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 ).

A bishop is an ordained, consecrated, or appointed member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight.

Catholic Church Largest Christian church, led by the Bishop of Rome

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with approximately 1.3 billion baptised Catholics worldwide as of 2017. As the world's oldest and largest continuously functioning international institution, it has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilisation. The church is headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the pope. Its central administration is the Holy See.

Major archbishop position

In the Eastern Catholic Churches, major archbishop is a title for the chief hierarch of an autonomous particular Church that has not been "endowed with the patriarchal title". Major archbishops generally have the same rights, privileges, and jurisdiction as Eastern Catholic patriarchs, except where expressly provided otherwise, and rank immediately after them in precedence of honor.

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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]

Greek language Language spoken in Greece, Cyprus and Southern Albania

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea. It has the longest documented history of any living Indo-European language, spanning at least 3500 years of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history; other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic, and many other writing systems.

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 .

An autocracy is a system of government in which a single person or party possesses supreme and absolute power. The decisions of this autocrat are subject to neither external legal restraints nor regularized mechanisms of popular control. Absolute monarchies and dictatorships are the main modern-day forms of autocracy.

The pater familias, also written as paterfamilias, was the head of a Roman family. The pater familias was the oldest living male in a household, and exercised autocratic authority over his extended family. The term is Latin for "father of the family" or the "owner of the family estate". The form is archaic in Latin, preserving the old genitive ending in -ās, whereas in classical Latin the normal genitive ending was -ae. The pater familias always had to be a Roman citizen.

An extended family is a family that extends beyond the nuclear family, consisting of parents like father, mother, and their children, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins, all living in the same household.

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]

Abraham Biblical patriarch

Abraham is the common patriarch of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and other religions. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the covenant of the pieces, the special relationship between the Hebrews and God; in Christianity, he is the prototype of all believers, Jewish or Gentile; and in Islam he is seen as a link in the chain of prophets that begins with Adam and culminates in Muhammad.

Isaac Biblical character

Isaac is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites, according to the biblical Book of Genesis. In the biblical narrative, he was the son of Abraham and Sarah, the father of Jacob, and grandfather of twelve tribes of Israel; his name means "he will laugh", reflecting when both Abraham and Sarah laughed in disbelief when told by God that they would have a child. He is the only patriarch whose name was not changed, and the only one who did not move out of Canaan. According to the narrative, he died when he was 180 years old, the longest-lived of the three.

Jacob Regarded as a Patriarch of the Israelites, later given the name Israel

Jacob, later given the name Israel, is regarded as a Patriarch of the Israelites and so, he is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Jacob first appears in the Book of Genesis, the son of Isaac and Rebecca, the grandson of Abraham, Sarah and Bethuel, the nephew of Ishmael. He was the second-born of Isaac's children, the elder being his fraternal twin brother Esau. However, by deceiving Isaac when he was old and blind, Jacob was able to usurp the blessing that belonged to Esau as the firstborn son, and become the leader of their family. Following a severe drought in his homeland Canaan, Jacob and his descendants, with the help of his son Joseph, who had since become a confidante of Pharaoh, moved to Egypt, where he died, aged 147 years, and was buried in the Cave of Machpela.

Catholic Church

Catholic Patriarchal (non cardinal) coat of arms External Ornaments of Primates and Patriarchs (Interwoven with gold).svg
Catholic Patriarchal (non cardinal) coat of arms

Patriarchs

Map of Justinian's Pentarchy 1800 Wilkinson Map of the 4 Eastern Churches rectified.jpg
Map of Justinian's Pentarchy
Patriarch of Alexandria Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak. wearing a distinctive clothing of a patriarch. Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak par Claude Truong-Ngoc mars 2014.jpg
Patriarch of Alexandria Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak. wearing a distinctive clothing of a patriarch.

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.

First Council of Nicaea council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in 325

The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325.

Pentarchy model of Church organization historically championed in the Eastern Orthodox Church

Pentarchy is a model of Church organization historically championed in the Eastern Orthodox Church. It found its fullest expression in the laws of Emperor Justinian I of the Roman Empire. In the model, the Christian church is governed by the heads (patriarchs) of the five major episcopal sees of the Roman Empire: Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem.

