Patriarchs and Major Archbishops

An Eastern Catholic patriarch is a bishop whose authority extends over the bishops, clergy, and faithful of his patriarchal church according to canon law and without prejudice to the universal primacy of the bishop of Rome. The patriarch acts together with the church's synod in matters such as legislation, episcopal elections, and the erection of eparchies within the patriarchal territory.

The Chaldean, Armenian, Coptic, Syriac, Maronite, and Melkite Greek Catholic churches are patriarchal. Their patriarchs are elected by their synods and request ecclesiastical communion from the pope; the law does not treat them as papal vicars or Latin-rite cardinals governing regional branches.^[1]

A major archbishop presides over an entire Eastern church sui iuris but does not bear the patriarchal title. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic, Syro-Malabar, Romanian Greek Catholic, and Syro-Malankara Catholic churches have this status. Their synods elect the major archbishop, whose election requires papal confirmation before enthronement.^[2]

Patriarch and major archbishop are offices of ecclesial governance, not additional sacramental ranks above bishop. Their authority is synodal and is governed by the common Eastern code and the particular law of their own church.