Patriarchate

Not to be confused withPatriarchyorPatriate.

Eastern patriarchates of thePentarchy,after theCouncil of Chalcedon(451)

Patriarchate(/ˈpeɪtriɑːrkɪt,-keɪt/,UKalso/ˈpætri-/;Ancient Greek:πατριαρχεῖον,patriarcheîon) is anecclesiologicalterm inChristianity,designating the office andjurisdictionof an ecclesiasticalpatriarch. According to Christian tradition three patriarchates were established by theapostlesasapostolic seesin the1st century:Rome,Antioch,andAlexandria(recognized by theCouncil of Nicaea).Constantinoplewas added in the4th centuryandJerusalemin the5th century.Eventually, together, these five were recognised as thepentarchyby theCouncil of Chalcedonin 451.

In the rest of thehistory of Christianity,a few other patriarchates were gradually recognised by any of these above ancientepiscopal sees.With time, eventually some of them fell due to military occupations following theIslamic conquestsof theMiddle EastandNorth Africa,and became titular or honorary patriarchates with no actual institutional jurisdiction on the original site.

History

Main articles:Apostolic seeandPentarchy

As Christianity expanded in theRoman Empire,larger concentrations of believers were to be found in urban environments. The Bishop of such cities came to hold a pre-eminence of honour in theprovinceof which his diocese was thecapital,with some eventually gaining a primacy even over other provinces with their ownprimus inter pares.TheCouncil of Niceacodified this arrangement intocanon lawin accordance with the growing standardization of ecclesiastical diocesan structure along the lines of secular Roman blueprints. It also gave the first documented use of the term "Metropolitan" in reference to such bishops as had the presidency over a province. Meanwhile Rome, Alexandria and Antioch had grown in ecclesiastical prominence such that by the early 4th century they had long-recognized jurisdiction over more than one province of bishops each. Alexandria had attained primacy overRoman Egypt,Roman Libya,andPentapolis.Rome hadPrimatialauthority over provinces within 100 miles of the city.By virtue of their authority over multiple provinces, the Sees of Rome Alexandria and Antioch were by this time already exercising "supra-metropolitan" jurisdiction resembling that which would later become known as Patriarchates.All provinces of Italy were under the broader Primatial oversight of the Archbishop of Rome by the end of the 4th century.

With the Imperial Capital having moved toByzantiumin 330, the re-named city ofConstantinoplebecame increasingly important in church affairs of the Greek East. The See of Constantinople was granted Archiepiscopal status prior toa council held in the city in 381,which ranked it second in honour after Rome.Archbishop Atticuswould do much to expand the jurisdictional reach of the See in the early 5th century.Following theCouncil of Ephesusin 431, BishopJuvenal of Jerusalembegan to exert jurisdictional oversight across all three provinces ofRoman Palestine,seeking to make Jerusalem into aMetropolitan See,butCyril of AlexandriaandPope Leo Iopposed the separation of Jerusalem from suffrage to Cæsarea and, more broadly,Antioch.Juvenal went as far as to claim Metropolitan authority overRoman ArabiaandPhoenicia.At the Council of Chalcedon negotiations with ArchbishopMaximus of Antiochresulted in approval of oversight over all of Palestine but no further. The attendees of the council, which included the bishops of Palestine, thus consented to the establishment of theMetropolitinate of Jerusalem.The extent of the oversight granted to the jurisdiction at Chalcedon was both a significant expansion on the precedent established atNiceaand was supra-Metropolitan in scale alongside Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria and Antioch.In light of this, a century later EmperorJustinianwould recognise Jerusalem asone of five Patriarchates.

The East-West Schism of 1054 split theLatin Church'ssee of Romefrom the Byzantine patriarchates of the East, thus forming theCatholic Churchand theEastern Orthodox Church.

The four Eastern Orthodox patriarchates (Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem), along with their Latin Catholic counterpart in the West, Rome, are distinguished as "senior" (Greek:πρεσβυγενή,presbygenē,"senior-born" ) or "ancient" (παλαίφατα,palèphata,"of ancient fame" ) and are among theapostolic sees,traditionally having had one of theapostlesorevangelistsas their first bishop:Andrew,Mark,Peter,James,and Peter again, respectively. In the case ofConstantinople,Andrew is said to have visited the city ofByzantiumin 38 AD (not Constantinople, as the Roman EmperorConstantine the Greathad not yet declared Constantinople in 330 AD as the new capital of theEastern Roman Empireon the grounds of the former city of Byzantium). According to tradition, Andrew appointed the bishopStachys the Apostlewho remained bishop in Byzantium until 54 AD. Therefore in the case of Constantinople the apostolic see is the See of Byzantium.

