Exarch
Encyclopedia
In the Byzantine Empire
, an exarch (icon; exarchos) was governor with extended authority of a province at some remove from the capital Constantinople. The prevailing situation frequently involved him in military operations.
In the Eastern Christian Churches (Orthodox
, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic), the term exarch has two distinct uses: the deputy of a patriarch, or a bishop who holds authority over other bishops without being a patriarch (thus, a position between that of patriarch and metropolitan); or, a bishop appointed over a group of the faithful not yet large enough or organized enough to be constituted an eparchy/diocese (thus the equivalent of a vicar apostolic).
, which would lead eventually to the creation of the Theme system by emperor Heraclius
.
After the dissolution of the Western Empire in 476, the Eastern Roman Empire remained stable through the beginning of the Middle Ages and retained the ability for future expansion. Justinian I
reconquered North Africa, Italy, Dalmatia and finally parts of Spain for the Eastern Roman Empire. However, this put an incredible strain on the Empire's limited resources. Subsequent emperors would not surrender the re-conquered land to remedy the situation. Thus the stage was set for Emperor Maurice
to establish the Exarchates to deal with the constantly evolving situation of the provinces.
In Italy the Lombards
were the main opposition to Byzantine
power. In North Africa the Amazigh or Berber
princes were ascendant due to Roman weakness outside the coastal cities. The problems associated with many enemies on various fronts (the Visigoths in Spain, the Slavs and Avars
in the Balkans, the Sassanid Persians in the Middle East, and the Amazigh in North Africa) forced the imperial government to decentralize and devolve power to the former provinces.
The term Exarch most commonly refers to the Exarch of Italy, who governed the area of Italy and Dalmatia, still remaining under Byzantine control after the Lombard
invasion of 568. The exarchate's seat was at Ravenna, whence it is known as the "Exarchate of Ravenna
". Ravenna remained the seat of the Exarch until the revolt of 727 over Iconoclasm
. Thereafter, the growing menace of the Lombards
and the split between eastern and western Christendom
that Iconoclasm caused made the position of the Exarch more and more untenable. The last Exarch was killed by the Lombards in 751.
A second exarchate was created by Maurice to administer northern Africa, formerly a separate praetorian prefecture
, the islands of the western Mediterranean and the Byzantine possessions in Spain
. The capital of the Exarchate of Africa
was Carthage
. The exarchate proved both financially and militarily strong, and survived until the Arab Muslim conquest of Carthage in 698.
(451), which gave special authority to the see of Constantinople, as being "the residence of the emperor and the Senate," still did not use the term "patriarch", but in its ninth canon still spoke only of "exarchs". When the proposed government of universal Christendom by five patriarchal sees (Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, known as the pentarchy
), under the auspices of a single universal empire, was formulated in the legislation of Emperor Justinian I (527-565), especially in his Novella 131, and received formal ecclesiastical sanction at the Council in Trullo (692), the name "patriarch" became the official one for the Bishops of these sees, and the title "Exarch" remained the proper style of the metropolitans who ruled over the three remaining (political) dioceses of Diocletian's division of the Eastern Prefecture, namely the Exarchs of Asia (at Ephesus
), of Cappadocia and Pontus (at Caesarea), and of Thrace (at Heraclea Sintica
). The advance of Constantinople put an end to these exarchates, which fell back to the state of ordinary metropolitan sees (Fortescue, Orthodox Eastern Church, 21-25). But the title of exarch was still occasionally used for any Metropolitan (so at Sardica in 343, can. vi).
The principle became that, since no addition should be made to the fixed number of five patriarchs of the pentarchy, any bishop with authority over other bishops who was not dependent on any one of these five should be called an exarch. Thus, since the Church of Cyprus was declared autocephalous (at Ephesus in 431), its Primate received the title of Exarch of Cyprus.
