Primate (/ˈpraɪmət/) is a title or rank bestowed on some important archbishops in certain Christian churches. Depending on the particular tradition, it can denote either jurisdictional authority (title of authority) or (usually) ceremonial precedence (title of honour).
In theLatin Church, a primate is anarchbishop—or, rarely, asuffragan orexemptbishop—of a specific (mostly metropolitan)episcopal see (called aprimatial see) who has precedence over the bishoprics of one or moreecclesiastical provinces of a particular historical, political or cultural area. Historically, primates of particular sees were granted privileges including the authority to call and preside at nationalsynods, jurisdiction to hear appeals frommetropolitan tribunals, the right to crown the sovereign of the nation, and presiding at theinvestiture (installation) of archbishops in their sees.[1]
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The office is generally found only in older Catholic countries, and is now purely honorific, enjoying no effective powers undercanon law—except for thearchbishop of Esztergom (Gran) in Hungary.[1] Thus, e.g., theprimate of Poland holds no jurisdictional authority over other Polish bishops or their dioceses, but isdurante munere a member of the standing committee of the episcopal conference, and has honorary precedence among Polish bishops (e.g., in liturgical ceremonies). The Holy See has also granted Polish primates the privilege of wearing cardinal's crimson attire, except for the skullcap andbiretta, even if they have not been madecardinals.[2][3]
Where the title of primate exists, it may be vested in one of the oldest archdioceses in a country, often based in a city other than the present capital, but which was the capital when the country was first Christianized. The city may no longer have the prominence it had when the title was granted. The political area over which primacy was originally granted may no longer exist: for example, theArchbishop of Toledo was designated "Primate of theVisigothic Kingdom", and theArchbishop of Lyon is the "Primate of the Gauls".[1] The title of Primate can, therefore, also be disputed between different Archdioceses who, at some point, held proeminence over a shifting territory; such is the dispute over thePrimacy of the Spains that was fought over by the Archdioceses ofBraga, Toledo andSantiago de Compostela. After the founding ofPortugal, the Archbishop ofBraga held precedence over all other archbishops in the country, though his role declined under the rise of theArchdiocese of Lisbon, which culminated in 1716, when ArchbishopTomás de Almeida (1670–1754) was elevated toPatriarch.
Some of the leadership functions once exercised by Primates, specifically presiding at meetings of the bishops of a nation or region, are now exercised by the president of theconference of bishops: "The president of the Conference or, when he is lawfully impeded, the vice-president, presides not only over the general meetings of the Conference but also over the permanent committee."[4] The president is generally elected by the conference, but by exception the President of theItalian Episcopal Conference is appointed by the Pope, and theIrish Catholic Bishops' Conference has thePrimate of All Ireland as president and thePrimate of Ireland as vice-president. Other former functions of primates, such as hearing appeals frommetropolitan tribunals, were reserved to theHoly See by the early 20th century.[1] Soon after, by the norm of the Code of Canon Law of 1917, confirmed in the 1983 Code, the tribunal of second instance for appeals from a metropolitan tribunal is "the tribunal which the metropolitan has designated in a stable manner with the approval of the Apostolic See".[5]
The closest equivalent position in the Eastern Churches in 1911 was anExarch.[1]
The Holy See has continued in modern times to grant the title of Primate. With thepapal decreeSollicitae Romanis Pontificibus of 24 January 1956 it granted the title of Primate of Canada to the Archbishop ofQuebec.[6] As stated above, this is merely an honorary title involving no additional power.[7]: 131
A right of precedence over other bishops and similar privileges can be granted even to a bishop who is not a Primate. Thus, in 1858, the Holy See granted theArchbishop of Baltimore precedence in meetings of the United States bishops.[8] TheArchbishop of Westminster has not been granted the title of Primate of England and Wales, which is sometimes applied to him, but his position has been described as that of "Chief Metropolitan" and as "similar to" that of the Archbishop of Canterbury.[9]
The title of Primate is sometimes applied loosely to the Archbishop of a country's capital, as in the case of the Archbishops ofSeoul in South Korea and ofEdinburgh in Scotland.
The pre-reformation metropolitanArchbishop of Nidaros was sometimes referred to as Primate of Norway,[10] even though it is unlikely that this title ever was officially granted to him by the Holy See.
The heads of certainsees have at times been referred to, at least by themselves,[11] as primates:
Source[1]
In the modern confederation of theBenedictine Order, all the Black Monks of St. Benedict were united under the presidency of anAbbot 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 loose structure of the Benedictine Confederation is claimed to have madePope Leo XIII exclaim that the Benedictines wereordo sine ordine ("an order without order"). The powers of theAbbot Primate are specified, and his position defined, in a decree of theSacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars dated 16 September 1893. The primacy is attached to the globalBenedictine Confederation whose Primate resides atSant'Anselmo inRome. He 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. The Primatial powers are only vested in the Abbot Primate to act by virtue of the proper law of its autonomous Benedictine congregation, which at the present is minimal to none. However, certain branches of the Benedictine Order seem to have lost their original autonomy to some extent.
In a similar way the Confederation ofCanons Regular of St. Augustine, elects an Abbot Primate as figurehead of the Confederation and indeed the whole Canonical Order. The Abbots and Superiors General of the nine congregations of confederated congregations ofCanons Regular elect a new Abbot Primate for a term of office lasting six years. The Current Abbot Primate is Rt Rev. Fr Jean-Michel Girard, CRB, Abbot General of the Canons Regular of the Grand St Bernard.
Anglican usage styles the bishop who heads an independent church as its "primate", though commonly they hold some other title (e.g. archbishop, presiding bishop, or moderator). The primates' authority within their churches varies considerably: some churches give the primate some executive authority, while in others they may do no more than preside over church councils and represent the church ceremonially.
In the context of theAnglican Communion Primates' Meeting, the chiefbishop of each of the thirty-nine churches (also known as provinces) that compose theAnglican Communion acts as its primate, though this title may not necessarily be used within their own provinces. Thus theUnited Churches of Bangladesh, of North India, of Pakistan and of South India, which are united with other originally non-Anglican churches, are represented at the meetings by their moderators.[43]
In both theChurch of England and theChurch of Ireland, two bishops have the title of primate: the archbishops ofCanterbury andYork in England and ofArmagh andDublin in Ireland. Only the bishop of the senior primatial see of each of these two churches participates in the meetings.
The archbishop of Canterbury, who is consideredprimus inter pares of all the participants, convokes the meetings and issues the invitations.[43]
Primates and archbishops are styled "The Most Reverend". All other bishops are styled "The Right Reverend",[43] with the exception of theBishop of Meath and Kildare in the Church of Ireland.
Historically, the primatial title inWestern Christianity corresponded to the title and office of supra-metropolitanexarch inEastern Christianity. Such exarchs, or primates, were archbishops ofEphesus (for theDiocese of Asia),Heraclea (for theDiocese of Thrace) andCaesarea (for theDiocese of Pontus).[44]
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Traditional ecclesiastical jurisdictions ofprimates inChristianity, sorted according to earliestapostolic legacy and branched where multiple denominational claimants: bold blue =Catholic Church,light blue =Eastern Orthodox Church (* unrecognized),bold/light green =Oriental Orthodoxy,italic blue =Nestorianism,bold italic blue =pre-schism | |||||||||||||||||||||
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