Roman Catholic Church

There are seven current patriarchates within theCatholic Church.Six are patriarchates ofEastern Catholic Churches:Alexandria (Coptic),Antioch (Maronite,Melkite,Syriac),Baghdad (Chaldean),andCilicia (Armenian).The pope is the Patriarch of The West after Pope Francisrecovered the title in 2024

There are also fourmajor archbishops,who operate as patriarch of their autonomous church, but for historical or procedural reasons are not recognized as a full patriarch. The main difference being that a patriarch's election is communicated to the pope, as a sign of communion between equals, but a major archbishop's election must be approved by the pope.

In addition, there are four titular patriarchates - diocesan bishops whose dioceses have been given the honorific title of patriarchate for various historical reasons, but are not heads of autonomous churchessui iuris.These include theLatin Patriarchate of Jerusalem,ofLisbon,Veniceand theEast Indies.

Some of the Eastern Catholic patriarchates are active on the same territories. Damascus is the seat of theSyriac Catholicand theMelkite CatholicPatriarchates of Antioch, while theMaronite Catholic Patriarchate of Antiochhas its see in Bkerké, Lebanon.

Eastern Orthodox Church

Nine of the current autocephalousEastern Orthodox Churches,including the four ancient churches of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem mentioned above, are organized as patriarchates. In chronological order of establishment, the other five are:Bulgarian Patriarchate(the oldest one following thePentarchy),Georgian Patriarchate,Serbian Patriarchate,Moscow PatriarchateandRomanian Patriarchate.

TheEastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Antiochmoved its headquarters toDamascusin the 13th century, during the reign of theEgyptianMamelukes,conquerors ofSyria.Christian community had flourished in Damascus sinceapostolictimes (Acts9). However, the patriarchate is still called the Patriarchate of Antioch.

A patriarchate has"legal personality"in some legaljurisdictions,that means it is treated as acorporation.For example, theEastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalemfiled a lawsuit inNew York,decided in 1999, againstChristie's Auction House,disputing the ownership of theArchimedes Palimpsest.

Oriental Orthodoxy

There are several patriarchates withinOriental Orthodoxy.These include the four ancient churches ofAlexandria,Jerusalem(Armenian),Antioch,and Constantinople(Armenian).Two other patriarchates have been established: theEthiopian Patriarchateand theEritrean Patriarchate.In addition, there are a number of autocephalous churches which function as patriarchates although not using the title: theIndian Orthodox Church,theArmenian Catholicosate of Etchmiadzin,and theArmenian Catholicosate of Cilicia.

Church of the East

Patriarch of the Church of the Eastis the head of theChurch of the East.Today, there are three rival patriarchs:

• Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East
• Catholicos Patriarch of theAncient Church of the East
• Chaldean Catholic patriarch of Baghdad(of the Catholic church)

Protestantism

The head of theCzechoslovak Hussite Churchis also called a Patriarch.

Apostolic Catholic Church

The Patriarch of theApostolic Catholic Churchis called a Patriarch.

See also

• Holy See
• Patriarch of Alexandria
• Patriarch of Antioch

Sources

• Erickson, John H.(1991).The Challenge of Our Past: Studies in Orthodox Canon Law and Church History.Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press.ISBN9780881410860.
• Kiminas, Demetrius (2009).The Ecumenical Patriarchate: A History of Its Metropolitanates with Annotated Hierarch Catalogs.Wildside Press LLC.ISBN9781434458766.
• Meyendorff, John(1989).Imperial unity and Christian divisions: The Church 450-680 A.D.The Church in history. Vol. 2. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press.ISBN9780881410563.
• Meyendorff, John(1996).Rome, Constantinople, Moscow: Historical and Theological Studies.Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press.ISBN9780881411348.
• 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.ISBN9788872103364.
• Pheidas, Blasios I. (2005). "Papal Primacy and Patriarchal Pentarchy in the Orthodox Tradition".The Petrine Ministry: Catholics and Orthodox in Dialogue.New York: The Newman Press.ISBN9780809143344.
• Runciman, Steven(1985).The Great Church in captivity: A study of the Patriarchate of Constantinople from the eve of the Turkish conquest to the Greek War of Independence.Cambridge University Press.ISBN9780521313100.

External links

• Fortescue, Adrian(1911)."Patriarch and Patriarchate".Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 11.