The short-lived medieval Churches of Ipek
(for Serbia), Achrida (for Bulgaria) and Tirnova
(for Bulgaria), were governed by exarchs, though these prelates occasionally assumed the title of patriarch (Fortescue, Orthodox Eastern Church, 305 sq. 317 sq., 328 sq.). On the same principle the Archbishop of Mount Sinai and Raithu
is an exarch, though in this case, as in that of Cyprus, modern Orthodox usage generally prefers the title "Archbishop".
After imperial Russia destroyed in 1802 the old independent Georgian Church (autocephalous since 750, and whose head was since 1008 styled Catholicos-Patriarchs of Iberia, i.e. the Caucacus), the Primate of Georgia (always a Russian) sat in the Holy Synod at St. Petersburg with the title of Exarch of Georgia (Fortescue, Orthodox Eastern Church, 304-305). On 7 April 1917 the Georgian Patriarchate was restored for the Archbishops of Mtsheta and Tbilisi, with the style Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia; in 1943 its autocephaly was recognized by Russia, and on 3 March 1990 the Georgian Patriarchate was recognized by Constantinople.
After the dismembering of the Ottoman Empire, which like the Byzantine empire had ruled most of Orthodoxy (allowing quite some autonomy under the millet system - see Ethnarch
), the pentarchy-number principle, already abandoned in the case of Russia
, gave way to the desire of the now politically independent orthodox nations to see their sovereignty reflected in ecclsiastical autonomy - autocephaly - and the symbolic title to crown it: a 'national' Patriarch. There are now about twenty Patriarchs.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church
, an Exarch is now a deputy of a Patriarch
. In many cases he rules on behalf of the Patriarch a Church outside the home territory of the Patriarchate. Thus, in the United States of America, there are Exarchs representing, among others, the Serbian, Romanian, Bulgarian and Jerusalem Patriarchs. The style of the Exarchs of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem is "Exarch of the Holy Sepulcher".
The Mexican Orthodox parishes in five deaneries (Mexico City, D.F., State of Mexico, State of Jalisco, State of Veracruz and State of Chipas) of the Orthodox Church in America
are governed as the "Exarchate of Mexico," with Archbishop Dmitri of Dallas and the South serving as Exarch of Mexico concurrently with his responsibilities for the southern United States
. http://www.oca.org/CAdioceseMX.asp?SID=8
The Oriental Orthodox
Patriarch of Antioch currently has under his authority an Exarch in India, known by the ancient title Maphrian
, although he is popularly referred to as Catholicos
. This is not to be confused with the autocephalous Catholicate of the East
, which is also located in India.
. The Orthodox Church in Bulgaria
had now become independent of the Greek-dominated Patriarchate of Constantinople. For more information see Bulgarian Exarchate
and Bulgarian Orthodox Church
.
In Eastern Catholic Churches (of Eastern tradition but in full communion
with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope), the ecclesiastical title of Exarch is in common use.
These Churches are, in general, not identified with a particular liturgical rite. Thus, no less than fourteen of them use the one same Byzantine Rite
, mostly in one or other of only two languages, Greek and Church Slavonic, but they maintain their distinct identities. The use of the word "Rite" (with upper-case R) to refer to these Churches has largely, though not altogether, fallen into disuse and can lead to confusion with the liturgical sense of the word "rite" (see Eastern Catholic Churches). Because of population shifts, half or so of these Churches have not just exarchates but full-scale eparchies
or even archeparchies outside their original territory.
An Apostolic Exarch is a Bishop of a titular see to whom the Pope, as Bishop of the Roman See of the Apostle Peter
, has entrusted the pastoral care of the faithful of an autonomous particular Church
in an area, not raised to the rank of eparchy, that is situated outside the home territory of an Eastern Church. An Apostolic Exarch thus corresponds to what in the Latin Rite is called a Vicar Apostolic. These exarchates are generally immediately subject to the Holy See, with limited oversight by the patriarch, major archbishop, or metropolitan of the Eastern Church.
Patriarch
s and Major Archbishop
s may also appoint Exarchs (not always bishops). These Patriarchal or Archiepiscopal Exarchs are limited to the traditional territory of their church. They may be suffragan to an archdiocese or archeparchy of the Eastern Church, or be immediately subject to the patriarch or major archbishop.
