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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Patriarch and Patriarchate</title><script src="https://dtyry4ejybx0.cloudfront.net/js/cmp/cleanmediacmp.js?ver=0104" async="true"></script><script defer data-domain="newadvent.org" src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js"></script><link rel="canonical" href="https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11549a.htm"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <meta name="description" content="Names of the highest ecclesiastical dignitaries after the pope, and of the territory they rule. 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Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more  all for only $19.99...</a></em></p> <p>Names of the highest ecclesiastical dignitaries after the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a>, and of the territory they rule.</p> <h2 id="section1">Origin of the title</h2> <p>Patriarch (Gr. <em>patriarches</em>; Latin <em>patriarcha</em>) means the father or chief of a race (<em>patria</em>, a clan or <a href="../cathen/05782a.htm">family</a>). The word occurs in the <a href="../cathen/13722a.htm">Septuagint</a> for the chiefs of the tribes (e.g. <a href="../bible/1ch024.htm#vrs31">1 Chronicles 24:31</a>; <a href="../bible/1ch027.htm#vrs22">27:22</a>, <em>patriarchai ton phylon</em>; cf. <a href="../bible/2ch023.htm#vrs20">2 Chronicles 23:20</a> etc.); in the <a href="../cathen/14530a.htm">New Testament</a> (<a href="../bible/heb007.htm#vrs4">Hebrews 7:4</a>) it is applied to Abraham as a version of his title "father of many nations" (<a href="../bible/gen017.htm#vrs4">Genesis 17:4</a>), to David (<a href="../bible/act002.htm#vrs29">Acts 2:29</a>), and to the twelve sons of Jacob (<a href="../bible/act007.htm#vrs8">Acts 7:8-9</a>). This last became the special meaning of the word when used of <a href="../bible">Scriptural</a> characters. The heads of the tribes were the "Twelve Patriarchs", though the word is used also in a more general sense for the fathers of the Old Law in general, e.g. the invocation in the <a href="../cathen/09286a.htm">litany</a>, "All ye <a href="../cathen/07386a.htm">holy</a> Patriarchs and Prophets".</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <p>Names of <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christian</a> dignitaries were in early days taken sometimes from civil life (<em>episkopos, diakonos</em>), sometimes borrowed from the <a href="../cathen/08399a.htm">Jews</a> (<em>presbyteros</em>). The name <em>patriarch</em> is one of the latter class. Bishops of special dignity were called patriarchs just as <a href="../cathen/04647c.htm">deacons</a> were called levites, because their place corresponded by analogy to those in the Old Law. All such titles became technical terms, official titles, only gradually. At first they were used loosely as names of <a href="../cathen/07462a.htm">honour</a> without any strict connotation; but in all such cases the reality existed before any special name was used. There were ecclesiastical dignitaries with all the <a href="../cathen/13055c.htm">rights</a> and prerogatives of patriarchs in the first three centuries; but the official title does not occur till later. As a <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christian</a> title of <a href="../cathen/07462a.htm">honour</a> the word <em>patriarch</em> appears first as applied to <a href="../cathen/09154b.htm">Pope Leo I</a> in a letter of Theodosius II (408-50; <a href="../cathen/09609c.htm">Mansi</a>, VI, 68). The <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> of the Byzantine <a href="../cathen/08567a.htm">jurisdiction</a> apply it to their chief, Acacius (471-89; <a href="../cathen/05639b.htm">Evagrius</a>, "H.E.", III, 9). But it was still merely an honourable epithet that might be given to any venerable <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishop</a>. <a href="../cathen/07010b.htm">St. Gregory of Nazianzus</a> says: "the elder <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a>, or more rightly, the patriarchs" (Orat., xlii, 23). <a href="../cathen/14118b.htm">Socrates</a> says that the Fathers of Constantinople I (381) "set up patriarchs", meaning apparently <a href="../cathen/10244c.htm">metropolitans</a> of <a href="../cathen/12514a.htm">provinces</a> (<a href="../fathers/26015.htm"><em>Church History</em> V.8</a>). As late as the fifth and sixth centuries Celidonius of Besançon and Nicetius of Lyons are still called patriarchs (Acta SS., Feb., III, 742; <a href="../cathen/07018b.htm">Gregory of Tours</a>, "Hist. Francorum", V, xx).</p> <p>Gradually then  certainly from the eighth and ninth centuries  the word becomes an official title, used henceforth only as connoting a definite rank in the <a href="../cathen/07322c.htm">hierarchy</a>, that of the chief <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> who ruled over <a href="../cathen/10244c.htm">metropolitans</a> as <a href="../cathen/10244c.htm">metropolitans</a> over their suffragan <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a>, being themselves subject only to the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">first patriarch</a> at <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>. During these earlier centuries the name appears generally in conjunction with <a href="../cathen/01691a.htm">"archbishop"</a>, "archbishop and patriarch", as in the Code of Justinian (Gelzer, "Der Streit über den Titel des ökumen. Patriarchen" in "Jahrbuch für protest. Theol.", 1887). The dispute about the title &OElig;cumenical Patriarch in the sixth century (see <a href="../cathen/08493a.htm">JOHN THE FASTER</a>) shows that even then the name was receiving a technical sense. Later <a href="../cathen/10285c.htm">medieval</a> and modern developments, <a href="../cathen/13529a.htm">schisms</a>, and the creation of titular and so-called "minor" patriarchates have produced the result that a great number of <a href="../cathen/11726a.htm">persons</a> now claim the title; but in all cases it connotes the <a href="../cathen/07630a.htm">idea</a> of a special rank  the highest, except among <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholics</a> who admit the still higher <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">papacy</a>.</p> <p><em>Patriarchate</em> (Greek <em>patriarcheia</em>; Latin <em>patriarchatus</em>) is the derived word meaning a patriarch's office, <a href="../cathen/05001a.htm">see</a>, reign, or, most often, the territory he governs. It corresponds to episcopacy, episcopate, and <a href="../cathen/05001a.htm">diocese</a> in relation to a <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishop</a>.