Patriarch

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For other senses, see Patriarch (disambiguation).

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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 called patriarchy. This is a Greek word, a composition of πατήρ (pater) meaning father and ἄρχων (archon) meaning leader, chief, ruler, king, etc.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are referred to as the three patriarchs of Judaism, and the period in which they lived is called the Patriarchal Age.

The word has mainly taken on specific ecclesiastical meanings. In particular, the highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above Major Archbishop and primate), and the Assyrian Church of the East are called patriarchs. The office and ecclesiastical conscription (comprising one or more provinces, though outside his own (arch)diocese he is often without enforceable jurisdiction, unlike the Pope of Rome) of such a patriarch is called a patriarchate. Historically, a Patriarch may often be the logical choice to act as Ethnarch, representing the community that is identified with his religious confession within a state or empire of a different creed (as Christians within the Ottoman Empire).

According to Mormonism, 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. One of the patriarch's primary responsibilities is to give Patriarchal blessings, as Jacob did to his twelve sons in the Old Testament. In the main branch of Mormonism, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Patriarchs are typically assigned in each stake and hold the title for life.

Patriarchs are also an eccelestial rank in a series of books by David Eddings, The Elenium and The Tamuli.

[edit] Patriarchs of the Pentarchy

The following five patriarchs, later known as the Pentarchy, were acknowledged at the Council of Chalcedon in 451. They are listed in the order of precidence established at that council.

• The Patriarch of the West, the Pope and Bishop of Rome
• The Patriarch of Constantinople
• The Patriarch of Alexandria
• The Patriarch of Antioch
• The Patriarch of Jerusalem

[edit] Patriarchs in Oriental Orthodox Churches

see: Oriental Orthodoxy

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

[edit] Patriarchs of the Eastern Orthodox Church

see: Eastern Orthodoxy

• The Archbishop of Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch, head of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople, Spiritual Leader of Eastern Orthodoxy
• The Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, head of the Orthodox Church of Alexandria in All Africa
• The Patriarch of Antioch, head of the Orthodox Church of Antioch and All the East in the Near East
• The Patriarch of Jerusalem, head of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem and Holy Zion in Israel, Palestine, Jordan and All Arabia
• The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, head of the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia
• The Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, head of the Georgian Orthodox Church in Georgia
• The Patriarch of Serbia, head of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro
• The Patriarch of All Romania, head of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Romania
• The Patriarch of All Bulgaria, head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in Bulgaria

[edit] Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East

• The Catholicos-Patriarch of Babylon, head of the Assyrian Church of the East in the Near East
• The Catholicos-Patriarch of Babylon, head of the Ancient Church of the East in the Near East (separeted from the Assyrian Church of the East in 1964)

[edit] Patriarchs of the Roman Catholic Church

Catholic Patriarchal (non cardinal) coat of arms

see Roman Catholic Church

Note that the Catholic Pope, whose patriarchate of Rome was the only one in the Western Roman empire -roughly the territory of the Latin Rite- among the Pentarchy, in the past used the title Patriarch of the West ; however, this was removed from the Vatican's official list of titles in March, 2006.

[edit] Latin Rite

• The Patriarch of the East Indies a titular patriarchal see, united to Goa and Daman.
• The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
• The Patriarch of Lisbon
• The Patriarch of Venice
• The Patriarch of the West Indies a titular patriarchal see, vacant since 1963

[edit] Eastern Rite Patriarchs

see: Patriarchs of the East

• The Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria, head of the Coptic Catholic Church
• The Syrian Catholic Patriarch of Antioch, head of the Syrian Catholic Church
• The Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarchs of Antioch, head of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church; united to it are two now titular patriarachal sees of the Melkite-Greek rite (both in Middle Eastern Pentarchy cities):
  • Melkite Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria (in Egypt)
  • Melkite Catholic Patriarchs of Jerusalem (in Palestine/Israel)
• The Maronite Patriarch of Antioch, head of the Maronite Church
• The Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Babylon, head of the Chaldean Catholic Church
• The Armenian Catholic Patriarch of Cilicia, head of the Armenian Catholic Church

[edit] Historical Patriarchs in the Roman Catholic Church

• The Latin Patriarch of Antioch
• The Latin Patriarch of Alexandria
• The Patriarch of Aquileia
• The Latin Patriarch of Carthage
• The Latin Patriarch of Constantinople
• The Patriarch of Grado

[edit] Eastern Orthodox Patriarchs out of the Orthodox Communion

• Patriarch of America (in communion with the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia out of the Orthodox Communion)
• Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia head of the Russian Old-Orthodox Church
• Patriarch of Kiev head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kiev Patriarchate
  

  

  Summer residence of the Patriarch of Moscow in Peredelkino.

[edit] See also

• List of current Popes and Patriarchs
• List of Patriarch lists
• Patriarchate
• Patriarchy
• Matriarchy
• List of Bishops and Archbishops
• Major archbishop

[edit] Sources and external links

• Patriarch and Patriarchate
• Catholic Patriarchs by Giga-Catholic Information
• Patriarchal Sees and Titular Patriarchal Sees by Giga-Catholic Information
• http://www.hostkingdom.net/orthodox.html