The following Eastern Catholic exarchates can be found in the 2006 Annuario Pontificio
and newer sources.
, in Ukraine:
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
, an exarch (icon; exarchos) was governor with extended authority of a province at some remove from the capital Constantinople. The prevailing situation frequently involved him in military operations.
In the Eastern Christian Churches (Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic), the term exarch has two distinct uses: the deputy of a patriarch, or a bishop who holds authority over other bishops without being a patriarch (thus, a position between that of patriarch and metropolitan); or, a bishop appointed over a group of the faithful not yet large enough or organized enough to be constituted an eparchy/diocese (thus the equivalent of a vicar apostolic).
Byzantine Empire
In the civil administration of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire the exarch was, as stated above, the viceroy of a large and important province. The Exarchates were a response to weakening imperial authority in the provinces and were part of the overall process of unification of civil and military offices, initiated in early form by Justinian IJustinian I
Justinian I ; , ; 483– 13 or 14 November 565), commonly known as Justinian the Great, was Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire.One of the most important figures of...
, which would lead eventually to the creation of the Theme system by emperor Heraclius
Heraclius
Heraclius was Byzantine Emperor from 610 to 641.He was responsible for introducing Greek as the empire's official language. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, successfully led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas.Heraclius'...
.
After the dissolution of the Western Empire in 476, the Eastern Roman Empire remained stable through the beginning of the Middle Ages and retained the ability for future expansion. Justinian I
Justinian I
Justinian I ; , ; 483– 13 or 14 November 565), commonly known as Justinian the Great, was Byzantine Emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the classical Roman Empire.One of the most important figures of...
reconquered North Africa, Italy, Dalmatia and finally parts of Spain for the Eastern Roman Empire. However, this put an incredible strain on the Empire's limited resources. Subsequent emperors would not surrender the re-conquered land to remedy the situation. Thus the stage was set for Emperor Maurice
Maurice (emperor)
Maurice was Byzantine Emperor from 582 to 602.A prominent general in his youth, Maurice fought with success against the Sassanid Persians...
to establish the Exarchates to deal with the constantly evolving situation of the provinces.
In Italy the Lombards
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
were the main opposition to Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
power. In North Africa the Amazigh or Berber
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
princes were ascendant due to Roman weakness outside the coastal cities. The problems associated with many enemies on various fronts (the Visigoths in Spain, the Slavs and Avars
Eurasian Avars
The Eurasian Avars or Ancient Avars were a highly organized nomadic confederacy of mixed origins. They were ruled by a khagan, who was surrounded by a tight-knit entourage of nomad warriors, an organization characteristic of Turko-Mongol groups...
in the Balkans, the Sassanid Persians in the Middle East, and the Amazigh in North Africa) forced the imperial government to decentralize and devolve power to the former provinces.
The term Exarch most commonly refers to the Exarch of Italy, who governed the area of Italy and Dalmatia, still remaining under Byzantine control after the Lombard
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
invasion of 568. The exarchate's seat was at Ravenna, whence it is known as the "Exarchate of Ravenna
Exarchate of Ravenna
The Exarchate of Ravenna or of Italy was a centre of Byzantine power in Italy, from the end of the 6th century to 751, when the last exarch was put to death by the Lombards.-Introduction:...
". Ravenna remained the seat of the Exarch until the revolt of 727 over Iconoclasm
Iconoclasm
Iconoclasm is the deliberate destruction of religious icons and other symbols or monuments, usually with religious or political motives. It is a frequent component of major political or religious changes...
. Thereafter, the growing menace of the Lombards
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
and the split between eastern and western Christendom
Christendom
Christendom, or the Christian world, has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Christians, adherents of Christianity...
that Iconoclasm caused made the position of the Exarch more and more untenable. The last Exarch was killed by the Lombards in 751.
