Patriarch (church rank)

The Old Testament speaks of ten antediluvian patriarchs - these are Adam , Seth , Enos , Cainan , Maleleil , Jared , Enoch , Methuselah , Lamech and Noah ( Genesis 5: 1-32 ). After the flood and before the law was granted to Moses , Abraham , Isaac, and Jacob were the patriarchs. The sons of Jacob are also called the twelve patriarchs. In all these cases, the meaning of the word patriarch is not religious, but generic, that is, it means ancestors .

Between the covenants and the New Testament , the title of patriarch was worn by the chairmen of the Sanhedrin .

In the early Christian church, the bishop was at the head of the church. The title of Patriarch has been spreading since the 5th century - it is received by the bishops who dominate the metropolitans. The term appears in the documents of the IV Ecumenical Council ( 451 year ).

In the VI century , the doctrine of the Pentarchy took shape in Byzantium : in the Church there can be only five patriarchs. Discussions about the Pentarchy penetrated into the Russian Pilot Book (Ch. 40) from Synopsis Stephen of Ephesus through the Pilot Sv. Savva.

After the schism in 1054, the title of Patriarch was assigned mainly to the Primate of the Eastern Church.

The full title of the Roman bishop until 2006 included, among others, the title "Patriarch of the West."

In Orthodoxy, the rank and rank of the Patriarch does not have a different, higher degree of priesthood than the episcopal general, although in Moscow in the 17th century this view was very widespread. It's just that the patriarch is the chief bishop, the first hierarch in the autocephalous church.

In the East

In the Byzantine Empire, the Church was headed by four Patriarchs: the bishops of Constantinople (see the Patriarchs of Constantinople ), Alexandria , Antioch, and Jerusalem .

With the emergence of independent Slavic states ( Bulgaria , Serbia ) and the acquisition of autocephaly by their Churches, the patriarchs also became their heads.

In Russia

In Russia, the first patriarch was appointed by the Moscow Cathedral under the chairmanship of the Patriarch of Constantinople Jeremiah II in 1589 .

The first patriarch of the Russian Church was Patriarch Job (years of the patriarchate 1589-1607). During the intronization, he was again ordained bishop . In 1606, Patriarch Germogen was elected. Tsar Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky chose him from the candidates proposed by the Council of Bishops.

The greatest power of the patriarchal power in Russia reached under the patriarch Filaret - the father of the new tsar Mikhail Fedorovich . During Nikon's patriarchate, a clash took place between him and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich , the cause of which was Nikon's claim to the full judicial and property immunity of the Russian Church. As a result of this clash, Nikon was deposed by the Council of Bishops, but his reforms were not canceled.

Patriarch Joasaph I , who entered the Moscow Patriarchal Chair in 1634 , chose Patriarch Filaret himself as his successor, with the consent of the tsar, but the established form of the Patriarchal election was also followed. The next patriarch - Joseph - was elected by lot .

The gradual actual subordination of the patriarchs to secular power ended under Peter I , who, after the death of Patriarch Hadrian in 1700, appointed not the patriarch but the overseer of the Patriarchal throne , and in 1721 established the Most Holy Governing Synod .

The patriarchate was completely restored by the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church . In 1917, Tikhon was elected patriarch. After the death of Patriarch Tikhon in 1925, the election of a new patriarch was not carried out.

In 1943, the Local Cathedral was convened again. 19 hierarchs took part in the Cathedral. The candidacy was the only one - Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) , who was elected by open vote. Then the patriarchs were Alexy I , Pimen , Alexy II . In 2009, Cyril was elected the sixteenth patriarch of Moscow and all Russia.

Regulations on the Patriarch in the Charter of the Russian Orthodox Church

The main document on the patriarchate in the Russian Orthodox Church is the Regulation on the Patriarch in the Charter of the Russian Orthodox Church ^[1] . According to this document, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church bears the title “His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia”, has the primacy of honor among the bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church and is accountable to the Local and Bishops' Councils. The name of the patriarch of Moscow and all Russia is exalted for services in all churches of the Russian Orthodox Church according to the formula: "About the Great Lord and Our Father (name), His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia."

Recognized

The title has the primates of the churches:

• Of Constantinople - Archbishop of Constantinople - New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch ,
• Alexandria - Pope and Patriarch of the Great City of Alexandria, Libya, Pentapolis, Ethiopia, all of Egypt and all of Africa, Father of the Fathers, Shepherd of Shepherds, Bishop of Bishops, Thirteenth Apostle and Judge of the Universe ,
• Antioch - Patriarch of the Great Divine City of Antioch, Syria, Arabia, Cilicia, Iveria, Mesopotamia and the whole East ,
• Jerusalem - Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Palestine, Syria, Arabia, the whole of Jordan, Cana of Galilee and Holy Zion ,
• Russian - Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia ,
• Georgian - Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia and Archbishop of Mtskheta-Tbilisi and Metropolitan of Bichvinto and Tskhum-Abkhazia ,
• Serbian - Archbishop of Pecsk, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovac and Patriarch of Serbia ,
• Romanian - Archbishop of Bucharest, Metropolitan of Munta and Dobrudja, Viceroy of Caesarea of ​​Cappadocia, Metropolitan of Ungro-Vlaš and Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church ,
• Bulgarian - Patriarch of Bulgaria, Metropolitan of Sofia .

Unrecognized (or partially recognized) patriarch titles

• Turkish Orthodox Church
• Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in 1990-2000
• Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church Canonical
• Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate

Old Orthodoxy

• Russian Old Orthodox Church (since 2002)

In Catholicism, the patriarch’s rank is mainly attributed to hierarchs who head the Eastern Catholic churches with the status of patriarchy. In the West, the title is rarely used, with the exception of the heads of the Venetian and Lisbon Metropolises, who historically bear the title of patriarch, the Jerusalem patriarch of the Latin rite , as well as the titular Patriarchs of East and West India (the last vacant since 1963).

Patriarchs - heads of Eastern Catholic churches - are elected by the synod of bishops of the Church. After the election, the Patriarch is immediately intronized, after which he seeks communion (church communion) from the Pope (this is the only difference between the patriarch and the supreme archbishop , whose candidacy is approved by the Pope). In the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, the patriarchs of the Eastern churches are equated with cardinal bishops .

As of 2018, five bishops of the Latin rite (two of them titular) and six primates of the eastern churches hold the title of patriarch in Catholicism.

The title of patriarch is held by the heads of a number of ancient Eastern churches

• Armenian Apostolic Church ;
• Syro-Jacobite Church .
• Assyrian Church of the East

In addition to the patriarchates that have developed historically, there are a number of churches and religious movements that use the title of patriarch in their religious hierarchy. For the most part, these are churches that emerged over the past century and often do not share a number of traditional conservative Christian positions. These include:

• American Orthodox Catholic Church
• Apostolic Catholic Church
• Jerusalem assembly
• Catholic Apostolic National Church of Brazil
• Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch
• International Association of the Charismatic Episcopal Church
• Czechoslovak Hussite Church

• Patriarch // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Patriarchate // Jewish Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron . - SPb. , 1908-1913.

• Regulations on the Patriarch in the Charter of the Russian Orthodox Church
• Patriarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church: infographics
• How Patriarchs were elected in Russia