</p> <h2 id="section2">The three patriarchs</h2> <p>The oldest canon law admitted only three <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> as having what later ages called patriarchal <a href="../cathen/13055c.htm">rights</a>  the Bishops of <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>, Alexandria, and <a href="../cathen/01567a.htm">Antioch</a>. The <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">successor of St. Peter</a> as a matter of course held the highest place and combined in his own <a href="../cathen/11726a.htm">person</a> all dignities. He was not only <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishop</a>, but <a href="../cathen/10244c.htm">metropolitan</a>, <a href="../cathen/12423b.htm">primate</a>, and patriarch; <a href="../cathen/10244c.htm">Metropolitan</a> of the <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Roman</a> Province, <a href="../cathen/12423b.htm">Primate</a> of <a href="../cathen/08208a.htm">Italy</a>, and first of the patriarchs. As soon as a <a href="../cathen/07322c.htm">hierarchy</a> was organized among <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a>, the chief authority and dignity were retained by the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">Bishop of Rome</a>. The <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a> combines the above positions and each of them gives him a special relation to the faithful and the <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> in the territory corresponding. As <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a> he is visible head of the whole <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>; no <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christian</a> is outside his papal <a href="../cathen/08567a.htm">jurisdiction</a>. As <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">Bishop of Rome</a> he is the <a href="../cathen/05001a.htm">diocesan</a> <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishop</a> of that <a href="../cathen/05001a.htm">diocese</a> only; as <a href="../cathen/10244c.htm">metropolitan</a> he governs the <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Roman</a> Province; as <a href="../cathen/12423b.htm">primate</a> he governs the <a href="../cathen/08208a.htm">Italian</a> <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a>; as patriarch he rules only the <a href="../cathen/09022a.htm">West</a>. As patriarch the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">Roman pontiff</a> has from the beginning ruled all the Western lands where Latin was once the civilized, and is still the liturgical language, where the <a href="../cathen/13155a.htm">Roman Rite</a> is now used almost exclusively and the <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Roman</a> canon law (e.g. <a href="../cathen/03481a.htm">celibacy</a>, our rules of <a href="../cathen/05789c.htm">fasting</a> and abstinence, etc.) obtains. To <a href="../cathen/05230a.htm">Christians in the East</a> he is <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">supreme pontiff</a>, not patriarch. Hence there has always been a closer relation between Western <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> and the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a> than between him and their Eastern brethren, just as there is a still closer relation between him and the suburban <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> of the <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Roman</a> Province of which he is <a href="../cathen/10244c.htm">metropolitan</a>. Many <a href="../cathen/09053a.htm">laws</a> that we obey are not universal <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> <a href="../cathen/09053a.htm">laws</a> but those of the Western patriarchate. Before the <a href="../cathen/11044a.htm">Council of Nicæa</a> (325) two <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> in the East had the same patriarchal authority over large territories, those of Alexandria and Antioch. It is difficult to say exactly how they obtained this position. The organization of <a href="../cathen/12514a.htm">provinces</a> under <a href="../cathen/10244c.htm">metropolitans</a> followed, as a matter of obvious convenience, the organization of the empire arranged by <a href="../cathen/05007b.htm">Diocletian</a> (Fortescue, "Orthodox Eastern Church", 21-23). In this arrangement the most important cities in the East were Alexandria of <a href="../cathen/05329b.htm">Egypt</a> and Antioch of <a href="../cathen/14399a.htm">Syria</a>. So the <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">Bishop</a> of Alexandria became the chief of all <a href="../cathen/05329b.htm">Egyptian</a> <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> and <a href="../cathen/10244c.htm">metropolitans</a>; the <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">Bishop</a> of <a href="../cathen/01570a.htm">Antioch</a> held the same place over <a href="../cathen/14399a.htm">Syria</a> and at the same time extended his sway over <a href="../cathen/01782a.htm">Asia Minor</a>, <a href="../cathen/06735a.htm">Greece</a> and the rest of the East. <a href="../cathen/05007b.htm">Diocletian</a> had divided the empire into four great prefectures. Three of these (Italy, <a href="../cathen/06395b.htm">Gaul</a>, and Illyricum) made up the <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Roman</a> patriarchate, the other, the "East" (Præfectura Orientis) had five (civil) "dioceses"  Thrace, <a href="../cathen/01782a.htm">Asia</a>, <a href="../cathen/12234c.htm">Pontus</a>, the Diocese of the East, and <a href="../cathen/05329b.htm">Egypt</a>. <a href="../cathen/05329b.htm">Egypt</a> was the Alexandrine patriarchate. The Antiochene patriarchate embraced the civil "Diocese" of the East. The other three civil divisions of Thrace, <a href="../cathen/01777b.htm">Asia</a>, and <a href="../cathen/12234c.htm">Pontus</a> would have probably developed into separate patriarchates, but for the rise of Constantinople (ibid., 22-25). Later it became a popular <a href="../cathen/07630a.htm">idea</a> to connect all three patriarchates with the Prince of the Apostles. <a href="../cathen/11744a.htm">St. Peter</a> had also reigned at <a href="../cathen/01570a.htm">Antioch</a>; he had founded the <a href="../cathen/01300b.htm">Church of Alexandria</a> by his disciple St. Mark. At any rate the <a href="../cathen/11044a.htm">Council of Nicæa</a> in 325 recognizes the supreme place of the <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> of these three cities as an "ancient custom" (can. vi). <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>, Alexandria, and Antioch are the three old patriarchates whose unique position and order were disturbed by later developments.</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <h2 id="section3">The five patriarchates</h2> <p>When pilgrims began to flock to the Holy City, the <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">Bishop</a> of <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>, the guardian of the sacred shrines, began to be considered as more than a mere suffragan of Cæsarea. The <a href="../cathen/11044a.htm">Council of Nicæa</a> (325) gave him an honorary primacy, saving, however, the metropolitical <a href="../cathen/13055c.htm">rights</a> of Cæsarea (can. vii). Juvenal of Jerusalem (420-58) succeeded finally, after much dispute, in changing this honorary position into a real patriarchate. The <a href="../cathen/03555a.htm">Council of Chalcedon</a> (451) cut away Palestine and Arabia (Sinai) from Antioch and of them formed the Patriarchate of <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a> (Sess. VII and VIII). Since that time <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a> has always been counted among the patriarchal <a href="../cathen/05001a.htm">sees</a> as the smallest and last (ibid., 25-28).