A second exarchate was created by Maurice to administer northern Africa, formerly a separate praetorian prefecture
Praetorian prefecture of Africa
The praetorian prefecture of Africa was a major administrative division of the Eastern Roman Empire, established after the reconquest of northwestern Africa from the Vandals in 533-534 by emperor Justinian I...
, the islands of the western Mediterranean and the Byzantine possessions in Spain
Spania
Spania was a province of the Roman Empire from 552 until 624 in the south of the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands. It was a part of the conquests of Roman Emperor Justinian I in an effort to restore the western half of the Empire....
. The capital of the Exarchate of Africa
Exarchate of Africa
The Exarchate of Africa or of Carthage, after its capital, was the name of an administrative division of the Eastern Roman Empire encompassing its possessions on the Western Mediterranean, ruled by an exarch, or viceroy...
was Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
. The exarchate proved both financially and militarily strong, and survived until the Arab Muslim conquest of Carthage in 698.
Early tradition
The term exarch entered ecclesiastical language at first for a metropolitan (a bishop) with jurisdiction not only for the area that was his as a metropolitan, but also over other metropolitans. The Council of ChalcedonCouncil of Chalcedon
The Council of Chalcedon was a church council held from 8 October to 1 November, 451 AD, at Chalcedon , on the Asian side of the Bosporus. The council marked a significant turning point in the Christological debates that led to the separation of the church of the Eastern Roman Empire in the 5th...
(451), which gave special authority to the see of Constantinople, as being "the residence of the emperor and the Senate," still did not use the term "patriarch", but in its ninth canon still spoke only of "exarchs". When the proposed government of universal Christendom by five patriarchal sees (Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, known as the pentarchy
Pentarchy
Pentarchy is a term in the history of Christianity for the idea of universal rule over all Christendom by the heads of five major episcopal sees, or patriarchates, of the Roman Empire: Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem...
), under the auspices of a single universal empire, was formulated in the legislation of Emperor Justinian I (527-565), especially in his Novella 131, and received formal ecclesiastical sanction at the Council in Trullo (692), the name "patriarch" became the official one for the Bishops of these sees, and the title "Exarch" remained the proper style of the metropolitans who ruled over the three remaining (political) dioceses of Diocletian's division of the Eastern Prefecture, namely the Exarchs of Asia (at Ephesus
Ephesus
Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...
), of Cappadocia and Pontus (at Caesarea), and of Thrace (at Heraclea Sintica
Heraclea Sintica
Heraclea Sintica was an ancient Greekcity in Thracian Macedonia, to the south of the Struma River, the site of which is marked by the village of Rupite, Bulgaria, and which was identified by the discovery of local coins....
). The advance of Constantinople put an end to these exarchates, which fell back to the state of ordinary metropolitan sees (Fortescue, Orthodox Eastern Church, 21-25). But the title of exarch was still occasionally used for any Metropolitan (so at Sardica in 343, can. vi).
The principle became that, since no addition should be made to the fixed number of five patriarchs of the pentarchy, any bishop with authority over other bishops who was not dependent on any one of these five should be called an exarch. Thus, since the Church of Cyprus was declared autocephalous (at Ephesus in 431), its Primate received the title of Exarch of Cyprus.
The short-lived medieval Churches of Ipek
Ipek
-Places:* Birinci İpək, also called Ipec-1, in Azerbaijan* İkinci İpək, also called Ipec-2, in Azerbaijan* Ipek, the Turkish name of Peć, a city in Kosovo...
(for Serbia), Achrida (for Bulgaria) and Tirnova
Tîrnova
Tîrnova may refer to several places in Moldova:* Tîrnova, a commune in Donduşeni district* Tîrnova, a commune in Edineţ district...
(for Bulgaria), were governed by exarchs, though these prelates occasionally assumed the title of patriarch (Fortescue, Orthodox Eastern Church, 305 sq. 317 sq., 328 sq.). On the same principle the Archbishop of Mount Sinai and Raithu
Archbishop of Mount Sinai and Raithu
The following is a list of Orthodox Archbishops of Mount Sinai and Raithu. It is an autocephalous Julian Calendar Orthodox Church....
is an exarch, though in this case, as in that of Cyprus, modern Orthodox usage generally prefers the title "Archbishop".
