Primate (religion)
For the use of the word "primate" in biology, see primate. |
Catholic Patriarchal (non cardinal) coat of arms |
Primate (from the
Latin Primus, "first") is a title or rank bestowed on some
bishops in certain
Christian churches. Depending on the particular tradition, it can denote either jurisdictional authority (
title of authority) or ceremonial precedence (
title of honor).
In the
Orthodox churches,
Primate is often used in the general sense of the head of an
autocephalous or
autonomous church, but not as a specific title. Thus, the
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, the
Archbishop of Mtskheta and Tbilisi, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, the
Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa, the
Archbishop of Athens, the
Archbishop of Washington and New York, Metropolitan of All America and Canada, and the
Archbishop of Karelia and All Finland are all primates of their respective churches, regardless of their individual titles.
An Anglican Primate serves as the senior
metropolitan of his or her national Church. There are thirty-eight primates of the provinces of the
Anglican Communion [
1]. Some of these provinces are stand-alone
ecclesiastical provinces (such as The
Church of the Province of West Africa), while others are national churches within which exist more than one ecclesiastical province (such as the
Church of England). In true ecclesiastical provinces which are also Anglican Communion provinces, the Primate is a metropolitan
archbishop. In most national churches composed of several provinces, the Primate will be an archbishop as well, but in those which do not have a tradition of archepiscopacy, a
bishop will be styled as
Primus (e.g., the
Primus of the
Scottish Episcopal Church) or
Presiding Bishop (e.g., of the
Episcopal Church in the United States of America). Metropolitans are always styled "Archbishop
x of the Diocese of
y, and Primate of
z," while Primates without a diocese are referred to as "Archbishop
x, Primate of
z."
Anglican Primates may be attached to a fixed
See (e.g., the
Archbishop of Canterbury is
always the "Primate of All England"), he or she may be chosen from among sitting metropolitans or diocesan
bishops and retain their See (as with, for example, the Primate of the
Anglican Church of Australia), or he or she may have no See (as in the
Anglican Church of Canada). In
Ireland, both the
Anglican Church of Ireland and the
Roman Catholic Church style their respective
Archbishops of Armagh and
Archbishops of Dublin Primate of All Ireland and
Primate of Ireland respectively.
Primates in the Anglican Communion are generally chosen by election (either by a
Synod consisting of laity, clergy, and bishops, or by a
House of Bishops). In some instances, the primacy is awarded on the basis of seniority among the episcopal college. In the Church of England, the Primate is appointed by the sovereign, in his or her capacity as
Supreme Governor of the
established church, on the advice of the
Crown Appointments Commission.
Since 1978, the Primates have met annually for an
Anglican Communion Primates' Meeting. While the gathering has no legal jurisdiction, it acts as one of the informal instruments of unity among the autonomous provinces of the Communion.
In the
Western Church, a Primate is an
archbishop (or rarely a suffragan or
exempt bishop) of a see (called a
primas) which confers precedence over the other bishops of his own province, or over a number of provinces (possibly part of a province), such as a 'national' church in (historical) political/cultural terms. This precedence gives no additional authority over these other (arch)bishops, such as that exercised by a
Metropolitan bishop (which they generally are, within the smaller or conterminous juisdiction of a single ecclesiastical province).
The term is generally found in the older Catholic countries, and is now purely honorific, enjoying no single real right under canon law. The title may be vested in one of the oldest Archdioceses in a country, if it exists. As incumbents, especially nation's leading archbishops, are often elevated cardinal, a higher rank, and the national leadership is rather vested in the chairmanship of the national conference of bishops (often vested in his see; old-fashioned synods have become rare) the title is rather void for them. The
see city may no longer have the prominence it had when the
diocese was created, or its circumscription may no longer exist as a state/nation. Primates rank below
Major Archbishop and
Patriarch, as the
Exarch originally did, and like these under the now far more frequent cardinalate (and within that college of true princes of the church they enjoy no precedence, unlike the higher ranks not even the right to join a high order of the sacred college).
At the
First Vatican Council (Coll. Lacens., VII, pp. 34, 488, 726) the only (arch)bishops figuring as primates, in virtue of then recent concessions, were these (by country) :
*
Hungary —
Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, styled
Prince-primate of Gran (uniquely a legal status)
*
Germany —
Archbishop of Mainz (before 1801)
* the
exempt archbishopric
Antivari (Bar in Servo-Croatian, now in
Montenegro) is primate of
Dalmatia since the 12th century (formal papal confirmation 1902)
* the archbishop of
Salerno, in the historical Neapolitan kingdom
*
Belgium — Archbishop of
Mechelen-Brussel (previously Mechelen, primate of all the Netherlands =
Low Countries)
*
Brazil — Archbishop of
Sao Salvador da Bahia*
Ireland —
Archbishop of Armagh, known as "Primate of All Ireland"; not to be confused with the
Archbishop of Dublin's concurrent title "Primate of Ireland", both titles predating the political division of Ireland and therefore related to the whole island
*
Poland — traditionally
Archbishop of Gniezno (originally Gnesen, in German), an exception for the incumbent Archbishop of
Warsaw who headed both archdioceses until 1992
*in
Spain —
Tarragona (under the Aragonese crown, now in Catalonia; for its Castilian rival, see below).