</p> <p>But the greatest change, the one that met most opposition, was the rise of Constantinople to patriarchal rank. Because Constantine had made Byzantium "New Rome", its <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishop</a>, once the humble suffragan of <a href="../cathen/07242b.htm">Heraclea</a>, thought that he should become second only, if not almost equal, to the <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">Bishop</a> of Old Rome. For many centuries the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">popes</a> opposed this <a href="../cathen/01381d.htm">ambition</a>, not because any one thought of disputing their first place, but because they were unwilling to change the old order of the <a href="../cathen/07322c.htm">hierarchy</a>. In 381 the Council of Constantinople declared that: "The <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">Bishop</a> of Constantinople shall have the primacy of <a href="../cathen/07462a.htm">honour</a> after the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">Bishop of Rome</a>, because it is New Rome" (can. iii). The <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">popes</a> (<a href="../cathen/04613a.htm">Damasus</a>, <a href="../cathen/06780a.htm">Gregory the Great</a>) refused to confirm this canon. Nevertheless Constantinople grew by favour of the emperor, whose centralizing policy found a ready help in the authority of his court <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishop</a>. Chalcedon (451) established Constantinople as a patriarchate with <a href="../cathen/08567a.htm">jurisdiction</a> over <a href="../cathen/01782a.htm">Asia Minor</a> and Thrace and gave it the second place after <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a> (can. xxviii). <a href="../cathen/09154b.htm">Pope Leo I</a> (440-61) refused to admit this canon, which was made in the absence of his <a href="../cathen/09118a.htm">legates</a>; for centuries <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a> still refused to give the second place to Constantinople. It was not until the <a href="../cathen/09018a.htm">Fourth Lateran Council</a> (1215) that the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople was allowed this place; in 1439 the <a href="../cathen/06111a.htm">Council of Florence</a> gave it to the Greek patriarch. Nevertheless in the East the emperor's wish was powerful enough to obtain recognition for his patriarch; from Chalcedon we must count Constantinople as practically, if not legally, the second patriarchate (ibid., 28-47). So we have the new order of five patriarchs  <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>, Constantinople, Alexandria, <a href="../cathen/01570a.htm">Antioch</a>, <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>  that seemed, to Eastern <a href="../cathen/14580a.htm">theologians</a> especially, an essential element of the constitution of the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> [see (ibid., 46-47) the letter of Peter III of Antioch, c. 1054].</p> <h2 id="section4">Further development</h2> <p>At the time of <a href="../cathen/10273a.htm">Cerularius's</a> <a href="../cathen/13529a.htm">schism</a> (1054) the great <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> of the empire <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knew</a> practically these five patriarchs only, though "minor" patriarchates had already begun in the <a href="../cathen/09022a.htm">West</a>. The <a href="../cathen/04310b.htm">Eighth General Council</a> (Constantinople IV, in 869) had solemnly affirmed their position (can. xxi). The <a href="../cathen/13529a.htm">schism</a>, and further distinctions that would not have existed but for it, considerably augmented the number of <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> who claimed the title. But before the great <a href="../cathen/13529a.htm">schism</a> the earlier <a href="../cathen/10755a.htm">Nestorian</a> and <a href="../cathen/10489b.htm">Monophysite</a> separations had resulted in the existence of various <a href="../cathen/07256b.htm">heretical</a> patriarchs. To be under a patriarch had come to be the normal, apparently necessary, condition for any <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>. So it was natural that these <a href="../cathen/07256b.htm">heretics</a> when they broke from the <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> patriarchs should sooner or later set up rivals of their own. But in most cases they have been neither consistent nor <a href="../cathen/09324a.htm">logical</a>. Instead of being merely an honourable title for the occupants of the five chief <a href="../cathen/05001a.htm">sees</a>, the name patriarch was looked upon as denoting a rank of its own. So there was the <a href="../cathen/07630a.htm">idea</a> that one might be patriarch of any place. We shall understand the confusion of this <a href="../cathen/07630a.htm">idea</a> if we imagine some <a href="../cathen/13674a.htm">sect</a> setting up a <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">Pope</a> of <a href="../cathen/09341a.htm">London</a> or <a href="../cathen/11020a.htm">New York</a> in opposition to the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">Pope</a> of <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>. The <a href="../cathen/10755a.htm">Nestorians</a> broke away from Antioch in the fifth century. They then called their <a href="../cathen/03454a.htm">catholicus</a> (originally a vicar of the Antiochene pontiff), patriarch; though he has never claimed to be Patriarch of <a href="../cathen/01570a.htm">Antioch</a>, which alone would have given a reason for his title. Babæus (Bab-Hai, 498-503) is said to be the first who usurped the title, as Patriarch of <a href="../cathen/13689b.htm">Seleucia</a> and Ctesiphon (<a href="../cathen/01794a.htm">Assemani</a>, "Bibl. Orient.", III, 427). The <a href="../cathen/01300b.htm">Copts</a> and <a href="../cathen/14417a.htm">Jacobites</a> have been more consistent. During the long <a href="../cathen/10489b.htm">Monophysite</a> quarrels (fifth to seventh century) there were continually rival or alternate <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> and <a href="../cathen/10489b.htm">Monophysite</a> patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch. Eventually, since the <a href="../cathen/10424a.htm">Moslem</a> conquest of <a href="../cathen/05329b.htm">Egypt</a> and <a href="../cathen/14399a.htm">Syria</a>, rival lines were formed. So there is a line of Coptic patriarchs of Alexandria and of Jacobite patriarchs of Antioch as rivals to the <a href="../cathen/10157b.htm">Melchite</a> ones. But in this case each claims to represent the old line and refuses to recognize its rivals, which is a possible position.