Modern Orthodox churches
When the Bulgarians reconstituted their national Church in 1870, they obtained from the Ottoman authorities for its head the title of Exarch, not the highest, that of Patriarch. The Bulgarian Exarch, who resided at Constantinople, was then the most famous bearer of the title; adherents throughout Macedonia were called exarchists, as opposed to the Greek patriarchists.After imperial Russia destroyed in 1802 the old independent Georgian Church (autocephalous since 750, and whose head was since 1008 styled Catholicos-Patriarchs of Iberia, i.e. the Caucacus), the Primate of Georgia (always a Russian) sat in the Holy Synod at St. Petersburg with the title of Exarch of Georgia (Fortescue, Orthodox Eastern Church, 304-305). On 7 April 1917 the Georgian Patriarchate was restored for the Archbishops of Mtsheta and Tbilisi, with the style Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia; in 1943 its autocephaly was recognized by Russia, and on 3 March 1990 the Georgian Patriarchate was recognized by Constantinople.
After the dismembering of the Ottoman Empire, which like the Byzantine empire had ruled most of Orthodoxy (allowing quite some autonomy under the millet system - see Ethnarch
Ethnarch
Ethnarch, pronounced , the anglicized form of ethnarches refers generally to political leadership over a common ethnic group or homogeneous kingdom. The word is derived from the Greek words and ....
), the pentarchy-number principle, already abandoned in the case of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, gave way to the desire of the now politically independent orthodox nations to see their sovereignty reflected in ecclsiastical autonomy - autocephaly - and the symbolic title to crown it: a 'national' Patriarch. There are now about twenty Patriarchs.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
, an Exarch is now a deputy of a Patriarch
Patriarch
Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is called patriarchy. This is a Greek word, a compound of πατριά , "lineage, descent", esp...
. In many cases he rules on behalf of the Patriarch a Church outside the home territory of the Patriarchate. Thus, in the United States of America, there are Exarchs representing, among others, the Serbian, Romanian, Bulgarian and Jerusalem Patriarchs. The style of the Exarchs of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem is "Exarch of the Holy Sepulcher".
The Mexican Orthodox parishes in five deaneries (Mexico City, D.F., State of Mexico, State of Jalisco, State of Veracruz and State of Chipas) of the Orthodox Church in America
Orthodox Church in America
The Orthodox Church in America is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in North America. Its primate is Metropolitan Jonah , who was elected on November 12, 2008, and was formally installed on December 28, 2008...
are governed as the "Exarchate of Mexico," with Archbishop Dmitri of Dallas and the South serving as Exarch of Mexico concurrently with his responsibilities for the southern United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. http://www.oca.org/CAdioceseMX.asp?SID=8
The Oriental Orthodox
Oriental Orthodoxy
Oriental Orthodoxy is the faith of those Eastern Christian Churches that recognize only three ecumenical councils — the First Council of Nicaea, the First Council of Constantinople and the First Council of Ephesus. They rejected the dogmatic definitions of the Council of Chalcedon...
Patriarch of Antioch currently has under his authority an Exarch in India, known by the ancient title Maphrian
Maphrian
The Maphrian was historically the prelate in the Syriac Orthodox Church who ranked second in the hierarchy after the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch. The Maphrian, whose title literally means "one who bears fruit", i.e. "consecrator", was originally the head of the church in Persia and the...
, although he is popularly referred to as Catholicos
Catholicos
Catholicos, plural Catholicoi, is a title used for the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and in some cases is borne by the designated head of an autonomous church, in which case the holder might have other titles such as Patriarch...
. This is not to be confused with the autocephalous Catholicate of the East
Catholicos of the East
Catholicos of the East is an ecclesiastical title used historically by the Church of the East and the Syriac Orthodox Church, and now used in successor churches. The title Catholicos, or "universal leader", is used in several Eastern Christian churches and implies a degree of sovereignty and...
, which is also located in India.
