Patriarch

The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church, the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs.
The word is derived from Greek πατριάρχης, meaning "chief or father of a family", a compound of πατριά, meaning "family", and ἄρχειν, meaning "to rule".
Originally, a patriarch was a man who exercised authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is termed "patriarchy". Historically, a patriarch has often been the logical choice to act as ethnarch of the community identified with his religious confession within a state or empire of a different creed. The term developed an ecclesiastical meaning within Christianity. The office and the ecclesiastical circumscription of a Christian patriarch is termed a patriarchate.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are referred to as the three patriarchs of the people of Israel, and the period during which they lived is termed the Patriarchal Age. The word patriarch originally acquired its religious meaning in the Septuagint version of the Bible.

Catholic Church

Patriarchs

In the Catholic Church, the bishop who is head of a particular autonomous church, known in canon law as a church sui iuris, is ordinarily a patriarch, though this responsibility can be entrusted to a major archbishop, metropolitan, or other prelate for a number of reasons.
Since the Council of Nicaea, the bishop of Rome has been recognized as first among patriarchs. That council designated three bishops with this 'supra-Metropolitan' title: Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch. In the Pentarchy formulated by Justinian I, the emperor assigned to the bishop of Rome a patriarchate covering the whole of Christianized Europe, except Thrace, the areas around Constantinople, and the Black Sea coast. He also included the western part of North Africa in this patriarchate. The jurisdictions of the other patriarchates extended over Roman Asia and the rest of Africa. Justinian's system was given formal ecclesiastical recognition by the Quinisext Council of 692, which the see of Rome has, however, not recognized.
There were at the time bishops of other apostolic sees that operated with patriarchal authority beyond the borders of the Roman Empire, such as the catholicos of Selucia-Ctesephon.
Today, the patriarchal heads of Catholic autonomous churches are:

The Patriarch of Rome , as head of the Latin Church
The [Coptic Catholic Patriarchate of Alexandria|Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria ] and head of the Coptic Catholic Church, recognised 1824
The Maronite Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and head of the Maronite Church, recognised 685
The [Melkite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch|Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and All the East], of Alexandria and of Jerusalem, head of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church; in his case, Antioch is the actual and sole patriarchate, Alexandria and Jerusalem are just titular patriarchates vested in his see.
The Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and head of the Syriac Catholic Church
The Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Baghdad and head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, recognised 1553
The Armenian Catholic Patriarch of Cilicia and head of the Armenian Catholic Church, recognised 1742

Four more of the Eastern Catholic Churches are headed by a prelate known as a "Major Archbishop," a title essentially equivalent to that of Patriarch and originally created by Pope Paul VI in 1963 for Josyf Slipyj.

Minor Latin patriarchates

Minor patriarchs do not have jurisdiction over other metropolitan bishops. The title is granted purely as an honour for various historical reasons. They take precedence after the heads of autonomous churches in full communion, whether pope, patriarch, or major archbishop.

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, established 1099.
The Patriarch of the East Indies, a titular patriarchal see, united to Goa and Daman, established 1886.
The Patriarch of Lisbon, established 1716.
The Patriarch of Venice, established 1451.
Historical Latin patriarchates
The Patriarch of Aquileia – with rival line of succession moved to Grado – dissolved in 1752.
The Patriarch of Grado – in 1451 merged with the Bishopric of Castello and Venice to form the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Venice.
The Patriarch of the West Indies – a titular patriarchal see, vacant since 1963.
The Latin Patriarch of Antioch – title abolished in 1964.
The titular Latin Patriarch of Alexandria – title abolished in 1964.
The Latin Patriarch of Constantinople – title abolished in 1964.
The Latin Patriarchate of Ethiopia – 1555 to 1663, never effective, only held by Iberian Jesuits
Patriarch as title ''ad personam''

The pope can confer the rank of patriarch without any see, upon an individual archbishop, as happened on 24 February 1676 to Alessandro Crescenzi, of the Somascans, former Latin Titular Patriarch of Alexandria, who nevertheless resigned the title on 9 January 1682.

Patriarch of the West

One of the pope's traditional titles in some eras and contexts has been "Patriarch of the West", highlighting the role of the bishop of Rome as the highest authority of the Latin Church.
The title was not included in the 2006 Annuario Pontificio. On 22 March 2006, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity offered an explanation for the decision to remove the title. It stated that the title "Patriarch of the West" had become "obsolete and practically unusable" when the term the West comprises Australia, New Zealand and North America in addition to Western Europe, and that it was "pointless to insist on maintaining it" given that, since the Second Vatican Council, the Latin Church, for which "the West" is an equivalent, has been organized as a number of episcopal conferences and their international groupings. The title was reintroduced in the 2024 edition of Annuario Pontificio. No explanation was provided for its reintroduction.