</p> <p>The <a href="../cathen/01736b.htm">Armenian</a> <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> has made the same mistake as the <a href="../cathen/10755a.htm">Nestorians</a>. It has now four so-called patriarchs, of which two bear titles of <a href="../cathen/05001a.htm">sees</a> that cannot by any rule of antiquity claim to be patriarchal at all, and the other two have not even the pretence of descent from the old lines. The <a href="../cathen/01736b.htm">Armenian</a> <a href="../cathen/03454a.htm">Catholicus</a> of Etchmiadzin began to call himself a patriarch on the same basis as the <a href="../cathen/10755a.htm">Nestorian</a> <a href="../cathen/12423b.htm">primate</a>  simply as head of a large and, after the <a href="../cathen/10489b.htm">Monophysite</a> <a href="../cathen/13529a.htm">schism</a> (Synod of Duin in 527), independent <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>. It is difficult to say at what date he assumed the title. <a href="../cathen/01736b.htm">Armenian</a> writers call all their <a href="../cathen/03454a.htm">catholici</a> patriarchs, back to <a href="../cathen/07023a.htm">St. Gregory the Illuminator</a> (fourth cent.). Silbernagl counts <a href="../cathen/10754a.htm">Nerses I</a> (353-73?) first patriarch (Verfassung u. gegenw. Bestand, 216). But a claim to patriarchal rank could hardly have been made at a time when <a href="../cathen/01736b.htm">Armenia</a> was still in union with and subject to the <a href="../cathen/03133b.htm">See of Cæsarea</a>. The <a href="../cathen/03454a.htm">Catholicus's</a> title is not local; he is "Patriarch of all <a href="../cathen/01736b.htm">Armenians</a>." In 1461 Mohammed II set up an <a href="../cathen/01736b.htm">Armenian</a> Patriarch of Constantinople to balance the Orthodox one. A temporary <a href="../cathen/13529a.htm">schism</a> among the <a href="../cathen/01736b.htm">Armenians</a> resulted in a Patriarchate of Sis, and in the seventeenth century the <a href="../cathen/01736b.htm">Armenian</a> <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">Bishop</a> of <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a> began to call himself patriarch. It is clear then how entirely the <a href="../cathen/01736b.htm">Armenians</a> ignore what the title really means.</p> <p>The next multiplication of patriarchs was produced by the <a href="../cathen/04543c.htm">Crusades</a>. The <a href="../cathen/04543c.htm">crusaders</a> naturally refused to recognize the claims of the old, now <a href="../cathen/13529a.htm">schismatical</a>, patriarchal lines, whose representatives moreover in most cases fled; so they set up Latin patriarchs in their place. The first Latin Patriarch of <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a> was Dagobert of Pisa (1099-1107); the Orthodox rival (Simon II) had fled to <a href="../cathen/04589a.htm">Cyprus</a> in 1099 and died there the same year (for the list of his <a href="../cathen/01641a.htm">sucessors</a> see <a href="../cathen/09187a.htm">Le Quien</a>, III, 1241-68). It was not till 1142 that the Orthodox continued their broken line by electing Arsenios II, who like most Orthodox patriarchs at that time lived at Constantinople. At Antioch, too, the <a href="../cathen/04543c.htm">crusaders</a> had a scruple against two patriarchs of the same place. They took the city in 1098, but as long as the Orthodox patriarch (John IV) remained there they tried to make him a <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> instead of appointing a rival. However, when at last he fled to Constantinople they considered the see vacant, and Bernard, <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">Bishop</a> of Arthesia, a <a href="../cathen/06166a.htm">Frenchman</a>, was elected to it (the succession in <a href="../cathen/09187a.htm">Le Quien</a>, III, 1154-84).</p> <p>In 1167 Amaury II, King of <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>, captured Alexandria, as did Peter I, King of <a href="../cathen/04589a.htm">Cyprus</a>, in 1365. But both times the city was given back to the <a href="../cathen/10424a.htm">Moslems</a> at once. Nor were there any Latin inhabitants to justify the establishment of a Latin patriarchate. On the other hand, the Orthodox patriarch, Nicholas I (c. 1210-after 1223; <a href="../cathen/09187a.htm">Le Quien</a>, II, 490) was well disposed towards reunion, wrote friendly letters to the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a>, and was invited to the <a href="../cathen/09018a.htm">Fourth Lateran Council</a> (1215). There was then a special reason for not setting up a Latin rival to him. Eventually a Latin patriarchate was established rather to complete what had been done in other cases than for any practical reason. Giles, Patriarch of Grado, a <a href="../cathen/12354c.htm">Dominican</a>, was made first Latin Patriarch of <a href="../cathen/01300b.htm">Alexandria</a> by <a href="../cathen/04020a.htm">Clement V</a> in 1310. An earlier Latin Athanasius seems to be mythical (<a href="../cathen/09187a.htm">Le Quien</a>, III, 1143). For the list of Giles's line see <a href="../cathen/09187a.htm">Le Quien</a> (III, 1141-1151). When the <a href="../cathen/04543c.htm#section4">Fourth Crusade</a> took Constantinople in 1204, the patriarch John X fled to <a href="../cathen/11043a.htm">Nicæa</a> with the emperor, and Thomas Morosini was made Latin patriarch to balance the Latin emperor (<a href="../cathen/09187a.htm">Le Quien</a>, III, 793-836). It will be seen then that the <a href="../cathen/04543c.htm">crusaders</a> acted from their point of view correctly enough. But the result was for each see double lines that have continued ever since. The Orthodox lines went on; the Latin patriarchs ruled as long as the Latins held those lands. When the <a href="../cathen/08361a.htm">crusaders' kingdoms</a> came to an end they went on as titular patriarchs and have been for many centuries dignitaries of the papal court. Only the Latin Patriarch of <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a> was sent back in 1847 to be the head of all Latins in Palestine. By that time people were so accustomed to see different patriarchs of the same place ruling each his own "nation" that this seemed a natural proceeding.</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <p>The formation of <a href="../cathen/05230a.htm#catholic">Uniat Churches</a> since the sixteenth century again increased the number of patriarchates. These people could no longer obey the old <a href="../cathen/13529a.htm">schismatical</a> lines. On the other hand each group came out of a corresponding <a href="../cathen/13529a.htm">schismatical</a> <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>; they were accustomed to a chief of their own rite, their own "nation" in the <a href="../cathen/15097a.htm">Turkish</a> sense. The only course seemed to be to give to each a <a href="../cathen/05230a.htm#catholic">Uniat</a> patriarch corresponding to his <a href="../cathen/13529a.htm">schismatical</a> rival. Moreover, in many cases the line of <a href="../cathen/05230a.htm#catholic">Uniat</a> patriarchs comes from a disputed succession among the schismatics, one claimant having submitted to <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a> and being therefore deposed by the <a href="../cathen/13529a.htm">schismatical</a> majority. The oldest of these <a href="../cathen/05230a.htm#catholic">Uniat</a> patriarchates is that of the <a href="../cathen/09683c.htm">Maronites</a>. In 680 the Patriarch of <a href="../cathen/01570a.htm">Antioch</a>, <a href="../cathen/09483b.htm">Macarius</a>, was deposed by the <a href="../cathen/04310a.htm">Sixth General Council</a> for <a href="../cathen/10502a.htm">Monotheletism</a>. The <a href="../cathen/10502a.htm">Monotheletes</a> then grouped themselves around the hegumenos of the <a href="../cathen/09683c.htm">Maronite</a> <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">monastery</a>, John (died 707). This begins the separated <a href="../cathen/09683c.htm">Maronite</a> (at that time undoubtedly <a href="../cathen/10502a.htm">Monothelete</a>) <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>. John made himself Patriarch of <a href="../cathen/01570a.htm">Antioch</a> for his followers, who wanted a head and were in communion with neither the <a href="../cathen/14417a.htm">Jacobites</a> nor the <a href="../cathen/10157b.htm">Melchites</a>. At the time of the <a href="../cathen/04543c.htm">crusades</a> the <a href="../cathen/09683c.htm">Maronites</a> united with <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a> (1182 and again in 1216). They are allowed to keep their Patriarch of <a href="../cathen/01570a.htm">Antioch</a> as head of their rite; but he in no way represents the old line of <a href="../cathen/11744a.htm">St. Peter</a> and St. Ignatius. The next oldest <a href="../cathen/05230a.htm#catholic">Uniat</a> patriarchate is that of Babylon for the Chaldees (converted <a href="../cathen/10755a.htm">Nestorians</a>). It began with the submission of the <a href="../cathen/10755a.htm">Nestorian</a> patriarch, John Sulaga (died 1555). There has been a complicated series of rivalries and <a href="../cathen/13529a.htm">schisms</a> since, of which the final curious result is that the present <a href="../cathen/05230a.htm#catholic">Uniat</a> patriarch represents the old <a href="../cathen/10755a.htm">Nestorian</a> line, and his <a href="../cathen/10755a.htm">Nestorian</a> rival the originally <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> line of Sulaga. The title of "Babylon" was not used till <a href="../cathen/08021a.htm">Pope Innocent XI</a> conferred it in 1681. The <a href="../cathen/10157b.htm">Melchite</a> patriarchate dates from 1724 (Cyril VI, 1724-1759). It began again with a disputed succession to the old patriarchal See of Antioch; the <a href="../cathen/10157b.htm">Melchite</a> occupant has quite a good claim to represent the old line. The <a href="../cathen/05230a.htm#catholic">Uniat Byzantine</a> Sees of Alexandria and <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a> are for the present considered as joined to that of Antioch; the <a href="../cathen/10157b.htm">Melchite</a> patriarch uses all three titles (see <a href="../cathen/10157b.htm">MELCHITES</a>). The <a href="../cathen/05230a.htm#catholic">Uniat</a> <a href="../cathen/01736b.htm">Armenians</a> have a patriarch who resides at Constantinople, but does not take his title from that city. His line began with a disputed election to Sis, one of the secondary <a href="../cathen/01736b.htm">Armenian</a> patriarchates, in 1739. He is called Patriarch of Cilicia of the <a href="../cathen/01736b.htm">Armenians</a>. In 1781 Ignatius Giarve, Jacobite <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">Bishop</a> of <a href="../cathen/01283b.htm">Aleppo</a>, was elected canonically Patriarch of <a href="../cathen/01570a.htm">Antioch</a>. He then made his submission to <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a> and the <a href="../cathen/07256b.htm">heretical</a> <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> deposed him and chose a <a href="../cathen/10489b.htm">Monophysite</a> as patriarch. From Giarve the line of <a href="../cathen/05230a.htm#catholic">Uniat</a> Syrian patriarchs of Antioch descends. Lastly, in 1895, <a href="../cathen/09169a.htm">Pope Leo XIII</a> erected a <a href="../cathen/05230a.htm#catholic">Uniat</a> Coptic Patriarchate of Alexandria for the many <a href="../cathen/01300b.htm">Copts</a> who were at that time becoming <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholics</a>.</p> <p>This exhausts the list of <a href="../cathen/05230a.htm#catholic">Uniat</a> patriarchs. In three cases (the Chaldees, <a href="../cathen/10157b.htm">Melchites</a>, and Syrians) the <a href="../cathen/05230a.htm#catholic">Uniat</a> patriarch has, on purely historical grounds, at least as good a claim as his <a href="../cathen/13529a.htm">schismatical</a> rival, if not better, to represent the old succession. On the other hand, the existence of several <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> patriarchs of the same see, for instance, the <a href="../cathen/10157b.htm">Melchite</a>, Jacobite, <a href="../cathen/09683c.htm">Maronite</a>, and Latin titulars of Antioch, is a concession to the national feeling of <a href="../cathen/05230a.htm">Eastern Christians</a>, or, in the case of the Latin, a relic of the <a href="../cathen/04543c.htm">crusades</a> that archæologically can hardly be justified.</p> <p>It is curious that there is no <a href="../cathen/05230a.htm#catholic">Uniat</a> Patriarch of Constantinople. There was for a time, however brief, a new patriarchate among the Orthodox. In the sixteenth century the <a href="../cathen/13253a.htm">Church of Russia</a> had become a very large and flourishing branch of the Orthodox communion. The Russian Government then thought the time had come to break its dependence on Constantinople. In 1589 the Tsar Feodor I (1581-98) made the Metropolitan See of <a href="../cathen/10591b.htm">Moscow</a> into an independent patriarchate. In 1591 the other patriarchs in synod confirmed his arrangement and gave <a href="../cathen/10591b.htm">Moscow</a> the fifth place, below <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>. Orthodox theologians were delighted that the sacred pentarchy, the classical order of five patriarchs, was thus restored; they said that <a href="../cathen/06608a.htm">God</a> had raised up <a href="../cathen/10591b.htm">Moscow</a> to replace fallen <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>. But their <a href="../cathen/07131b.htm">joy</a> did not last long. Only ten Russian patriarchs reigned. In 1700 the last of these, <a href="../cathen/01155a.htm">Adria</a>, died. Peter the Great did not allow a <a href="../cathen/01641a.htm">successor</a> to be elected and in 1721 replaced the patriarchate by the Holy Directing Synod that now rules the Russian Church. But many Russians who resent the present tyranny of State over Church in their country hope for a restoration of the national patriarchate as the first step towards better things.</p> <p>There remain only the so-called "minor" patriarchates in the <a href="../cathen/09022a.htm">West</a>. At various times certain Western <a href="../cathen/05001a.htm">sees</a>, too, have been called patriarchal. But there is a fundamental difference between these and any Eastern patriarchate. Namely, the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a> is Patriarch of the <a href="../cathen/09022a.htm">West</a>; all Western <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> of whatever rank are subject not only to his papal but also to his patriarchal <a href="../cathen/08567a.htm">jurisdiction</a>. But a real patriarch cannot be subject to another patriarch; no patriarch can have another under his patriarchal <a href="../cathen/08567a.htm">jurisdiction</a>, just as a <a href="../cathen/05001a.htm">diocesan</a> ordinary cannot have another ordinary in his <a href="../cathen/05001a.htm">diocese</a>. Eastern patriarchs claim independence of any other patriarch as such; the <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholics</a> obey the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a> as <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a>, the Orthodox recognize the civil headship of Constantinople, the <a href="../cathen/01736b.htm">Armenians</a> a certain primacy of <a href="../cathen/07462a.htm">honour</a> in their <a href="../cathen/03454a.htm">catholicus</a>. But in every case the essence of a patriarch's dignity is that he has no other patriarch over him <em>as patriarch</em>. On the other hand, these Western minor patriarchs have never been supposed to be exempt from the <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Roman</a> patriarchate. They have never had fragments cut away from <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a> to make patriarchates for them, as for instance <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a> was formed of a fragment detached from Antioch.