Bulgarian Exarchate
On 28 February 1870 the twenty-year old struggle between Greeks and Bulgarians for the control of the Orthodox Church in Bulgaria culminated when the Ottoman Sultan Abd-ul-Aziz created an independent Bulgarian ecclesiastical organisation, known as the Bulgarian ExarchateBulgarian Exarchate
The Bulgarian Exarchate was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953....
. The Orthodox Church in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
had now become independent of the Greek-dominated Patriarchate of Constantinople. For more information see Bulgarian Exarchate
Bulgarian Exarchate
The Bulgarian Exarchate was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953....
and Bulgarian Orthodox Church
Bulgarian Orthodox Church
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church with some 6.5 million members in the Republic of Bulgaria and between 1.5 and 2.0 million members in a number of European countries, the Americas and Australia...
.
Sui generis uses
- After Russian Emperor Peter the Great abolished the Patriarchate of Moscow (1702), he appointed, for twenty years before he founded the Russian Holy Directing Synod, a vice-gerent with the title of Exarch as president of a temporary governing commission.
- The third officer of the court of the Patriarch of Constantinople, who examines marriage cases (analogous to the Catholic defensor matrimonii), is called the Exarch.
Modern Eastern Catholic churches
Historically, there have been a very few cases of the civil title of Exarch granted by the civil authority to prelates of the Latin Church, as when Emperor Frederick I named the Archbishop of Lyon Exarch of Burgundy in 1157. However, the ecclesiastical title of Exarch has disappeared in the Western Catholic Church, being replaced by the terms "Primate" and "Vicar Apostolic".In Eastern Catholic Churches (of Eastern tradition but in full communion
Communion (Christian)
The term communion is derived from Latin communio . The corresponding term in Greek is κοινωνία, which is often translated as "fellowship". In Christianity, the basic meaning of the term communion is an especially close relationship of Christians, as individuals or as a Church, with God and with...
with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope), the ecclesiastical title of Exarch is in common use.
These Churches are, in general, not identified with a particular liturgical rite. Thus, no less than fourteen of them use the one same Byzantine Rite
Byzantine Rite
The Byzantine Rite, sometimes called the Rite of Constantinople or Constantinopolitan Rite is the liturgical rite used currently by all the Eastern Orthodox Churches, by the Greek Catholic Churches , and by the Protestant Ukrainian Lutheran Church...
, mostly in one or other of only two languages, Greek and Church Slavonic, but they maintain their distinct identities. The use of the word "Rite" (with upper-case R) to refer to these Churches has largely, though not altogether, fallen into disuse and can lead to confusion with the liturgical sense of the word "rite" (see Eastern Catholic Churches). Because of population shifts, half or so of these Churches have not just exarchates but full-scale eparchies
Eparchy
Eparchy is an anglicized Greek word , authentically Latinized as eparchia and loosely translating as 'rule over something,' like province, prefecture, or territory, to have the jurisdiction over, it has specific meanings both in politics, history and in the hierarchy of the Eastern Christian...
or even archeparchies outside their original territory.
An Apostolic Exarch is a Bishop of a titular see to whom the Pope, as Bishop of the Roman See of the Apostle Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
, has entrusted the pastoral care of the faithful of an autonomous particular Church
Particular Church
In Catholic canon law, a Particular Church is an ecclesial community headed by a bishop or someone recognised as the equivalent of a bishop.There are two kinds of particular Churches:# Local particular Churches ...
in an area, not raised to the rank of eparchy, that is situated outside the home territory of an Eastern Church. An Apostolic Exarch thus corresponds to what in the Latin Rite is called a Vicar Apostolic. These exarchates are generally immediately subject to the Holy See, with limited oversight by the patriarch, major archbishop, or metropolitan of the Eastern Church.
