Pentarchy
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Pentarchy (from the Greek Πενταρχία, Pentarchía, from πέντε pénte, "five", and ἄρχειν archein, "to rule") is a model of Church organization formulated in the laws of Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565) of the Roman Empire. In this model, the Christian Church is governed by the heads (patriarchs) of the five major episcopal sees of the Roman Empire: Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem.[3]
The idea came about because of the political and ecclesiastical prominence of these five sees, but the concept of their universal and exclusive authority was attached to earlier Hellenistic-Christian ideas of administration.
The greater authority of these sees in relation to others was tied to their political and ecclesiastical prominence; all were located in important cities and regions of the Roman Empire and were important centers of the Christian Church. Rome, Alexandria and Antioch were
Infighting among the sees, and particularly the rivalry between Rome (which considered itself
Tensions between East and West, which culminated in the
Development towards the Pentarchy
Early Christianity
In the
Of the three sees that the
The first records of the exercise of authority by
In Egypt and the nearby African territories the bishop of
Council of Nicaea
The First Council of Nicaea in 325, in whose sixth[16] canon the title "metropolitan" appears for the first time, sanctioned the existing grouping of sees by provinces of the Roman empire,[9] but also recognized that three sees, Alexandria, Antioch and Rome, already had authority over wider areas. In speaking of Antioch, it also spoke generically about "other provinces".
While the Council did not specify the extent of the authority of Rome or Antioch, it clearly indicated the area, even outside its own province of
Immediately after mentioning the special traditions of wider authority of Rome, Alexandria and Antioch, the same canon speaks of the organization under metropolitans, which was also the subject of two previous canons. In this system, the bishop of the capital of each Roman province (the metropolitan) possessed certain rights with regard to the bishops of other cities of the province (suffragans).[9]
In the interpretation of John H. Erickson, the Council saw the special powers of Rome and Alexandria, whose bishops were in effect metropolitans over several provinces, as exceptions to the general rule of organization by provinces, each with its own metropolitan.[18] After the mention of the special traditions of Rome, Alexandria, Antioch and other provinces, canon 6 goes on immediately to speak of the metropolitan form of organization, which was also the topic of the two preceding canons.
This Council's recognition of the special powers of
In its seventh canon, the Council attributed special honour, but not metropolitan authority, to the Bishop of
Later councils
With the imperial capital having moved to
The Council also decreed: "The bishops are not to go beyond their dioceses to churches lying outside of their bounds, nor bring confusion on the churches; but let the Bishop of Alexandria, according to the canons, alone administer the affairs of Egypt; and let the bishops of the East manage the East alone, the privileges of the Church in Antioch, which are mentioned in the canons of Nicea, being preserved; and let the bishops of the Asian Diocese administer the Asian affairs only; and the Pontic bishops only Pontic matters; and the Thracian bishops only Thracian affairs."[23]
The transfer of the capital of the empire from Rome to Constantinople in 330 enabled the latter to free itself from its ecclesiastical dependency on Heraclea and in little more than half a century to obtain this recognition of next-after-Rome ranking from the first Council held within its walls. Alexandria's objections to Constantinople's promotion, which led to a constant struggle between the two sees in the first half of the 5th century,
The Western bishops generally took no part in the First Council of Constantinople with the exception of Ascholius of Thessalonica, who at this time was under Roman jurisdiction.[25] It is popularly believed that it was only until the mid-6th century that the Latin Church recognized it as ecumenical,[22] but the earliest Latin collection of canons (the "Prisca" version) as well as citations of its creed by Pope Leo in his Tome and its canons by his legates during the Council of Chalcedon indicate that it had obtained acceptance long before this point.[26] Archbishop Atticus would do much to expand the jurisdictional reach of Constantinople in the early 5th century.[27]
The
After the Council of Chalcedon (451), the position of the Pentarchy's Patriarchate of Alexandria was weakened by a division in which the great majority of its Christian population followed the form of Christianity that its opponents called Monophysitism.[22]
The Council of Chalcedon (451), which marked a serious defeat of Alexandria, gave recognition, in its 28th canon, to Constantinople's extension of its power over Pontus and Asia in addition to Thrace.[30] The Council justified this decision on the grounds that "the Fathers rightly granted privileges to the throne of old Rome, because it was the royal city", and that the First Council of Constantinople, "actuated by the same consideration, gave equal privileges to the most holy throne of New Rome, justly judging that the city which is honoured with the Sovereignty and the Senate, and enjoys equal privileges with the old imperial Rome, should in ecclesiastical matters also be magnified as she is, and rank next after her".[31]
Pope Leo I, whose delegates were absent when this resolution was passed and who protested against it, recognized the council as ecumenical and confirmed its doctrinal decrees, but rejected canon 28 on the ground that it contravened the sixth canon of Nicaea and infringed the rights of Alexandria and Antioch.[22][32] By that time Constantinople, as the permanent residence of the emperor, had enormous influence.[22]