</p> <p>Indeed, none of them has ever had any patriarchate at all. It may be said that the origin of the title in the <a href="../cathen/09022a.htm">West</a> was an imitation of the East. But legally the situation was totally different. The Western patriarchates have never been more than mere titles conveying no <a href="../cathen/08567a.htm">jurisdiction</a> at all. The earliest of them was <a href="../cathen/01661c.htm">Aquileia in Illyricum</a>. It was an important city in the first centuries; the see claimed to have been founded by St. Mark. During the rule of the <a href="../cathen/11347d.htm">Goths</a> in <a href="../cathen/08208a.htm">Italy</a> (fifth to sixth centuries) the <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">Bishop</a> of <a href="../cathen/01661c.htm">Aquileia</a> was called patriarch, though the name was certainly not used in any technical sense. It is one more example of the looser meaning by which any venerable <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishop</a> might be so called in earlier times. However, the <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">Bishop</a> of <a href="../cathen/01661c.htm">Aquileia</a> began to use his complimentary title in a more definite sense. Though Illyricum undoubtedly belonged legally to the Roman Patriarchate, it was long a fruitful source of dispute with the East (<em>Orth. Eastern Church</em>, 44-45); Aquileia on the frontier thought itself entitled to some kind of independence of either <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a> or Constantinople. At first the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">popes</a> resolutely refused to acknowledge this new claim in any form. Then came the quarrel of the <a href="../cathen/14707b.htm">Three Chapters</a>.</p> <p>When, however, <a href="../cathen/15427b.htm">Pope Vigilius</a> had yielded to the second Council of Constantinople (553), a number of North <a href="../cathen/08208a.htm">Italian</a> <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> went into formal <a href="../cathen/13529a.htm">schism</a>, led by Macedonius of Aquileia (539-56). From this time the Bishops of Aquileia call themselves patriarchs, as heads of a <a href="../cathen/13529a.htm">schismatical</a> party, till 700. <a href="../cathen/11586a.htm">Paulinus of Aquileia</a> (557-71) moved his see to Grado, a small island opposite Aquileia, keeping, however, the old title. This line of <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> in Grado became <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholics</a> about 606; their <a href="../cathen/13529a.htm">schismatical</a> suffragans then restored the old see at Aquileia as a <a href="../cathen/13529a.htm">schismatical</a> patriarchate. The <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">popes</a> seem to have allowed or tolerated the same title for the Bishops of Aquileia-Grado. The <a href="../cathen/01662a.htm">Synod at Aquileia</a> in 700 put an end to the <a href="../cathen/13529a.htm">schism</a> finally.</p> <p>From that time, however, there were two lines of so-called patriarchs, those of Aquileia and of Grado (where the <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishop</a> now kept the title of Grado only). Neither had more than metropolitical <a href="../cathen/08567a.htm">jurisdiction</a>. Both these titles are now merged in that of the Patriarch of <a href="../cathen/15333a.htm">Venice</a>. The <a href="../cathen/15333a.htm">See of Venice</a> absorbed Grado in the fifteenth century. The city of Aquileia was overthrown by an earthquake in 1348, but the line of patriarchs continued at <a href="../cathen/15118a.htm">Udine</a>. It came thus entirely in the power of the <a href="../cathen/15333a.htm">Venetian Republic</a>; the patriarch was always a <a href="../cathen/15333a.htm">Venetian</a>. Eventually <a href="../cathen/02432a.htm">Benedict XIV</a>, in 1751, changed the title to that of Patriarch of <a href="../cathen/15333a.htm">Venice</a>.</p> <p>The discovery of America added a vast territory to the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>, over which it seemed natural that a patriarch should reign. In 1520 <a href="../cathen/09162a.htm">Leo X</a> created a "Patriarchate of the West Indies" among the <a href="../cathen/14169b.htm">Spanish</a> <a href="../cathen/04049b.htm">clergy</a>. In 1572 <a href="../cathen/12130a.htm">Pius V</a> joined this rank to the office of chief <a href="../cathen/03579b.htm">chaplain</a> of the Spanish army. But in this case, too, the dignity is purely titular. In 1644 <a href="../cathen/08020b.htm">Innocent X</a> gave the patriarch some <a href="../cathen/08567a.htm">jurisdiction</a>, but expressly in his quality of <a href="../cathen/03579b.htm">chaplain</a> only. He has no income as patriarch and is often also <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishop</a> of a Spanish diocese. In 1716 <a href="../cathen/04029a.htm">Clement XI</a>, in answer to a petition of King John, who, in return for help in fighting <a href="../cathen/15097a.htm">Turks</a>, wanted a patriarch like the King of <a href="../cathen/14169b.htm">Spain</a>, erected a titular Patriarchate of <a href="../cathen/09281a.htm">Lisbon</a> at the king's <a href="../cathen/03574b.htm">chapel</a>. The city was divided between the <a href="../cathen/08567a.htm">jurisdiction</a> of the <a href="../cathen/01691a.htm">Archbishop</a> of <a href="../cathen/09281a.htm">Lisbon</a> and the new patriarch. In 1740 <a href="../cathen/02432a.htm">Benedict XIV</a> joined the <a href="../cathen/01694b.htm">archbishopric</a> to the patriarchate. The Patriarch of <a href="../cathen/09281a.htm">Lisbon</a> has certain privileges of <a href="../cathen/07462a.htm">honour</a> that make his court an imitation of that of the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a>. His chapter has three orders like those of the <a href="../cathen/03333b.htm#x">College of Cardinals</a>; he himself is always made a <a href="../cathen/03333b.htm">cardinal</a> at the first consistory after his <a href="../cathen/12376a.htm">preconization</a> and he uses a <a href="../cathen/14714c.htm">tiara</a> (without the keys) over his arms, but he has no more than metropolitical <a href="../cathen/08567a.htm">jurisdiction</a> over seven suffragans. Lastly, <a href="../cathen/09169a.htm">Leo XIII</a>, in 1886, as a counterpoise to the Patriarchate of the West Indies, erected a titular Patriarchate of the East Indies attached to the See of Goa.</p> <p>At various times other Western <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> have been called patriarchs. In the <a href="../cathen/10285c.htm">Middle Ages</a> those of Lyons, <a href="../cathen/02720b.htm">Bourges</a>, <a href="../cathen/03299b.htm">Canterbury</a>, Toledo, <a href="../cathen/12110a.htm">Pisa</a> were occasionally so called. But there was never any legal claim to these merely complimentary titles.</p> <h2 id="section5">Existing patriarchs</h2> <p>We give first a complete list of all <a href="../cathen/11726a.htm">persons</a> who now bear the title.