Justinian I Augustus

Justinian I, traditionally known as Justinian the Great and also Saint Justinian the Great in the Eastern Orthodox Church, was the Eastern Roman emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western-half of the historical Roman Empire. Justinian's rule constitutes a distinct epoch in the history of the Later Roman empire, and his reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized renovatio imperii, or "restoration of the Empire".

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]

Major archbishoprics

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]

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.

Minor Latin patriarchates

Minor 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.

Historical Latin patriarchates

Patriarch as title ad personam

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"

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

Current and historical Catholic patriarchates
TypeChurchPatriarchatePatriarch
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

Eastern Orthodox

Patriarchs outside the Eastern Orthodox Communion

Oriental Orthodox Churches

Church of the East

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

Manichaeism

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

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
Independent Eastern Catholic
Independent Eastern Orthodox
Independent Oriental Orthodox
Protestant
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

See also

Related Research Articles

Eastern Orthodox Church organization Wikimedia list article

The Eastern Orthodox Church, like the Catholic Church, claims to be the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

Patriarchate is an ecclesiological term in Christianity, designating the office and jurisdiction of an ecclesiastical patriarch.

Patriarch of Alexandria Archbishop of Alexandria, Egypt; includes the designation "pope"

The Patriarch of Alexandria is the archbishop of Alexandria, Egypt. Historically, this office has included the designation "pope".

Syriac Catholic Church

The Syriac Catholic Church, also known as Syriac Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch, is an Eastern Catholic Christian Church in the Levant that uses the West Syriac Rite liturgy and has many practices and rites in common with the Syriac Orthodox Church. Being one of the twenty-three Eastern Catholic Churches, the Syriac Catholic Church has full autonomy and is a self-governed sui iuris Church while it is in full communion with the Holy See of Rome. The Syriac Catholic Church traces its history to the earliest days of Christianity. After the Calcedonian Schism the Church of Antioch became part of Oriental Orthodoxy, and was known as the Syriac Orthodox Church, while a new Antiochian Patriarchate was established to fill its place by the churches which accepted the Council of Calcedon. The Syriac Orthodox Church came into full communion with the Holy See and the modern Syriac Orthodox Church is a result of those that did not want to join the Catholic Church. Therefore the Syriac Catholic Church is the continuation of the original Church of Antioch.

Exarch

The term exarch comes from the Ancient Greek ἔξαρχος, exarchos, and designates holders of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical.

Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem patriarchate

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem is the Catholic episcopal see of Jerusalem, officially seated in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was originally established in 1099 with the Kingdom of Jerusalem encompassing the newly territories in the Holy Land conquered by the First Crusade. From 1374-1847 it was a titular see, with the Patriarchs of Jerusalem being based at the Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura in Rome. A resident Latin Patriarch was re-established in 1847 by Pius IX.

Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the Bishop of Antioch As the traditional "overseer" of the first gentile Christian community, the position has been of prime importance in the church from its earliest period. This diocese is one of the few for which the names of its bishops from the apostolic beginnings have been preserved. Today five churches use the title of Patriarch of Antioch: the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, the Syriac Catholic Church, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, and the Maronite Church. Historically, there has also been a Latin Patriarch of Antioch.

Latin Patriarchate of Antioch

The Latin Patriarch of Antioch was a religious office of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church created in 1098 by Bohemond, founder of the Principality of Antioch, one of the crusader states.

Catholicos, plural Catholicoi, is a title used for the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and in some cases it is the title of the head of an autonomous church. The word comes from ancient Greek καθολικός, pl. καθολικοί, derived from καθ' ὅλου from κατά and ὅλος, meaning "concerning the whole, universal, general"; it originally designated a financial or civil office in the Roman Empire. The name of the Catholic Church comes from the same word - however, the title "Catholicos" does not exist in its hierarchy.

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The title Patriarch of the East is used by primates of several Christian denominations within Eastern Christianity. Historically, the title originated as honorary designation for primates of the Holy See of Antioch. It was, and still is, officially used by Greek Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox patriarchs of Antioch, and also by primates of some other sees, belonging to several Eastern Christian denominations.