Canon 9 of the Council declared: "If a bishop or clergyman should have a difference with the metropolitan of the province, let him have recourse to the Exarch of the Diocese, or to the throne of the Imperial City of Constantinople, and there let it be tried." This has been interpreted as conferring on the see of Constantinople a greater privilege than what any council ever gave Rome (Johnson) or as of much lesser significance than that (Hefele).[33]
Thus in little more than a hundred years the structural arrangement by provinces envisaged by the First Council of Nicaea was, according to John H. Erickson, transformed into a system of five large divisions headed by the bishops of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. He does not use for these divisions the term patriarchate because the term patriarch as a uniform term for the heads of the divisions came into use only in the time of Emperor Justinian I in the following century, and because there is little suggestion that the divisions were regarded as quasi-sovereign entities, as patriarchates are in Eastern Orthodox ecclesiology.[34] Because of the decision of the Council of Ephesus, Cyprus maintained its independence from the Antioch division, and the arrangement did not apply outside the empire, where separate "catholicates" developed in Mesopotamia and Armenia.[22]
Formulation of the pentarchy theory
The basic principles of the pentarchy theory, which, according to the Byzantinist historian Milton V. Anastos,[36] "reached its highest development in the period from the eleventh century to the middle of the fifteenth", go back to the 6th-century Justinian I, who often stressed the importance of all five of the patriarchates mentioned, especially in the formulation of dogma.[19]
Justinian was the first to use (in 531) the title of "patriarch" to designate exclusively the bishops of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, setting the bishops of these five sees on a level superior to that of metropolitans.[22][37]
Justinian's scheme for a renovatio imperii (renewal of the empire) included, as well as ecclesiastical matters, a rewriting of Roman law in the Corpus Juris Civilis and an only partially successful reconquest of the West, including the city of Rome.[22][38]
When in 680 Constantine IV called the Third Council of Constantinople, he summoned the metropolitans and other bishops of the jurisdiction of Constantinople; but since there were representatives of all five bishops to whom Justinian had given the title of Patriarch, the Council declared itself ecumenical.[39] This has been interpreted as signifying that a council is ecumenical if attended by representatives of all five patriarchs.[22]
The first Council classified (in the East, but not in the West, which did not participate in it) as ecumenical that mentioned together all five sees of the pentarchy in the order indicated by Justinian I is the Council in Trullo of 692, which was called by Justinian II: "Renewing the enactments by the 150 Fathers assembled at the God-protected and imperial city, and those of the 630 who met at Chalcedon; we decree that the see of Constantinople shall have equal privileges with the see of Old Rome, and shall be highly regarded in ecclesiastical matters as that is, and shall be second after it. After Constantinople shall be ranked the See of Alexandria, then that of Antioch, and afterwards the See of Jerusalem."[40]
The 7th and 8th centuries saw an increasing attribution of significance to the pentarchy as the five pillars of the Church upholding its infallibility: it was held to be impossible that all five should at the same time be in error.[22] They were compared to the five senses of the human body, all equal and entirely independent of each other, and none with ascendancy over the others.[19]
The Byzantine view of the pentarchy had a strongly anti-Roman orientation, being put forward against the Roman claim to the final word on all Church matters and to the right to judge even the patriarchs.
The principal adviser of the two last-named popes, Anastasius Bibliothecarius, accepted the Byzantine comparison of the pentarchy with the five senses of the human body, but added the qualification that the patriarchate of Rome, which he likened to the sense of sight, ruled the other four.[19]
While the theory of the pentarchy is still upheld by the Greek Orthodox Church successor to the Byzantine Church, it is questioned by other Eastern Orthodox, who view it as "a highly artificial theory, never implemented until the great 5c. debates over Christology had removed the Alexandrian (Coptic) Church from communion and fatally split the weakened Church of Antioch. In addition the theory's insistence on the sovereignty of these five patriarchs was at least debatable".[42]
The five ancient Patriarchates, (the Pentarchy), listed in order of preeminence ranked by the Quinisext Council in 692:
Title | Church | Recognition / Additional notes |
---|---|---|
Patriarch of Rome | the Pope of Rome | Originally the Great Schism in 1054 .
|
Patriarch of Constantinople | the chief of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople
|
The post-Schism Eastern Orthodoxy, recognized in 381 by First Council of Constantinople .
|
Patriarch of Alexandria
|
the Pope of All Africa and the chief of the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria
|
Recognized in 325 by First Council of Nicaea. |
Patriarch of Antioch
|
the head of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and All the East in the Near East
|
Recognized in 325 by First Council of Nicaea. |
Patriarch of Jerusalem | the chief of the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem in Israel, Palestine, Jordan and All Arabia
|
Recognized in 451 by Council of Chalcedon. |
After the East–West Schism
Papal primacy, supremacy and infallibility |
---|
By 661, the Muslim
Nearly all the Byzantine writers who treated the subject of the pentarchy assumed that Constantinople, as the seat of the ruler of the empire and therefore of the world, was the highest among the patriarchates and, like the emperor, had the right to govern them.
