Patriarch
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- See Patriarchs (Bible) for details about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob of the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible.
Originally a patriarch is a man who exercises autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is called patriarchy.
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 also taken on other meanings. In particular, the highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Assyrian Church of the East are called patriarchs. The office and ecclesiastical conscription (comprizing one or more provinces, though outside his own (arch)diocese he is often without enforcable 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).
In 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.
Current Patriarchs in the Roman Catholic Church:
- Latin Rite:
- The Patriarch of the West (the Pope)
- The Patriarch of Venice
- The Patriarch of the West Indies (vacant since 1963)
- The Patriarch of Lisbon
- The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
- The Patriarch of the East Indies
Historical Patriarchs in the Roman Catholic Church,
- The Latin (and in antiquity Arian) Patriarchate of Carthage
suppressed in 1964:
- The Latin Patriarch of Constantinople
- The Latin Patriarch of Alexandria
- The Latin Patriarch of Antioch
Current Patriarchs in the Eastern Orthodox Communion in order of precedence:
- The Patriarch of Constantinople, the Ecumenical Patriarch
- The Patriarch of Alexandria
- The Patriarch of Antioch
- The Patriarch of Jerusalem
- The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia
- The Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia
- The Patriarch of Serbia
- The Patriarch of All Romania
- The Patriarch of All Bulgaria
Current Patriarchs in Oriental Orthodox Churches:
- Coptic Orthodox Church: The Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria
- Syrian Orthodox Church: The Patriarch of Antioch
- Armenian Orthodox Church:
- The Patriarch of Etchmiadzin and all Armenia/Armenians (the Armenian Catholicos)
- The Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem
- The Patriarch of Cilicia and the Middle East
- Tewahedo Church: The Patriarch of All Ethiopia
- Eritrean Orthodox Church: The Patriarch of All Eritrea
Patriarchs in Nestorian Churches:
- Assyrian Church of the East: The Catholicos Patriarch of Babylon
- Church of the East & Abroad: The Catholicos Patriarch of Jerusalem
Several Theravada Buddhist countries have a position referred to as Supreme Patriarch:
See also
External link
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