A selection of primatial pretences in other countries (here grouped by modern states, but often the claimed 'primas' had a smaller or overlapping territory) and their Roman Catholic primates (some historical claims are dormant or have been void for centuries; new titles can only be awarded by the Holy See):
*
Argentina — Archbishop of
Cordoba, Argentina (being the oldest see in the country- though Buenos Aires, the far larger capital, was the first archdiocese);
*
Australia — Archbishop of
Sydney, who is effectively primate by precedence due to his usually being a cardinal.
*
Canada —
Archbishop of Quebec*
Cuba —
Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba*
Ecuador —
Archbishop of Quito (over three more provinces)
*
France —
Archbishop of Lyon ("Primate of the Gauls"); also
Reims,
Bourges,
Vienne,
Narbonne,
Bordeaux,
Rouen*
Germany — the Elector-
Archbishop of Mainz (Mayence; before 1801); also
Trier (old imperial capital of a
Tetrach) and
Magdeburg (for the eastern colonisation)
*
Austria —
Archbishop of Salzburg (since 1648, confusingly styled "Primas Germaniae")
*
Italy —
Bishop of Rome (the
Pope)
*
Kenya —
Archbishop of Nairobi (over three more provinces)
*
Netherlands —
Archbishop of Utrecht (sole Metropolitan; formerly Prince-bishop while still suffragan)
*
Nicaragua —
Archbishop of Managua (sole Metropolitan)
*
Philippines —
Archbishop of Manila * across the Pyrenees, the French archbishoprics of
Auch (western) and
Narbonne (eastern) claimed, in 714-1019, primacy over the northern parts of Spain, ultimately relinquished to
Tarragona (in Catalonia)
*in
England,
Canterbury and the old imperial Tetrarch's capital,
York; both remained primatial within Anglicanism, there solidly institutionalized as the country's only provinces
*
Portugal — the Archbishop of
Braga, claiming primacy over the Spanish Roman province of Galicia to its north, where the pilgrimage mecca of
Santiago de Compostela itself later claimed to be a
primas - his Portuguese precedence was lost when the national capital was raised to the higher rank of
Patriarch of Lisbon*Scandinavia —
Lund, now in southern Sweden (lost even its Metropolitan dignity, but still exists as a simple diocese) was primas of a larger Denmark, above the other, slightly younger Swedish Archbishopric,
Upsala (famous for its university), also extending into Finland and even
Reval (Teutonic Order, but not under Riga; now in Estonia)- all these countries turned predominantly protestant
*
Scotland —
Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh*primate of all
Spain by papal bull of 1088 — the Archbishop of
Toledo (originally of the Visigothic kingdom), under the Castilian crown
*Tunisia's
Carthage was 'restored' a primacy (though originally it held the position without the title in Roman times)in 1893, under French colonial protectorate
*
Zimbabwe —
Archbishop of Harare (over one other province: Bulawayo)
In the
United States, where never an official primacy was awarded, the
Archbishop of Baltimore is sometimes called "honorary primate" -- since
Baltimore was the first diocese in the nation, its bishop is granted ceremonial precedence before all the bishops (except when nominally created
cardinals) of all other sees in the United States.
When
England and
Wales was split into three eclesiastical provinces in 1911, the pre-existent
Archbishop of Westminster was given certain privileges of pre-eminence constituting him chief metropolitan, bit without the title of primate.Similarly the
Archbishop of Seoul is often considered to be the primate of Korea, but such title has never been granted by the Vatican. Such 'analogous' use of the title is confusing and technically incorrect.
* In the modern confederation of the Benedictine Order, all the Black Monks of St. Benedict were united under the presidency of an
Abbot Primate (Leo XIII, Summum semper, 12 July, 1893); but the unification, fraternal in its nature, brought no modification to the abbatial dignity, and the various congregations preserved their autonomy intact. The powers of the Abbot Primate are specified, and his position defined, in a Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars dated 16 September, 1893. The primacy is attached to the Abbey and International Benedictine College of St. Anselm, Rome, and the Primate, who takes precedence of all other Abbots, is empowered to pronounce on all doubtful matters of discipline, to settle difficulties arising between monasteries to hold a canonical visitation, if necessary, in any congregation of the order, and to exercise a general supervision for the regular observance of monastic discipline. However, certain branches of the Benedictine Order seem to have lost their original autonomy to some extent
*
Catholic Encyclopaedia (also other articles)*
Catholic Hierarchy*
GCatholic.com* Westermann
Großer Atlas zur Weltgeschichte (in German)
