Originally posted by Deacon Lance:
Very informative post by the way. I would only add that the Armenians have the title of vartaped and it is divivded into minor, major and mitered grades.
Deacon Lance,
Thank you. One clarification - the system acted somewhat bizarrely last night when I tried to edit -
Mitred Protopresbyter - the parenthetical phrase following it should read "(I'm not aware of any EC usage, but some EO employ it)"
Thank you for adding the Armenians; I knew I had forgotten someone (apologies to Ghazar
). I have also seen the title rendered as "Vartabed", not sure which is more accurate. I believe it roughly translates as equivalent to archpriest, which seems to be the most commonly encountered usage among Armenian clergy in the US. I wasn't aware that there are 3 grades w/in the title - obviously, Armenians are slackers, can't come up with 20 different titles like us Melkites, and had to split the one three ways. (Just kidding, Bill
.)
Originally posted by Ipreima:
In the last synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church held in Kyiv, Patriarch Lubomyr Husar elevated a Byelorussian priest to the rank of Archmandrite with the right to wear a panaghia (new to me) and bless the congregation with the dikirie and trikirie.
Lauro,
Yes. We discussed this on another thread at the time. The priest involved was Archimandrite Sergius Gajek, MCI, Apostolic Visitator for the Byzantine Byelorussian Catholics. I feel that by bestowing these honorifics on Archimandrite Sergius, Major-Archbishop Lubomyr was trying to give the faithful of the Byelorussian Church some vestige of a hierarchy, if only symbolic - which Rome has neglected to do. The Major-Archbishop may see a parallel to his own situation in regards to Rome failing to act on creation of a Patriarchate.
Originally posted by Reznut:
Please forgive my ignorance but at what level are the above mentioned differences between the churches determined? Does each church have its own canon outlining what the titles mean or is it just determined at the Patriarch and Metropolitan level?
Michelle,
The only ignorance is in being too proud to ask something that one wants to know and that isn't forgiveable. (Neil's homespun philosophy for the day
).
The CCEO - Canon 194
The eparchial bishop can confer dignities upon clerics subject to them, others excluded, according to the norm of the particular
law of their own Church sui iuris.
Particular Law of the Byzantine Metropolitan Church sui iuris of Pittsburgh
Canon 194
�1. The eparchial bishops will confer only Eastern-rite dignities on their clerics, and only for outstanding contribution benefitting the church and its mission.
�2. Such dignities are conferred within a liturgical ceremony and, by the general agreement of the eparchial bishops, their insignia are then used in the territory of the Metropolitan Church.
�3. The dignities to be in use in the Metropolia of Pittsburgh are:
1o. Mitred Archpriest - for the eparchial clergy;
2o. Archpriest - for the eparchial clergy or archimandrite for the religious clergy.
The next section, as I recollect (but forgot to copy), designates the insignia accorded to each. I don't know if the Particular Law adopted by the other Churches
sui iuris will delve into the particulars of the honors accorded by each or not. (That of the Syro-Malabarese doesn't address the subject at all, that I remember.)
In large measure, maybe more so with regard to the Melkites and Ukrainians who both seem to have a penchant for creative titling, I think tradition and the will or whim of the presiding hierarch (be he Patriarch, Major-Archbishop, or Metropolitan) tends to be the principle at work. In his history of the Melkite Patriarchate, written at the turn of the 20th century, Father Cyril Korolevsky listed the honors then being conferred by the Melkites; I don't have it in front of me, but recollection is that not much has changed.
BTW, you may notice that under Canon 194, the granting of dignities is restricted to those clergy who are subject to the granting hierarch. Technically, this precludes the not uncommon practice of hierarchs granting dignities to the clergy of Churches other than their own who have rendered some service for them or to Eastern Catholicism overall, such as was the case with Fathers Mowatt, Pospishil, and Taft, all of whom were or are Mitred
and Patriarchal Archimandrites.
Originally posted by Deacon John Montalvo:
is it your understanding that a hegumen must be a hieromonk? In my understanding, any monk could be a hegumen. I can't imagine that a hegumen who is not a priest has precedence over the archpriest or archimandrite.
Deacon John,
I agree, the office of hegumen is not technically restricted to hieromonks as I understand it. In the case of a hegumen who was not a hieromonk, I would expect him to be accorded only the precedence granted to superiors of religious not in holy orders. By virtue of his office, I would consider him to have precedence over others of that class. The thought hadn't occurred to me, probably because we don't have any non-presbyteral hegumens in the diaspora (not sure whether there are any in the historical patriarchal territories).
Deacons John or Lance,
Deacon Lance referenced that all Archimandrites in the Ruthenian Metropolia are Mitred, but I notice that the title as used appears to be solely "Archimandrite". I have, however, seen both Archimandrites Francis and Januarius referred to as "Mitred Archimandrite". Is that usage in any way reflective of their status vis-a-vis the Italo-Greico-Albanians, rather than their Ruthenian personages? Or is it simply a case of someone carrying the term Archimandrite out in a way that reflects its full nature, although it's not the typical nomenclature?
By comparison, (and realizing that our Eparchy encompasses the entire US) to the best of my recollection, the present distribution of honorific dignities among our clergy is:
- 1 Patriarchal Exarch (Father Joe Haggar)
- 1 Grand Archimandrite of Antioch (Father John Jadaa)
- 1 Archimandrite of Antioch(Father Constantine Belasarius)
- 1 Archpriest (Father Daniel Munn)
- 1 Economos (Father Romanos Russo), and
- a fair number of Archimandrites (I'm too lazy to dig out a clergy list and count ).
Originally posted by Incognitus:
Then there are those who would distinguish between a plain Archimandrite and a Patriarchal Archimandrite. The Melkites know of such titles as "Grand Archimandrite of Antioch" (John Jadaa had this distinction).
Incognitus,
. Thanks for reminding me of Father John's title, which I had forgotten (and poiting out the Ukrainian's Basilian Proto-Archimandrite, which was new to me).
Like I said, we Melkites do like titles. In the early 20th century, while he was serving the NYC Melkite community, the honorific "Grand Economos" was conferred on Father Ibrahim Beshawate, BSO, by Sayedna Athanasius Sawaya, then Archeparch of Beirut.
I don't currently know of any Mitred Archpriests or Mitred Archimandrites among Melkites in the US, although I would interpret Father Jadaa's title as precedentially equivalent to Mitred Archimandrite. Is it your opinion that the title "Archimandrite of Antioch", conferred on Father Constantine Belisaurius by HB Maximos V, of blessed memory, is also equivalent in dignity to Mitred Archimandrite, or just an Archimandrite with a flourish :p ?
Many years,
Neil