</p> <h3 id="A">Catholics</h3> <p>The <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a> as Patriarch of the <a href="../cathen/09022a.htm">West</a> (this is the commonest form; "Patriarch of Rome", or "Latin Patriarch" also occur) rules all Western <a href="../cathen/05607b.htm">Europe</a> from <a href="../cathen/12181a.htm">Poland</a> to Illyricum (the Balkan Peninsula), Africa west of <a href="../cathen/05329b.htm">Egypt</a>, all other lands (America, Australia) colonized from these lands and all Western (Latin) missionaries and dwellers in the East. In other words, his patriarchal <a href="../cathen/08567a.htm">jurisdiction</a> extends over all who use the Western (<a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Roman</a>, Ambrosian, Mozarabic) rites and over the Byzantine Uniats in <a href="../cathen/08208a.htm">Italy</a>, <a href="../cathen/04396b.htm">Corsica</a>, and <a href="../cathen/13772a.htm">Sicily</a>. As patriarch he may hold patriarchal synods and he frequently makes <a href="../cathen/09053a.htm">laws</a> (such as ritual <a href="../cathen/09053a.htm">laws</a> and our form of <a href="../cathen/03481a.htm">clerical celibacy</a>) for the Western patriarchate alone.</p> <p>The <a href="../cathen/05230a.htm#catholic">Uniat</a> <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> patriarchs are as follows:</p> <div class="bulletlist"><ul><li>(1) <a href="../cathen/10157b.htm">Melchite</a> Patriarch of <a href="../cathen/01570a.htm">Antioch</a>, Alexandria, <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>, and all the East, ruling over all <a href="../cathen/10157b.htm">Melchites</a>;</li><li>(2) the Syrian Patriarch of <a href="../cathen/01570a.htm">Antioch</a> and all the East;</li><li>(3) the <a href="../cathen/09683c.htm">Maronite</a> Patriarch of <a href="../cathen/01570a.htm">Antioch</a> and all the East;</li><li>(4) the Coptic Patriarch of <a href="../cathen/01300b.htm">Alexandria</a>;</li><li>(5) the Patriarch of Cilicia of the <a href="../cathen/01736b.htm">Armenians</a>;</li><li>(6) the Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldees.</li></ul></div> <p>These rule over all members of their rite, except that the <a href="../cathen/01736b.htm">Armenian</a> has no <a href="../cathen/08567a.htm">jurisdiction</a> in <a href="../cathen/02121b.htm">Austria</a> or the Crimea, where the <a href="../cathen/01736b.htm">Armenian</a> Bishops of <a href="../cathen/09144a.htm">Lemberg</a> and Artwin are exempt, being immediately subject to the <a href="../cathen/07424b.htm">Holy See</a>.</p> <p>Of the Latin patriarchs only one has <a href="../cathen/08567a.htm">jurisdiction</a>: the Latin Patriarch of <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a> (over all Latins in Palestine and <a href="../cathen/04589a.htm">Cyprus</a>). All the others are titular, namely: the Latin Patriarchs of Constantinople, <a href="../cathen/01570a.htm">Antioch</a> and <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>, ornaments of the papal court at <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>; the "minor" Patriarchs of <a href="../cathen/15333a.htm">Venice</a>, <a href="../cathen/09281a.htm">Lisbon</a>, the West Indies, the East Indies. It should be noted that the modern <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Roman</a> lists (e.g. the "Gerarchia Cattolica") ignore the difference between those who have <a href="../cathen/08567a.htm">jurisdiction</a> and the titular patriarchs and count all who bear the title of one of the old patriarchates (Constantinople, Alexandria, <a href="../cathen/01570a.htm">Antioch</a>, <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>) as major, all others (including Babylon and Cilicia) as minor.</p> <h3 id="B">Non-Catholics</h3> <p>Non-Catholics who bear the title now are the Orthodox Patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria, <a href="../cathen/01570a.htm">Antioch</a>, <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>; the <a href="../cathen/10755a.htm">Nestorian</a> patriarch at Kuchanis (his title is now "Catholicus and Patriarch of the East"); the Coptic Patriarch of <a href="../cathen/01300b.htm">Alexandria</a>; the. Jacobite Patriarch of <a href="../cathen/01570a.htm">Antioch</a>; four <a href="../cathen/01736b.htm">Armenian</a> patriarchs, the "Catholicus and Patriarch of all <a href="../cathen/01736b.htm">Armenians</a>" at Etchmiadzin and those of Constantinople, Sis, and <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>. The <a href="../cathen/13055c.htm">rights</a>, dignity, and <a href="../cathen/05215a.htm">duties</a> of patriarchs form part of the canon law of each <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>. They are not the same in all cases. As a general principle it may be said that the fundamental notion is that a patriarch has the same authority over his <a href="../cathen/10244c.htm">metropolitans</a> as they have over their suffragan <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a>. Moreover, a patriarch is not himself subject to another patriarch, or rather he is not subject to any one's patriarchal <a href="../cathen/08567a.htm">jurisdiction</a>. But there is here a difference between <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholics</a> and the others. All <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholics</a>, including patriarchs, obey the supreme (papal) authority of the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">Roman pontiff</a>; further we must except from our consideration the merely titular patriarchs who have no authority at all. In the case of the <a href="../cathen/05230a.htm">Eastern Churches</a> the general principle is that a patriarch is subject to no living authority save that of a possible general council. But here again we must except the <a href="../cathen/01736b.htm">Armenians</a>. Their <a href="../cathen/03454a.htm">catholicus</a> had for many centuries authority over all his <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> very like that of the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a>. It is diminished now; but still one can hardly say that the other patriarchs are quite independent of him. He alone may summon <a href="../cathen/14389a.htm">national synods</a>. The (Armenian) Patriarch of Constantinople has now usurped most of his <a href="../cathen/13055c.htm">rights</a> in the <a href="../cathen/15097a.htm">Turkish Empire</a>. One of these two ordains all <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a>. The Patriarch of Sis may not even <a href="../cathen/04276a.htm">consecrate</a> <a href="../cathen/03696b.htm">chrism</a>, but is supplied from Etchmiadzin. A somewhat similar case is that of the Orthodox. Since the <a href="../cathen/15097a.htm">Turkish</a> conquest the &OElig;cumenical Patriarch has been the civil head of all the Orthodox in the <a href="../cathen/15097a.htm">Turkish Empire</a>. He has continually tried and still to a great extent tries to turn his civil headship into supreme ecclesiastical authority, to be in short an Orthodox <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a>. His attempts are always indignantly rejected by the other patriarchs and the national <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Churches</a>, but not always successfully. Meanwhile he has kept at least one sign of authority. He alone <a href="../cathen/04276a.htm">consecrates</a> <a href="../cathen/03696b.htm">chrism</a> for all Orthodox <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a>, except for those of <a href="../cathen/13231c.htm">Russia</a> and Rumania.