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Melkite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch patriarchate

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Index of Eastern Christianity-related articles Wikimedia portal

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Maximos IV Sayegh was Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and Alexandria and Jerusalem of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church from 1947 until his death in 1967. One of the fathers of Second Vatican Council, the outspoken patriarch stirred the Council by urging reconciliation between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. He accepted the title of cardinal in 1965 after Pope Paul VI clarified the significance of that title in the case of an Eastern Patriarch.

Patriarch of Jerusalem may refer to:

In Christianity, the concept of an Apostolic Throne refers to one of the historic Patriarchates that was associated with a specific apostle. Saint James the Just is associated with the Apostolic Throne of Jerusalem. Both the Roman Catholic Pope and the Patriarchs of Antioch consider themselves as occupying the Apostolic Throne of St. Peter, as Peter presided over the early church from those locations. The Coptic and Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria consider themselves as occupying the throne of St. Mark the Evangelist, who founded the Alexandrian church. The Patriarchate of Cilicia of the Armenian Catholic Church and the Catholicos of All Armenians of the Armenian Apostolic Church consider themselves as occupying the throne of both St. Jude the Apostle and St. Bartholomew. Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church is occupying the Apostolic Throne of St. Thomas. Catholicos of Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East consider themselves also as successors of St.Thomas, a view also held by Syriac Orthodox, the Maphrian.

References

  1. ↑ πατριάρχης, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  2. 1 2 Online Etymological Dictionary: "patriarch"
  3. ↑ πατριά, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  4. ↑ ἄρχω, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  5. ↑ Merriam-Webster: "patriarch"
  6. ↑ American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: "patriarch"
  7. ↑ Oxford Dictionaries: "patriarch"
  8. ↑ Wikisource-logo.svg Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Patriarch"  . Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  9. ↑ Code of Canons of Eastern Churches. 1990. pp. 58–59.
  10. ↑ "DOCUMENTS FROM THE FIRST COUNCIL OF NICEA". History Sourcebooks Project. Fordham university. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  11. ↑ "Patriarchs". GCCatholic.org. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  12. ↑ Maloney, G.A. (2002). New Catholic Encyclopedia (Revised ed.). Gale. pp. 15 vols. ISBN   978-0787640040.
  13. ↑ Code of Canons of Eastern Churches. Catholic Church. 1990. pp. 151–154.
  14. ↑ "CCEO: text - IntraText CT". Intratext.com. 4 May 2007. Retrieved July 2013.Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  15. ↑ Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium: Can. 153
  16. ↑ Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium: Can. 76
  17. ↑ An example of the petition and the granting of ecclesiastical communion: "Exchange of letters between Benedict XVI and His Beatitude Antonios Naguib". Holy See Press Office . Retrieved 2013-01-18.
  18. ↑ "Communiqué on title 'Patriarch of the West'". Zenit. 22 March 2006. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
  19. ↑ "Meeting of the Eastern Catholic Patriarchs and Major Archbishops with Pope Benedict XVI". Society of St. John Chrysostom. 20 September 2009. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  20. ↑ Catholic Near East Welfare Association, a Papal agency for humanitarian and pastoral assistance Archived 2009-01-15 at the Wayback Machine (ID: 20).
  21. ↑ Catholic Near East Welfare Association, a Papal agency for humanitarian and pastoral support Archived 2009-01-15 at the Wayback Machine (ID: 21).
  22. ↑ Catholic Near East Welfare Association, a Papal agency for humanitarian and pastoral assistance Archived 2009-01-15 at the Wayback Machine (ID: 18).
  23. ↑ Catholic Near East Welfare Association, a Papal agency for humanitarian and pastoral assistance Archived 2009-01-15 at the Wayback Machine (ID: 17).
  24. ↑ Catholic Near East Welfare Association, a Papal agency for humanitarian and pastoral assistance Archived 2009-01-15 at the Wayback Machine (ID: 19).
  25. ↑ Eglise Orthodoxe Autonome de France at the Wayback Machine (archived 8 December 2008).
  26. ↑ When a woman was elected head of this Church, she was styled Matriarch. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-07-05. Retrieved 2010-03-18.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

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