Thus, for the Byzantines of the first half of the second millennium, the government of the Christian Church was a primacy belonging to the patriarchate of Constantinople, which however was choosing not to insist on it with regard to the west. This was illustrated by
Rise of other patriarchates
The Patriarchate of Constantinople recognized the patriarchal status of the
Today the Eastern Orthodox Church includes nine patriarchates:
Within the Catholic Church, in addition to Rome itself and
Lastly, there’s also the Patriarchate of the West Indies, which has been vacant since 1963.[citation needed]
The Western Catholic patriarchates are not autocephalous, like their Eastern Catholic counterparts; they are largely honorific titles, and the other patriarchs are all subject to the Patriarch of Rome, i.e. the Pope.[citation needed]
Outside views
The
Current patriarchs of the five sees
The following are the current archbishops of the Pentarchal sees, along with the churches that recognize them.
See | Catholic Church | Eastern Orthodox Church | Oriental Orthodox Church |
---|---|---|---|
Rome | Francis (Latin Church) | None | None |
Constantinople | None | Bartholomew I (Church of Constantinople )
|
Sahak II Mashalian (Armenian Apostolic Church) |
Alexandria | Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak (Coptic Catholic Church) | Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria )
|
Tawadros II (Coptic Orthodox Church) |
Antioch | Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch )
|
Ignatius Aphrem II (Syriac Orthodox Church) | |
Jerusalem | Pierbattista Pizzaballa (Latin Church) | Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem )
|
Nourhan Manougian (Armenian Apostolic Church) |
See also
References
- ISBN 9780226284613.
- ^ A. P. Vlasto, The Entry of the Slavs into Christendom (Cambridge University Press, 1970), p. 308
- ^ "Pentarchy". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
The proposed government of universal Christendom by five patriarchal sees under the auspices of a single universal empire. Formulated in the legislation of the emperor Justinian I (527–65), especially in his Novella 131 (De regulis ecclesiasticis etc., caput III), the theory received formal ecclesiastical sanction at the Council in Trullo (692), which ranked the five sees as Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem.
- ^ "How". 2006-05-25. Archived from the original on 2006-05-25. Retrieved 2021-08-11.
- ^ https://droitromain.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/Corpus/Nov131.htm ; "sancimus secundum earum [scil. a sanctis quattuor conciliis] definitiones sanctissimum senioris Romae papam primum esse omnium sacerdotum, beatissimum autem archiepiscopum Constantinopoleos Novae Romae secundum habere locum post sanctam apostolicam sedem senioris Romae, aliis autem omnibus sedibus praeponatur."; "we order that, according what decided by them [the Councils of Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus and Chalcedon] the pope of Rome shall be the first of all priests, then the very blessed archbishop of Constantinople New Rome shall have the second place after the holy, senior apostolic seat of Rome, by them all other seats shall be outranked."
- ^ Chamber's Encyclopaedia (Lippincott 1877), p. 92
- ^ The Cambridge Medieval History, vol. IV, p. 246
- ^ "Quinisext Council". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 14 February 2010. "The Western Church and the Pope were not represented at the council. Justinian, however, wanted the Pope as well as the Eastern bishops to sign the canons. Pope Sergius I (687–701) refused to sign, and the canons were never fully accepted by the Western Church".
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3), s.v. metropolitan
- ^ Fr. Nicholas Afanassieff: "The Primacy of Peter" Ch. 4, pgs. 126–127 (c. 1992)
- ^ a b Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005, article Clement of Rome, St
- ^ Eusebius Pamphilius: Church History, Life of Constantine, Oration in Praise of Constantine, Ch. XXIV
- ^ "The Church of Antioch". Catholic Encyclopedia; New Advent. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
- ^ "The Church of Alexandria". Catholic Encyclopedia; New Advent. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
- ISBN 978-1-6667-4063-9.
