Patriarchates and Patriarchs (1)

Source: FSSPX News

Pope Francis with six Eastern Catholic Patriarchs on February 7, 2020

A certain number of Catholic senior prelates carry the title of patriarch and are at the head of a patriarchate. What do these terms mean? And to what do these titles, which were recognized by the Council of Nicaea (325) and whose number was fixed at five by the Council of Chalcedon in 451, correspond?

The Patriarchates, the Dictionary of Catholic Theology (DTC) notes, “are the result of an evolution of several centuries” during which “patriarchal law only gradually emerged.” It was after the Council of Chalcedon “that the high ecclesiastical administration was shared between five hierarchs, without prejudice to papal primacy.”

At that time, the term patriarch applied to prelates who only had above them the authority of the Apostolic See: the Bishops of Alexandria and Antioch, as well as those of Constantinople and Jerusalem. But in the West, the name applied to the Pope himself, although Rome has only accepted the title with reservation.

The historical evolution of the Patriarchates would continue, however, particularly because of struggles against heresies but also because of the Crusades that would install Latin Patriarchs in Eastern sees. The fall of Constantinople in 1453 brought a new situation. At that point, there were only Latin Patriarchs, purely honorary, in the Patriarchal seats.

The return of several Eastern Churches to Catholic unity allowed the restoration of certain patriarchates, but in a way that diverged from the institution of the 6th century. The patriarchs then had “within the limits of their patriarchates, jurisdiction over all Eastern Catholics residing there; this was essentially territorial,” the DTC explains.

But at present, “the jurisdiction of patriarchs is undoubtedly territorial, because it extends to determined geographical limits that it cannot exceed; but, within these limits, the patriarch does not have power over all Eastern Catholics; he has it only over those of his nation—that is to say, of his rite. In other words, the jurisdiction becomes more complicated with a national element.”

In an article in La Croix, Fr. J.-M. Mérigoux, a Dominican and specialist in the Christian East, explained the notion of the patriarchate. He defined “a ‘Patriarchal Church’ as a community located in a region of the universal Church, characterized by a geographical territory, shaped by a culture, a language, a history, and above all by its ‘apostolic character.’”

In other words, its “Mother City” or “metropolis” corresponds “to a capital, to a large pagan city of Antiquity, evangelized by the Apostles, which became partly Christian, and which is today the episcopal seat of one or more Patriarchs,” explains the Dominican, who then gives details of the various seats.

“These patriarchates are more or less identified with a region: in Lebanon, the Maronite Catholics under the authority of the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch; in Syria and in Lebanon, the Melkite Greek Catholics under the [Melkite] Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch; in Egypt, the Coptic Catholics under the Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria; in Turkey, the Armenians under the Armenian Catholic Patriarch; in Iraq, the Chaldean Catholics under the jurisdiction of the Chaldean Patriarchate.”

Latin Catholics all are part of the Patriarchate of the West whose historical center is in Rome. But in Jerusalem, Latin Catholics are under the jurisdiction of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Today there are therefore seven Eastern Patriarchates:

Of Alexandria for the Coptic Catholics; of Antioch for the Maronites; of Antioch for the Syrian Catholics; of Antioch for the Melkite Greek Catholics; of Jerusalem, for the Latin Catholics; of Cilicia for the Armenian Catholics; of Chaldea for the Chaldeans.

Finally, it must be said that the Patriarchs have special rights and privileges, within the Church they each govern, as set out in the Code of Canon Law for the Eastern Churches.