A patriarchate is the office or jurisdiction of a patriarch. A patriarch, as the term is used here, is either

• one of the highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, the original five of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Rome and Jerusalem, but now nine, including patriarchs of Serbia, Russia, Georgia, Bulgaria and Romania; or

• one of the eleven highest-ranking bishops of Catholicism: the Pope, the six "patriarchs of the east", and the bishops of Lisbon, Venice, Jerusalem, and the East Indies; or

• one of the specific patriarchs of the various Oriental Orthodox and Nestorian churches.

The original five patriarchs sat in Rome, Constantinople (now called Istanbul for secular purposes, but still called Constantinople in this ecclesiastical context), Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. In the East-West Schism of 1054, the one Latin-speaking patriarchate (Rome) and the four Greek-speaking patriarchates split, forming the hierarchies of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches respectively. The Patriarch of Antioch moved to Damascus in the 13th century, during the reign of the Egyptian Mamelukes, conquerors of Syria. In Damascus a Christian community had flourished since apostolic times (Acts 9). However, the patriarchate is still called the Patriarch of Antioch.

The four orthodox patriarchates of the East, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, along with their counterpart in the West, Rome, are distinguished as "senior" (Greek: ??????????, presbygen?), having had one of the Apostles or Evangelists as their first bishop: Andrew, Mark, Peter, James, and Peter again, respectively.

A patriarchate has "legal personality" in some legal jurisdictions, that means it is treated as a corporation. For example, the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem filed a lawsuit in New York, decided in 1999, against Christie's Auction House, disputing the ownership of the Archimedes Palimpsest.

The head of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church is also called a Patriarch.

See also

• Apostolic See
• Bishop
• Episcopal See
• Holy See

External links

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