Head of the church

The modern Vatican is a theocratic state led by a monarch ( pope ), who is called the high priest and governor of Jesus Christ. The head of the church is Jesus Christ ; however, the Pope, like Vicarius Christi , is her visible head.

In Orthodoxy, Jesus Christ is considered the single Head of the Church, which is based on the Scriptures : Eph. 1: 22-23 , Eph. 5:23 , Col. 1:18 . The first bishop of the autocephalous local church (for example, in the Russian Orthodox Church - the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia ) is usually called the Primate of the Church. At the same time, the expressions “head of the Russian Church”, “head of the Russian Orthodox Church”, etc. as applied to the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church are used on the official website of the Russian Orthodox Church ^[1] , as well as on the theological and other resources of this denomination ^{[2] [3]} .

In the Russian Empire

The Act of succession to Paul I of 1797 contained a dogmatically incorrect (according to the Lutheran model) provision: “ Russian Emperors are the Head of the Church ”. In the Fundamental Laws of the Russian Empire, this provision was commented as follows: “The Emperor is like a Christian Sovereign, he is the supreme defender and keeper of the dogmas of the dominant faith and the guardian of justice and everyone in the Church of the Holy Deanery. (...) In this sense, the Emperor in the act on the inheritance of the throne (April 1797. 5) is called the Head of the Church ” ^[4] . After 1917, the name of the head of the church in the Russian Church applies only to Christ.

In the Church of England, the leading bishop is the Archbishop of Canterbury , who is also recognized as the spiritual leader of the entire Anglican community ; The “Supreme Governor of the Church of England” of the Church of England, according to 39 articles of the Anglican religion (Preamble and Art. 37th), is the head of state , that is, the monarch . In a theological sense, the head of this church is Jesus Christ ^[5] . A similar system was adopted (or was adopted) in other Protestant monarchies of Europe, and on the continent the head of state was declared not only the disposable property of the church and obligated to finance the church by the ruler, but the head of the church. In theocratic states , on the contrary, the head of the church is the head of state (for example, in Geneva from the time of Jean Calvin ).

In neo-Protestant denominations, such as Baptism , Pentecostalism , Adventism , Methodism , etc., the head of the church does not have absolute power, performing only organizational and representative functions. Periodically elected for a fixed term by the highest denomination bodies.

1. ↑ Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia , August 20, 2007
2. ↑ Lecture 23. The Mongol period. The State of the Russian Church from Metropolitan Cyril II to St. Metropolitan Jonah / Orthodox Educational Courses , March 4, 2016
3. ↑ Patriarch and Humanism , April 14, 2016
4. ↑ Basic Laws , Art. 42 in the ed. 1832
5. ↑ Andrew Chandler. Faith of the nation. The church of england in the XXth century

• Archpriest Vladislav Tsypin. Relations between the Church and the state. Canonical principles and historical reality