Current and historical Catholic patriarchates

Eastern Christianity

Eastern Orthodox

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 "primus inter pares" according to Eastern Orthodoxy, recognized in 325 by First Council of Nicaea. Currently not an Episcopal or Patriarchal authority in the Eastern Orthodox Church, following the Great Schism in 1054.
Patriarch of Constantinople	the chief of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople	The "primus inter pares" of post-Schism Eastern Orthodoxy, recognized in 451 by Council of Chalcedon.
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.

The five junior Patriarchates created after the consolidation of the Pentarchy, in chronological order of their recognition as Patriarchates by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople:

Title	Church	Recognition / Additional notes
Patriarch of All Bulgaria	the chief of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in Bulgaria	Recognized as a Patriarchate in 918-919/927
Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia	the chief of the Georgian Orthodox Church in Georgia	Recognized as a Catholicate in 1008
Serbian Patriarch	the chief of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Serbia	Recognized as a Patriarchate in 1375
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia	the chief of the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia	Recognized as a Patriarchate in 1593
Patriarch of All Romania	the chief of the Romanian Orthodox Church in Romania	Recognized as a Patriarchate in 1925

Patriarchs outside the Eastern Orthodox Communion

Oriental Orthodox Churches

Church	Title	Authority	Additional notes
Coptic Orthodox Church	Pope of the [Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria\|Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of All Africa]	The chief of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria in Egypt and All Africa	-
Ethiopian Orthodox Church	Archbishop of Axum and Patriarch Catholicos of All Ethiopia	Chief of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Ethiopia
Eritrean Orthodox Church	Archbishop of Asmara and Patriarch of All Eritrea	Chief of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Eritrea
Syriac Orthodox Church	Patriarch of Antioch and All the East	Supreme Head of Universal Syriac Orthodox Church	Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and all the east
Syriac Orthodox Church	Catholicos of India Maphrian of the East	The second highest ecclesiastical authority in the Syriac Orthodox Church. He is also the Malankara Metropolitan of Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church	The Regional head of the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church
Indian Orthodox Church	Catholicos of the East.	Holds the additional title of Malankara Metropolitan	The supreme leader of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
Armenian Orthodox Church	Catholicos of Etchmiadzin, Armenia and of All Armenians	Supreme leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church	Supreme Patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church
Armenian Orthodox Church	Catholicos of Cilicia	Chief of the Armenian Apostolic Church of the Great House of Cilicia	Chief of Diasporan Armenians of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Headquartered in Antelias, Lebanon
Armenian Orthodox Church	---Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople	Chief of the Armenians in Turkey.
Armenian Orthodox Church	---[List of Armenian Patriarchs of Jerusalem\|Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem and of Holy Zion]	Chief of Armenians in Jerusalem, Israel, Palestine, Jordan and the Persian Gulf

Church of the East

is the title that held by the ecclesiastical heads of the Church of the East, which is now divided into:

The title of "Patriarch" is assumed also by for leaders and church officers of certain Christian denominations, including some of the following:
;Hussite

The Patriarch of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church mainly in the Czech Republic and also some parts of Slovakia.

;Independent Catholic

The Patriarch of the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch.
The Patriarch of the Apostolic Catholic Church in the Philippines.
The Patriarch of the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church in Brazil.
The Patriarch of the Venezuelan Catholic Apostolic Church in Venezuela.

;Independent Eastern Catholic

The Patriarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine.

;Independent Eastern Orthodox

The Patriarch of the American Orthodox Catholic Church.

;Independent Oriental Orthodox

The Patriarch of the British Orthodox Church.

;Protestant

The Patriarch of the International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church.

;Latter Day Saint movement
In the Latter Day Saint movement, a patriarch is one who has been ordained to the office of patriarch in the Melchizedek priesthood. The term is considered synonymous with the term evangelist, a term favored by the Community of Christ. In the [Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints], one of the patriarch's primary responsibilities is to give patriarchal blessings, as Jacob did to his twelve sons according to the Old Testament. Patriarchs are typically assigned in each stake and possess the title for life.

Manichaeism

The term patriarch has also been used for the leader of the extinct Manichaean religion, initially based at Ctesiphon and later at Samarkand.