar	Ernakulam-Angamaly	George Alencherry
	Syro-Malankara	Trivandrum	Baselios Cleemis
	Romanian	Făgăraş and Alba Iulia	Lucian Mureșan
Titular Latin Rite patriarchs	Latin	Aquileia	suppressed in 1751
	Latin	Grado	suppressed in 1451
	Latin	Jerusalem	vacant since 2016
	Latin	Lisbon	Manuel (III) Clemente
	Latin	Venice	Francesco Moraglia
	Latin	Alexandria	suppressed in 1964
	Latin	Antioch	suppressed in 1964
	Latin	Constantinople	suppressed in 1964
	Latin	East Indies	Filipe Neri Ferrão
	Latin	West Indies	vacant since 1963

Eastern Christianity[edit]

Eastern Orthodox[edit]

• The five ancient Patriarchates, the Pentarchy, listed in order of preeminence ranked by the Quinisext Council in 692:
  • The Patriarch of Rome; the Pope of Rome, originally "primus inter pares" according to Eastern Orthodoxy, recognized in 325. Currently not an Episcopal or Patriarchal authority in the Eastern Orthodox Church, following the Great Schism in 1054.
  • The Patriarch of Constantinople, chief of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople and the "primus inter pares" of post-Schism Eastern Orthodoxy, recognized in 381.
  • The Patriarch of Alexandria the Pope of All Africa and the chief of the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria, recognized in 325
  • The Patriarch of Antioch and the head of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and All the East in the Near East, recognized in 325
  • The Patriarch of Jerusalem and the chief of the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem in Israel, Palestine, Jordan and All Arabia, recognized in 451
• The five junior Patriarchates created after the consolidation of the Pentarchy, in chronological order of their recognition as Patriarchates by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople:
  • The Patriarch of All Bulgaria and the chief of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in Bulgaria, recognized as a Patriarchate in 927^[20]
  • The Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia and the chief of the Georgian Orthodox Church in Georgia, recognized as a Catholicate (Patriarchate) in 1008^[21]
  • The Serbian Patriarch and the chief of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Serbia (and the former Yugoslavia), recognized as a Patriarchate in 1375^[22]
  • The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia and the chief of the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia, recognized as a Patriarchate in 1589^[23]
  • The Patriarch of All Romania and the chief of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Romania, recognized as a Patriarchate in 1925^[24]

Patriarchs outside the Eastern Orthodox Communion[edit]

• The Russian Autocephalous Orthodox Christian Church Patriarch of Birmingham Alabama Patriarchate of America, Canada and Philippines.
• The Orthodox Patriarchate of Pietermaritzburg and all the States of the East of the Autocephalous Greek International Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of America Canada and Philippines or of the Autocephalous Greek International Orthodox Christian Church Canonical.
• The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia chief of the Russian Old-Orthodox Church.
• The Patriarch of Kyiv and All Rus-Ukraine of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church Canonical.
• The Patriarch of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Europe ^[25]
• The Patriarch of the Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate

Oriental Orthodox Churches[edit]

• The Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of All Africa and the chief of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria in Egypt and All Africa and the Spiritual Leader of Oriental Orthodoxy.
• The Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and chief of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch and Supreme Leader of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church in the Near East.
  • The Catholicos of India is the head of the Malankara Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church, which is the part of Syriac Orthodox Church
• The Catholicos of the East and the chief Metropolitan of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in India.
• The Catholicos of Etchmiadzin, Armenia and of All Armenians and Supreme Patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church and chief of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
  • The Patriarch of Constantinople for the Armenians in Turkey.
  • The Patriarch of Jerusalem and of Holy Zion for the Armenians in Israel, Palestine, Jordan and the Persian Gulf.
• The Catholicos of Cilicia and chief of the Armenian Apostolic Church of the Great House of Cilicia in Antelias, Lebanon.
• The Archbishop of Axum and Patriarch Catholicos of All Ethiopia and the chief of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Ethiopia.
• The Archbishop of Asmara and Patriarch of All Eritrea and the chief of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Eritrea.

Church of the East[edit]

Patriarchs of the Church of the East, sometimes also referred to as Nestorian, the Church of Persia, the Sassanid Church, or, in modern times, the Assyrian Church of the East, trace their lineage of patriarchs back to the 1st century.

• The Catholicos-Patriarch of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, chief of the Assyrian Church of the East.
• The Patriarch-Catholicos of the Ancient Church of the East, a secession from the Assyrian Church of the East.

Manichaeism[edit]

The term patriarch has also been used for the leader of the extinct, dualist, heretical Manichaeist sect, initially based at Ctesiphon (near modern-day Baghdad) and later at Samarkand.

Other independent uses[edit]

The title of "Patriarch" is assumed also by the leaders of certain relatively recent groups, who are in communion with none of the historic Christian Churches. Many, but not necessarily all such patriarchs are church leaders of the independent Catholic Churches:

Independent Catholic

• The Patriarch of the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church in Brazil.
• The Patriarch of the Venezuelan Catholic Apostolic Church in Venezuela.
• The Patriarch of the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch.^[26]
• The Patriarch of the Apostolic Catholic Church, in the Philippines.

Independent Eastern Catholic

• The Patriarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine.

Independent Orthodox

• The Patriarch of the American Orthodox Catholic Church.

Protestant

• The Patriarch of the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church.

Latter Day Saint movement

In the Latter Day Saint movement, a patriarch is one who has been ordained to the office of patriarch in the Melchizedek priesthood. The term is considered synonymous with the term evangelist, a term favored by the Community of Christ. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one of the patriarch's primary responsibilities is to give patriarchal blessings, as Jacob did to his twelve sons according to the Old Testament. Patriarchs are typically assigned in each stake and possess the title for life.

Others

• The Patriarch of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church mainly in Czech Republic and also some part of Slovakia

See also[edit]

• List of current patriarchs
• Lists of Patriarchs
• Catholicos
• Patriarchate
• Patriarchy
• Matriarchy
• List of Bishops and Archbishops
• Major archbishop
• List of Metropolitans and Patriarchs of Moscow

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Nedungatt, George, ed. (2002). A Guide to the Eastern Code: A Commentary on the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. Rome: Oriental Institute Press.

Sources and external links[edit]

• Current and former patriarchates of the Catholic Church (GCatholic)
• Current titular patriarchal sees of the Catholic Church (GCatholic)
• Current patriarchates of the Catholic Church (GCatholic).
• WorldStatesmen - Religious Organisations
•  "Patriarch" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
•  "Patriarchs" . Encyclopedia Americana. 1920.