Patriarch
Patriarch
Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is called patriarchy. This is a Greek word, a compound of πατριά , "lineage, descent", esp...
s and Major Archbishop
Major Archbishop
right|200 px|thumb|Archbishop [[Sviatoslav Shevchuk]], Major Archbishop of Kyiv-HalychIn the Eastern Catholic Churches, major archbishop is a title for an hierarch to whose archiepiscopal see is granted the same jurisdiction in his autonomous particular Church that an Eastern patriarch has in...
s may also appoint Exarchs (not always bishops). These Patriarchal or Archiepiscopal Exarchs are limited to the traditional territory of their church. They may be suffragan to an archdiocese or archeparchy of the Eastern Church, or be immediately subject to the patriarch or major archbishop.
The following Eastern Catholic exarchates can be found in the 2006 Annuario Pontificio
Annuario Pontificio
The Annuario Pontificio is the annual directory of the Holy See. It lists all the popes to date and all officials of the Holy See's departments...
and newer sources.
Apostolic exarchates
- Armenian Catholic ChurchArmenian Catholic Church|- |The Armenian Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church sui juris in union with the other Eastern Rite, Oriental Rite and Latin Rite Catholics who accept the Bishop of Rome as spiritual leader of the Church. It is regulated by Eastern canon law...
: Lebanon - Bulgarian Greek Catholic ChurchBulgarian Greek Catholic ChurchThe Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church is a Byzantine Rite sui juris particular Church in full union with the Roman Catholic Church.-Middle Ages:...
: Sofia (Bulgaria) - Croatian Byzantine Catholic ChurchEparchy of KriževciThe Eparchy of Križevci, sometimes referred to as the Croatian Greek Catholic Church or the Croatian Byzantine Catholic Church, is a recognized sui iuris Catholic Church listed in the Annuario Pontificio among the Eastern Catholic Churches of Constantinopolitan or Byzantine tradition as the Church...
:- Church of the Byzantines of the Eparchy of KriževciEparchy of KriževciThe Eparchy of Križevci, sometimes referred to as the Croatian Greek Catholic Church or the Croatian Byzantine Catholic Church, is a recognized sui iuris Catholic Church listed in the Annuario Pontificio among the Eastern Catholic Churches of Constantinopolitan or Byzantine tradition as the Church...
(Croatia) - Apostolic Exarchate of Serbia and MontenegroApostolic Exarchate of Serbia and MontenegroThe Apostolic Exarchate of Serbia and Montenegro is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction for Eastern Catholics of the Byzantine Rite in Serbia and Montenegro, founded in 2003....
- Church of the Byzantines of the Eparchy of Križevci
- Greek Byzantine Catholic ChurchGreek Byzantine Catholic ChurchThe Greek Byzantine Catholic Church is a sui iuris particular Church in full union with the Roman Catholic Church which uses the Byzantine liturgical rite in the Koine Greek and modern Greek languages...
:- Greece
- Istanbul/ConstantinopleConstantinopleConstantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
(Turkey)
- Melkite Greek Catholic ChurchMelkite Greek Catholic ChurchThe Melkite Greek Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catholic Church. The Melkites, Byzantine Rite Catholics of mixed Eastern Mediterranean and Greek origin, trace their history to the early Christians of Antioch, Syria, of...
:- Argentina
- Venezuela
- Hungarian Greek Catholic ChurchHungarian Greek Catholic ChurchThe Hungarian Greek Catholic Church is a Byzantine Rite sui juris particular Church in full union with the Catholic Church that uses Hungarian in the liturgy.-History:...
: MiskolcMiskolcMiskolc is a city in northeastern Hungary, mainly with heavy industrial background. With a population close to 170,000 Miskolc is the fourth largest city of Hungary It is also the county capital of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén and the regional centre of Northern Hungary.- Geography :Miskolc is located...
(Hungary) - Macedonian Greek Catholic ChurchMacedonian Greek Catholic ChurchThe Macedonian Catholic Church, called the Macedonian Byzantine Catholic Church, is a Byzantine Rite sui juris Eastern Catholic Church in full union with the Roman Catholic Church which uses the Macedonian language in the liturgy.- History :...