- ^ "Documents from the First Council of Nicea". Fordham University. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
- ^ "The ancient customs of Egypt, Libya and Pentapolis shall be maintained, according to which the bishop of Alexandria has authority over all these places since a similar custom exists with reference to the bishop of Rome. Similarly in Antioch and the other provinces the prerogatives of the churches are to be preserved. In general the following principle is evident: if anyone is made bishop without the consent of the metropolitan, this great synod determines that such a one shall not be a bishop. If however two or three by reason of personal rivalry dissent from the common vote of all, provided it is reasonable and in accordance with the church's canon, the vote of the majority shall prevail" (Canon 6).
- ^ Erickson 1991, p. 94.
- ^ ISBN 0-86078-840-7
- ^ "Since there prevails a custom and ancient tradition to the effect that the bishop of Aelia is to be honoured, let him be granted everything consequent upon this honour, saving the dignity proper to the metropolitan" (Canon 7)
- ^ "NPNF2-14. The Seven Ecumenical Councils – Christian Classics Ethereal Library". CCEL.org. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "L'idea di pentarchia nella cristianità". Homolaicus.com. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ "NPNF2-14. The Seven Ecumenical Councils – Christian Classics Ethereal Library". CCEL.org. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ "Zweiter Hauptteil Unterschiedliche Einheitsfunktion in Ost und West". Sankt-Georgen.de (in German). 27 August 2003. Archived from the original on 10 January 2007. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ "Ambrose, Letter 13, FF. 21. St. Ambrose of Milan, Letters (1881). pp. 67–137. Letters 11–20". Tertullian.org. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ "Did Rome Accept Constantinople I Before Chalcedon?". OrthodoxChristianTheology.com. 30 June 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ Venables 1911 cites Socr. vii. 25, 28, 37.
- ^ "NPNF2-14. The Seven Ecumenical Councils – Christian Classics Ethereal Library". CCEL.org. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ Erickson 1991, p. 96.
- ^ Erickson 1991, p. 97.
- ^ "NPNF2-14. The Seven Ecumenical Councils – Christian Classics Ethereal Library". CCEL.org. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 803.
- ^ "NPNF2-14. The Seven Ecumenical Councils – Christian Classics Ethereal Library". CCEL.org. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ Erickson 1991, pp. 96–97.
- ^ Synthesis between the background File:Blank_map_of_South_Europe_and_North_Africa.svg and Michaël Buecker's [1]
- ^ An account of his distinguished academic career is found in Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 143, No 3, September 1999 Archived 2017-04-17 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, s.v. patriarch (ecclesiastical), also calls it "a title dating from the 6th century, for the bishops of the five great sees of Christendom". And Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions says: "Five patriarchates, collectively called the pentarchy, were the first to be recognized by the legislation of the emperor Justinian (reigned 527–565)".
- ^ "Justinian I, East Roman Emperor – Timeline Index". TimelineIndex.com. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ "NPNF2-14. The Seven Ecumenical Councils – Christian Classics Ethereal Library". CCEL.org. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ "NPNF2-14. The Seven Ecumenical Councils – Christian Classics Ethereal Library". CCEL.org. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ^ "CHURCH FATHERS: Letter 14 (Leo the Great)". NewAdvent.org. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
- ISBN 978-1-4616-6403-1.
- ^ Encyclopædia Britannica: Leo III
- ^ Kiminas 2009, p. 15.
- ^ Kiminas 2009, pp. 16–17.
- ^ Kiminas 2009, p. 19.
- ^ McCormack, Alan (1997). "The Term "privilege": A Textual Study of Its Meaning and Use in the 1983 Code of Canon Law". Gregorian Biblical BookShop. p. 184. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
Sources
- ISBN 9780881410860.
- Erickson, John H. (1992). "The Local Churches and Catholicity: An Orthodox Perspective". The Jurist. 52: 490–508.
- Kiminas, Demetrius (2009). The Ecumenical Patriarchate: A History of Its Metropolitanates with Annotated Hierarch Catalogs. Wildside Press LLC. ISBN 9781434458766.
- ISBN 9780881410563.
- ISBN 9780881411348.
- Pheidas, Blasios I. (2005). "Papal Primacy and Patriarchal Pentarchy in the Orthodox Tradition". The Petrine Ministry: Catholics and Orthodox in Dialogue. New York: The Newman Press. ISBN 9780809143344.
External links
- Milton V. Anastos, Aspects of the Mind of Byzantium (Political Theory, Theology, and Ecclesiastical Relations with the See of Rome), Ashgate Publications, Variorum Collected Studies Series, 2001. ISBN 0-86078-840-7
- L'idea di pentarchia nella cristianità
- Encyclopædia Britannica: Pentarchy
- Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of World Religions: An A–Z Guide to the World's Religions, by Wendy Doniger, M. Webster (Merriam–Webster, 1999 ISBN 978-0-87779-044-0): Patriarch
- Catholic Encyclopedia: Patriarch and Patriarchate