Major archbishop
primate oriental catholic position
In the Eastern Catholic Churches, major archbishop (sometimes also styled as major archeparch) is a title for the chief hierarch ("Father and Head") of an autonomous (sui juris) particular Church that has not been "endowed with the patriarchal title". Major archbishops generally have the same rights, privileges, and jurisdiction as Eastern Catholic patriarchs, except where expressly provided otherwise, and rank immediately after them in precedence of honor.
In addition to their role governing their particular Church, major archbishops, like Eastern Catholic patriarchs, are ex officio members of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches in the Roman Curia. They are required to attend general meetings of this congregation, usually held annually, as well as other sessions if they are visiting Rome or are otherwise able to attend.
There are currently four major archbishops, each leading a major archiepiscopal autonomous Church.
History
The Second Vatican Council's Decree on the Catholic Churches of the Eastern Rite recognised the equal standing of major archbishops alongside the patriarchs, whose role had been long-established in the church.
The title "major archbishop" was first granted to the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in 1963. There was a strong movement within and after the Second Vatican Council to elevate Josyf Slipyj, then metropolitan of Lviv, for the Ukrainians, to the status of patriarch. Many of his admirers use this title for Slipyj when referring to him historically and many in Ukraine use this title for the current major archbishop even today. However (and at the behest of Russian Orthodox officials), Pope Paul VI specifically declined to grant this title, instead creating this new title and appointing Slipyj the first "major archbishop" of Lviv (the seat has since been moved to Kyiv).
The public source identifies “Major archbishop” as primate oriental catholic position. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Major, archbishop and primate.
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This entry incorporates text from “Major archbishop” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.