The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church, the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs.
Patriarchate is an ecclesiological term in Christianity, designating the office and jurisdiction of an ecclesiastical patriarch. According to Christian tradition three patriarchates were established by the apostles as apostolic sees in the 1st century: Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria. Constantinople was added in the 4th century and Jerusalem in the 5th century. Eventually, together, these five were recognised as the pentarchy by the Council of Chalcedon in 451.
An exarch was the holder of any of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical.
The 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 Pauline Christianity 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: one Eastern Orthodox ; one Oriental Orthodox ; and three Eastern Catholic.
The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, also called the Order of the Holy Sepulchre or Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, is a Catholic order of knighthood under the protection of the Holy See. The Pope is the sovereign of the order. The order creates canons as well as knights, with the primary mission to "support the Christian presence in the Holy Land". It is an internationally recognised order of chivalry. The order today is estimated to have some 30,000 knights and dames in 60 lieutenancies around the world. The Cardinal Grand Master has been Fernando Filoni since 2019, and the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem is ex officio the Order's Grand Prior. Its headquarters are situated at the Palazzo Della Rovere and its official church in Sant'Onofrio al Gianicolo, both in Rome, close to Vatican City. In 1994, Pope John Paul II declared the Virgin Mary as the order's patron saint under the title "Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Palestine".
The Melkite Greek Catholic Church, or Melkite Byzantine Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catholic Church. Its chief pastor is Patriarch Youssef Absi, headquartered at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Dormition in Damascus, Syria. The Melkites, who are Byzantine Rite Catholics, trace their history to the early Christians of Antioch, formerly part of Syria and now in Turkey, of the 1st century AD, where Christianity was introduced by Saint Peter.
The Melkite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch is the only actual residential Patriarchate of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. It was formed in 1724 when a portion of the Orthodox Church of Antioch went into communion with Rome, becoming an Eastern Catholic Church, while the rest of the ancient Patriarchate continues in full communion with the rest of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
The Catholic Church in Israel is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, in full communion with the Holy See in Rome.
Gregory III Laham, B.S., Emeritus Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria and Jerusalem, is the former spiritual leader of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. He was elected on November 29, 2000, succeeding Patriarch Maximos V Hakim. He retired on May 6, 2017.
Demetrius I Qadi was Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and Alexandria and Jerusalem of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church from 1919 until 1925.
Patriarch Cyril VI Tanas, also known as Cyril VI of Antioch, became the first Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and Alexandria and Jerusalem of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church following the schism of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch in 1724. Cyril re-established full communion with the Catholic Church.
Precedence signifies the right to enjoy a prerogative of honor before other persons; for example, to have the most distinguished place in a procession, a ceremony, or an assembly, to have the right to express an opinion, cast a vote, or append a signature before others, to perform the most honorable offices.
The orders, decorations, and medals of the Holy See include titles, chivalric orders, distinctions and medals honoured by the Holy See, with the Pope as the fount of honour, for deeds and merits of their recipients to the benefit of the Holy See, the Catholic Church, or their respective communities, societies, nations and the world at large.
Joseph Jules Zerey is a retired archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church and former Apostolic Vicar of Jerusalem.
The Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchal Dependent Territory of Jerusalem is a branch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church immediately subject to the Patriarch of Antioch of the Melkites. In 2023, Yasser Ayyash is the Vicar Apostolic of the Patriarch Youssef Absi.
The Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem is a Christian order that was statuted in 1910 by a council of Catholics in Paris, France, initially under the protection of Patriarch Cyril VIII Geha of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. During the 1920s, it expanded its jurisdiction and enrolled members from other countries in Europe and in the Americas. It re-established the office of grand master in 1935, linking the office to members of the Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon. It assumed an ecumenical dimension during the 1950s to expand its membership to individuals of other Trinitarian Christian denominations in British Commonwealth countries.
Isidore Battikha is a Syrian archbishop emeritus of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Homs in Syria.
Youssef Absi is the current patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, serving since June 21, 2017.
The Order of Saint Ignatius of Antioch is an honorific lay order and ecclesiastical decoration founded in 1985 by the Patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church. The Patriarch of Antioch is automatically the Grand Master who leads the order. That is currently Ignatius Joseph III Yonan.
The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Dormition, also called the Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchal Cathedral of the Dormition of Our Lady, is the cathedral of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in the city of Damascus, Syria. It is the seat of the Greek-Melkite Archeparchy of Damascus dependent on the Melkite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch, which includes about 150,000 baptized adherents and twenty parishes with fifty priests. Its faithful, assigned from the 18th century to the Holy See in Rome, employ the Arabic language and the Byzantine rite.