</p> <p>In the East the general principle is that the patriarch ordains all <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> in his own territory. This is a very old sign of authority in those countries. He is elected by his <a href="../cathen/10244c.htm">metropolitans</a> or (permanent) synod, <a href="../cathen/11279a.htm">ordained</a>, as a rule, by his own suffragans, makes <a href="../cathen/09053a.htm">laws</a> and has certain <a href="../cathen/13055c.htm">rights</a> of confirming or deposing his <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a>, generally in conjunction with his synod, and may summon patriarchal (temporary) synods. The question of the deposition of patriarchs among the non-Catholics is difficult. Among the Orthodox they have been and are constantly deposed by their <a href="../cathen/10244c.htm">metropolitans</a> or synod. They nearly always refuse to acknowledge their deposition and a struggle follows in which Constantinople always tries to interfere. Eventually the Turk settles it, generally in favour of deposition, since he gets a large <a href="../cathen/02778c.htm">bribe</a> for the new patriarch's <em>berat</em>. The special <a href="../cathen/13055c.htm">rights</a> and <a href="../cathen/05215a.htm">duties</a> of the patriarchs of the various <a href="../cathen/05230a.htm">Eastern Churches</a> are given in Silbernagl (<em>infra</em>).</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <p>In the <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> since <a href="../cathen/05601a.htm">Eugene IV</a> (1431-47) <a href="../cathen/03333b.htm">cardinals</a> have precedence over patriarchs. <a href="../cathen/05230a.htm#catholic">Uniat</a> patriarchs are elected by a synod of all the <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> of the patriarchate and confirmed by the <a href="../cathen/07424b.htm">Holy See</a>. They must send a profession of Faith to the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a> and receive the <a href="../cathen/11427a.htm">pallium</a> from him. Their <a href="../cathen/13055c.htm">rights</a> are summed up by a Constitution of <a href="../cathen/02432a.htm">Benedict XIV</a> ("Apostolica", 14 Feb., 1742), namely: to summon and preside at patriarchal synods (whose acts must be confirmed at <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>), to ordain all <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> of their territory and <a href="../cathen/04276a.htm">consecrate</a> <a href="../cathen/03696b.htm">chrism</a>, to send the <a href="../cathen/11427a.htm#omophorion">omophorion</a> to their <a href="../cathen/10244c.htm">metropolitans</a>, receive <a href="../cathen/01652a.htm">appeals</a> made against the judgments of these, and receive <a href="../cathen/14741b.htm">tithes</a> of all episcopal income; in synod they may depose their <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a>. They bear their patriarchal cross not only throughout their own territory, but, by a special concession, everywhere except at <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>. All have a permanent representative at <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>. They must visit all their <a href="../cathen/05001a.htm">dioceses</a> every third year and may not resign without the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope's</a> consent. The <a href="../cathen/03052b.htm">Bull</a> "Reversurus" of <a href="../cathen/12134b.htm">Pius IX</a> (1867) made further <a href="../cathen/09053a.htm">laws</a> first for the <a href="../cathen/01736b.htm">Armenian</a> patriarch; then with modifications it has been extended to other Uniats. The precedence among patriarchs is determined by the rank of their see, according to the old order of the five patriarchates, followed by Cilicia, then Babylon. Between several titulars of the same see but of different rites the order is that of the date of their <a href="../cathen/12376a.htm">preconization</a>.</p> <p>The titular Latin patriarchs have only certain ceremonial prerogatives. The <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Roman</a> <em>patriarchia</em> are five <a href="../cathen/02325a.htm">basilicas</a>, one the <a href="../cathen/09014b.htm">pope's own cathedral</a>, the others churches at which the other patriarchs officiated if they came to <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>, near which they dwelt. The papal <em>patriarchium</em> was originally the "Domus Pudentiana"; since the early <a href="../cathen/10285c.htm">Middle Ages</a> it is the Basilica of Saint Saviour at the Lateran (<a href="../cathen/09014b.htm">St. John Lateran</a>). The others are, or were, <a href="../cathen/11744a.htm">St. Peter</a> for Constantinople, St. Paul Without the Walls for Alexandria, St. Mary Major for Antioch, St. Lawrence for <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>. These are now only titles and memories.</p> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-bottom' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <div class="cenotes"><h2>Sources</h2><p class="cenotes">LE QUIEN, <em>Oriens christianus</em> (Paris, 1740); BINGHAM, <em>Origines ecclesiasticæ,</em> I (London, 1708-22), 232 sq.; LÜBECK, <em>Reichseinteilung u. kirchliche Hierarchie des Orients bis zum Ausgang des vierten Jahrhunderts</em> (Münster, 1900); HINSCHIUS, <em>System des katholischen Kirchenrechts,</em> I (1869); KATTENBUSCH, <em>Lehrbuch der vergleichenden Konfessionskunde,</em> I (Freiburg, 1892); SILBERNAGL, <em>Verfassung und gegenwärtiger Bestand sämtlicher Kirchen des Orients</em> (Ratisbon, 1904); FORTESCUE, <em>The Orthodox Eastern Church</em> (London, 1907), i.</p></div> <div class="pub"><h2>About this page</h2><p id="apa"><strong>APA citation.</strong> <span id="apaauthor">Fortescue, A.</span> <span id="apayear">(1911).</span> <span id="apaarticle">Patriarch and Patriarchate.</span> In <span id="apawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="apapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company.</span> <span id="apaurl">http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11549a.htm</span></p><p id="mla"><strong>MLA citation.</strong> <span id="mlaauthor">Fortescue, Adrian.</span> <span id="mlaarticle">"Patriarch and Patriarchate."</span> <span id="mlawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="mlavolume">Vol. 11.</span> <span id="mlapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company,</span> <span id="mlayear">1911.</span> <span id="mlaurl"><http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11549a.htm>.</span></p><p id="transcription"><strong>Transcription.</strong> <span id="transcriber">This article was transcribed for New Advent by Douglas J. Potter.</span> <span id="dedication">Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.</span></p><p id="approbation"><strong>Ecclesiastical approbation.</strong> <span id="nihil"><em>Nihil Obstat.</em> February 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor.</span> <span id="imprimatur"><em>Imprimatur.</em> +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.</span></p><p id="contactus"><strong>Contact information.</strong> The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster <em>at</em> newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.</p></div> </div> <div id="ogdenville"><table summary="Bottom bar" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"><center><strong>Copyright © 2023 by <a href="../utility/contactus.htm">New Advent LLC</a>. 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