: Macedonia - Ruthenian Catholic ChurchRuthenian Catholic ChurchThe Ruthenian Catholic Church is a sui iuris Eastern Catholic Church , which uses the Divine Liturgy of the Constantinopolitan Byzantine Eastern Rite. Its roots are among the Rusyns who lived in the region called Carpathian Ruthenia, in and around the Carpathian Mountains...
:- Apostolic Exarchate in the Czech RepublicApostolic Exarchate in the Czech RepublicApostolic Exarchate in the Czech Republic is a Roman Catholic institution overseeing the Catholics of Byzantine Rite living in the Czech Republic....
- Apostolic Exarchate in the Czech Republic
- Russian Catholic ChurchRussian Catholic ChurchThe Russian Catholic Church is a Byzantine Rite church sui juris in full union with the Catholic Church. Historically it represents a schism from the Russian Orthodox Church. It is now in full communion with and subject to the authority of the Pope as defined by Eastern canon law...
:- Harbin (China)
- Russia
- Syrian Catholic Church: Venezuela
- Syro-Malankara Catholic ChurchSyro-Malankara Catholic ChurchThe Syro-Malankara Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See...
:- Syro-Malankara Catholic Exarchate in the United StatesSyro-Malankara Catholic Exarchate in the United StatesThe Syro-Malankara Catholic Exarchate in the United States is an apostolic exarchate for Syro-Malankara Catholics in the United States of America....
- Syro-Malankara Catholic Exarchate in the United States
- Ukrainian Greek Catholic ChurchUkrainian Greek Catholic ChurchThe Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , Ukrainska Hreko-Katolytska Tserkva), is the largest Eastern Rite Catholic sui juris particular church in full communion with the Holy See, and is directly subject to the Pope...
:- Germany and Scandinavia (Finland, Norway, Sweden, Danemark, and Iceland)
- France, Switcerland and Benelux (Belgium, the Netherland and Luxemburg)
- United Kingdom: Apostolic Exarchate for Ukrainians in Great BritainApostolic Exarchate for Ukrainians in Great BritainThe Apostolic Exarchate for Ukrainians is an apostolic exarchate for Ukrainian Greek Catholics in Great Britain. The apostolic exarchate was erected on 10 June 1957 for the faithful of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in England and Wales and was extended to the whole of Great Britain on 12 May...
Patriarchal exarchates
- Armenian Catholic ChurchArmenian Catholic Church|- |The Armenian Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church sui juris in union with the other Eastern Rite, Oriental Rite and Latin Rite Catholics who accept the Bishop of Rome as spiritual leader of the Church. It is regulated by Eastern canon law...
:- Damascus (Syria)
- Jerusalem and Amman (Jordan, Israel, Palestine)
- Melkite Greek Catholic ChurchMelkite Greek Catholic ChurchThe Melkite Greek Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catholic Church. The Melkites, Byzantine Rite Catholics of mixed Eastern Mediterranean and Greek origin, trace their history to the early Christians of Antioch, Syria, of...
:- Iraq
- Kuwait
- Maronite ChurchMaronite ChurchThe Syriac Maronite Church of Antioch is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See of Rome . It traces its heritage back to the community founded by Maron, a 4th-century Syriac monk venerated as a saint. The first Maronite Patriarch, John Maron, was elected in the late 7th...
:- Jerusalem and Palestine (Palestine, Israel)
- Jordan
- Syrian Catholic Church:
- Bassorah and Gulf (Iraq, Kuwait etc.)
- Jerusalem (Palestine, Israel and Jordan)
- Turkey
Archiepiscopal exarchates
Only three, all in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic ChurchUkrainian Greek Catholic Church
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , Ukrainska Hreko-Katolytska Tserkva), is the largest Eastern Rite Catholic sui juris particular church in full communion with the Holy See, and is directly subject to the Pope...
, in Ukraine:
- Donetsk–Kharkiv
- Lutsk-Volyn
- Odessa–Krym
Sources and references
- Giga-Catholic Information: Rites - Apostolic Exarchates - Patriarchal Exarchates - Archiepiscopal Exarchates
- WorldStatesmen- Religious Organisations