Apostolic see

In Christianity, an apostolic see is any episcopal see whose foundation is attributed to one or more of the apostles of Jesus.

The fourth canon of the First Council of Nicaea of 325 attributed to the bishop of the capital (metropolis) of each Roman province (the "metropolitan bishop") a position of authority among the bishops of the province, without reference to the founding figure of that bishop's see.^[1] Its sixth canon recognized the wider authority, extending beyond a single province, traditionally held by Rome and Alexandria, and the prerogatives of the churches in Antioch and the other provinces.^[1] Of Aelia, the Roman city built on the site of the destroyed city of Jerusalem, the council's seventh canon reads: "Since custom and ancient tradition have prevailed that the Bishop of Aelia should be honoured, let him, saving its due dignity to the Metropolis, have the next place of honour."^[1] The metropolis in question is generally taken to be Caesarea Maritima,^[2][3][4][5] though in the late 19th century Philip Schaff also mentioned other views.^[6]

Pentarchy

This Council of Nicaea, being held in 325, of course made no mention of Constantinople, a city which was only officially founded five years later, at which point it became the capital of the Empire.^{[7][8][9][10]} But the First Council of Constantinople (381) decreed in a canon of disputed validity: "The Bishop of Constantinople, however, shall have the prerogative of honour after the Bishop of Rome; because Constantinople is New Rome."^[11] A century after the Council of Chalcedon (451) and the ensuing schism between those who accepted it and those who rejected it, Eastern Orthodox Christianity wove these two sources together to develop the theory of the Pentarchy: "[F]ormulated in the legislation of the emperor Justinian I (527–565), especially in his Novella 131, the theory received formal ecclesiastical sanction at the Council in Trullo (692), which ranked the five sees as Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem."^[12] Earlier, the Council of Ephesus decreed in 431 that the Church of Cyprus should be autocephalous, against the claims of Antioch, the capital of the Roman diocese of the East, of which Cyprus was part.^[13]

Listing of the sees

The patriarchs of these five sees consider themselves to be successors of those given special status in these canons:

• Rome, in Italy (Saint Peter and Saint Paul)
• Constantinople, now Istanbul in present-day Turkey (Saint Andrew)
• Alexandria, in Egypt (Saint Mark the Evangelist)^[14][15][16]
• Antioch, in present-day Turkey (Saint Peter).^[17]
• Jerusalem, in the Holy Land (Saint Peter and Saint James)^[18]

Other sees who claim to be founded by an apostle and thus can claim to be apostolic sees include:

• The Church of Cyprus, based at New Justiniana (Erdek), Saint Paul and Saint Barnabas
• Athens, Greece (Saint Paul)
• Ephesus, in present-day Turkey (John the Apostle)
• Babylon or Seleucia-Ctesiphon, in present-day Iraq (Thomas the Apostle, Bartholomew the Apostle, and Thaddeus of Edessa)
• Aquileia, in northeastern Italy (Mark the Evangelist as one of the Seventy Apostles)
• See of Milan, in northwestern Italy (Barnabas the Apostle)
• See of Syracuse, in Sicily (Peter)
• Philippi, in Greece (Saint Paul)
• Thessaloniki, in Greece (Saint Paul)^[19]
• Corinth, in Greece (Saint Paul)^[20]
• Church of Malta (Saint Paul)
• The Russian Orthodox Church claims a connection with Saint Andrew, who is said to have visited the area where the city of Kiev later arose.^[21]
• Armenian Apostolic Church (Thaddaeus (Jude the Apostle) and Bartholomew the Apostle)^[22]
• The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church claims founding by Saint Philip the Evangelist.^[23]
• The Simon the Canaanite as its founders.
• Saint Thomas Christian Churches in India (Thomas the Apostle)

Specific reference to Rome

In Roman Catholic usage,^[24] "the Apostolic See" is used in the singular and capitalized to refer specifically to the See of Rome, with reference to the Pope's status as successor of the Apostle Peter.^[25] This usage existed already at the time of the third ecumenical council, held at Ephesus in 431, at which the phrase "our most holy and blessed pope Cœlestine, bishop of the Apostolic See" was used.^[26]

In Catholic canon law, the term is applied also to the various departments of the Roman Curia. Both the Code of Canon Law and the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches state: "In this Code the terms Apostolic See or Holy See mean not only the Roman Pontiff, but also, unless the contrary is clear from the nature of things or from the context, the Secretariat of State, the Council for the public affairs of the Church, and the other Institutes of the Roman Curia."^[27] The bodies in question are seen as speaking on behalf of the See of Rome.

See also

• Apostolic succession
• Dispersion of the apostles
• Early centers of Christianity

References

History of Christianity Centuries:1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th 21st Ministry of Jesus & Apostolic Age Jesus Ministry Crucifixion Resurrection Holy Spirit Leadership Apostles Seventy disciples Paul the Apostle Council of Jerusalem Great Commission New Testament Background Gospels Acts Pauline epistles General epistles Revelation Ante-Nicene Period Judaism split Justin Martyr Ignatius Persecution Fathers Irenaeus Marcionism Canon Tertullian Montanism Origen Late ancient Constantine Monasticism Councils: Nicaea I Creed Athanasius Arianism Jerome Augustine Constantinople I Ephesus I Chalcedon Eastern Christianity Eastern Orthodoxy Church of the East Oriental Orthodoxy Chrysostom Nestorianism Iconoclasm Great Schism Fall of Constantinople Armenia Greece Georgia Egypt Syria Ethiopia Bulgaria Ottoman Empire Russia America 20th century Middle Ages Pelagianism Gregory I Celtic Germanic Scandinavian Kievan Rus' Investiture Anselm Abelard Bernard of Clairvaux Bogomils Cathars Crusades Waldensians Inquisition Scholasticism Dominic Francis Bonaventure Aquinas Wycliffe Avignon Papal Schism Bohemian Reformation Hus Conciliarism Catholicism Primacy development Papacy Timeline Lateran IV Trent Counter-Reformation Thomas More Leo X Guadalupe Jesuits Jansenists Xavier Monastery dissolution Wars Teresa Vatican I & II Modernism Protestant Reformation Protestantism Erasmus Five solae Eucharist Calvinist v. Arminian Arminianism Dort Wars Lutheranism Martin Luther 95 Theses Diet of Worms Melanchthon Orthodoxy Eucharist Book of Concord Calvinism Zwingli Calvin Presbyterianism Scotland Knox TULIP Dort Three Forms of Unity Westminster Anglicanism Timeline Henry VIII Cranmer Settlement 39 Articles Common Prayer Puritans Civil War Anabaptism Radical Reformation Grebel Swiss Brethren Müntzer Martyrs' Synod Menno Simons Smyth 1640–1789 Revivalism English denominations Baptists Congregationalism Great Awakening Methodism Millerism Pietism Neo- & Old Lutherans 1789–present Camp meeting Holiness movement Independent Catholic churches Second Great Awakening Restoration Movement Jehovah's Witnesses Mormonism Seventh-day Adventist Adventism Third Great Awakening Azusa Revival Ecumenism Evangelicalism Jesus movement Mainline Protestant Pentecostalism Charismatics Liberation theology Christian right Timeline Missions Timeline Martyrs Theology Eastern Orthodoxy Oriental Orthodoxy Protestantism Catholicism