Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem: The Ancient Eastern Patriarchates

The three apostolic patriarchates of the Christian East besides Constantinople, each ancient in dignity and small or scattered in present numbers. This file treats Alexandria (all Africa, and the 2021 Russian “African exarchate” intrusion), Antioch (the Arab Orthodox church, the Syrian war, and the Qatar dispute with Jerusalem), and Jerusalem (the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre and its property controversies) — with disputes given both-sides sourcing and dated “as of” notes.

Tradition: Pan-Orthodox

The Three Sees in the Pentarchy

Before Constantinople’s rise, the senior sees of the Church were Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch, joined later by Constantinople and Jerusalem to form the “pentarchy” of patriarchates ratified at Chalcedon (451). The Council of Nicaea (325), Canon 6, recognized the “ancient customs” by which Alexandria held jurisdiction over Egypt, Libya, and the Pentapolis, “since the like is customary for the Bishop of Rome also,” and confirmed the prerogatives of Antioch and the other provinces (Nicaea 325, Canon 6; trans. NPNF II/14). Jerusalem, honoured as the mother church, was given an honorary precedence at Nicaea (Canon 7) and raised to full patriarchal rank at Chalcedon. In the Orthodox order of precedence (the diptychs), these three sees rank immediately after Constantinople: Constantinople first, Alexandria second, Antioch third, Jerusalem fourth, followed by the later patriarchates (Russia fifth, Georgia sixth, Serbia seventh, and so on). Of the ancient pentarchy of Trullo (Quinisext, 692, Canon 36 — Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem), Rome’s place lapsed in the East after 1054, leaving these four as the senior Eastern sees (“Organization of the Eastern Orthodox Church”).

The Christological schisms of the 5th century split each of these ancient sees. After the Council of Chalcedon (451) most native Egyptians and many Syrians rejected its Christological definition and followed the non-Chalcedonian (now called Oriental Orthodox) confession; in Egypt the Coptic Orthodox Church became the church of the majority, and in Syria the Syriac Orthodox Church. The Eastern (Chalcedonian) Orthodox patriarchates of Alexandria and Antioch — for the Orthodox Church, the continuation of those apostolic sees in the conciliar faith — thus lived, from late antiquity, alongside parallel hierarchies bearing the same apostolic titles in the same cities — a fact that explains both the smallness of their indigenous flocks for many centuries and the existence of parallel “Greek Orthodox” and “Coptic” or “Syriac” hierarchies in the same lands today. The Arab Muslim conquests of the 7th century placed all three patriarchates under Islamic rule, a condition under which (with intervals) they have largely lived ever since, and which shaped their character as minority churches dependent on the toleration of successive empires and states.

The Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria traces itself to St. Mark and today claims canonical jurisdiction over the entire African continent. After the Chalcedonian split left the Coptic (Oriental Orthodox) Church as the church of the Egyptian majority, the Chalcedonian patriarchate became a largely Greek institution; its title was expanded in the 20th century to “Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa” as Greek and, increasingly, indigenous African Orthodoxy spread south of the Sahara through mission.

The Greek-hierarchy / African-flock dynamic. The patriarchate’s character is defined by a tension between a historically Greek hierarchy and a fast-growing sub-Saharan African flock, served increasingly by ordained African clergy. The largest single community is in Kenya, estimated at 200,000–300,000 adherents, with substantial bodies also in Uganda, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Madagascar, and elsewhere (“Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria”). Under Patriarch Theodore II (Choreftakis; elected 9 October, enthroned 24 October 2004), himself a former missionary in Cameroon and Zimbabwe, the church established new ecclesiastical provinces across the continent, consecrated African bishops, built schools, clinics, and seminaries, and in 2017 controversially restored a female diaconate (deaconesses) for the mission field. This indigenization makes the present jurisdictional contest with Moscow a struggle over real and growing African congregations, not merely a paper dispute over titles.

The 2021 Russian “African exarchate” intrusion. On 8 November 2019, Patriarch Theodore II commemorated the head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, signaling Alexandria’s recognition of the OCU’s autocephaly granted by Constantinople. The Russian Orthodox Church responded: on 26 December 2019 its Holy Synod withdrew its African parishes from Alexandria’s commemoration, and on 29 December 2021 it established a Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa covering the entire continent, receiving 102 clergy from eight African countries into the Moscow Patriarchate (Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa; Interfax, “Russian Orthodox Church Sets Up Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa,” 2021).

[Disputed: Moscow frames the exarchate as receiving clergy who left Alexandria in conscience over its recognition of the OCU, and as defending those who reject what it calls Constantinople’s uncanonical Ukrainian intervention (Holy Synod of the ROC, 29 December 2021, mospat.ru). The Patriarchate of Alexandria, at its synod of 12 January 2022, condemned the move as “the immoral invasion and incursion of the Russian Church” into its canonical territory, calling it a uncanonical violation of the African continent’s jurisdiction (Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, statement of 12 January 2022). Critics outside both churches read the exarchate as primarily a counter-move in the post-2018 Moscow–Constantinople rupture, overlaid on Russian state interest in Africa. As of 2026 the exarchate continues to operate and the breach with Alexandria is unhealed.]

The Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East

Seated today in Damascus (the see having moved from Antioch itself centuries ago), the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch is the church of the Arab Orthodox of Syria, Lebanon, and a large diaspora — including the vigorous Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, which under Metropolitan Philip (Saliba) received many convert clergy and parishes in the late 20th century. Unlike Alexandria and Jerusalem, Antioch’s hierarchy is itself Arab: the Arab Orthodox movement that began in the 1870s succeeded in 1899 with the election of Meletios II (Doumani) as the first Arab patriarch since 1724 — carried over the resistance of the Greek (Phanariot) party and with the diplomatic backing of Russia and the Russian consul in Damascus — and since then the patriarch has been chosen from among Orthodox Arabs (Meletios II of Antioch; “The End of the ‘Greek Captivity’ of Antioch,” Orthodox History, 2021). The church’s liturgy and leadership are Arabic-speaking. The Arab Orthodox of Antioch have historically looked to Russia as a patron and to the wider Arab world as their home; this gave the patriarchate a distinct, non-Hellenic identity among the ancient sees. Patriarch John X (Yazigi) has led the church since 2012.

The war and its effects. The Syrian civil war (from 2011) and the rise of ISIS devastated Antioch’s heartland: churches destroyed, ancient Christian towns such as Maaloula attacked, and large-scale displacement and emigration of the faithful. The most painful wound is unresolved: on 22 April 2013, two bishops of Aleppo — Metropolitan Paul (Yazigi) of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate (brother of Patriarch John X) and Syriac Orthodox Archbishop John (Ibrahim) — were abducted near Aleppo while on humanitarian work; their driver was killed. As of 2026 their fate remains unknown, and the patriarchate continues to appeal for information (Orthodox Times and SyriacPress, anniversaries of the 22 April 2013 abduction).

The Qatar dispute with Jerusalem. A jurisdictional clash with the Patriarchate of Jerusalem broke communion for nearly a decade. In March 2013 the Jerusalem Patriarchate established an Archdiocese of Qatar and consecrated a metropolitan for it, on territory Antioch claims as part of its Arabian jurisdiction. Antioch protested, and on 29 April 2014 its Holy Synod broke Eucharistic communion with Jerusalem (Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, “Resolution Objecting to the Uncanonical Interference of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem”; OrthoChristian, “Church of Antioch Breaks Off Eucharistic Communion with Patriarchate of Jerusalem,” 2014). The break — which kept Antioch from full participation at the 2016 Council of Crete — was finally healed in October 2023, when Antioch’s Holy Synod resolved to restore communion with Jerusalem (Orthodox Times, “Patriarchate of Antioch Restores Communion with the Patriarchate of Jerusalem,” 2023). As of 2026 the two churches are again in communion.

The Patriarchate of Jerusalem

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem guards the holy places of the Christian East. Its governing body is the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre, a monastic fraternity headed by the patriarch and charged with the perpetual guardianship and liturgical service of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the other sanctuaries (Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre; Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem).

The Greek-hierarchy / Arab-faithful tension. Every Patriarch of Jerusalem since 1534 has been an ethnic Greek, and the Brotherhood — and thus the episcopate — is predominantly Greek, while the lay faithful and the married parish clergy are overwhelmingly Arab; the Byzantine liturgy is served in Greek in the Brotherhood’s monasteries and in Arabic in the parishes (Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem). This long-standing imbalance is a recurring source of grievance among Arab Orthodox laity, who have periodically pressed for greater representation.

Status-quo politics. Custody of the holy places is governed by the Ottoman-era “Status Quo” (fixed in 1852/1853 firmans) that partitions rights among the Greek Orthodox, the Roman Catholic (Franciscan Custody), the Armenian Apostolic, and other communities at the Holy Sepulchre and the Church of the Nativity. The patriarchate’s standing in this arrangement gives it a major share of those sites and entangles it in the diplomacy of multiple states (Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, and Israel) that claim a role in confirming the patriarch.

Property controversies. The patriarchate is one of the largest landowners in the Holy Land, and the management and sale of its real estate has produced repeated scandal. The deposition of Patriarch Irineos I in 2005 followed the secret 2004 leases of properties near the Jaffa Gate — the Imperial and Petra hotels and a third property — through intermediary companies, ultimately benefitting the settler organization Ateret Cohanim; the leak of the deal triggered Palestinian protest and Irineos’s removal (NPR, “Greek Orthodox Church Sells Land In Israel,” 2017; The Times of Israel, coverage of the Jaffa Gate litigation). His successor, Theophilos III (since 2005), has fought in the Israeli courts to annul those transactions; in 2019 a court rejected the patriarchate’s bid to block the sales, and in 2022 the Israeli Supreme Court upheld the transfers (The Times of Israel, “Supreme Court Upholds Greek Church Sales to Far-Right Group”). These controversies are reported here as litigated facts; the patriarchate maintains that the disputed leases were made fraudulently without proper authorization.

The patriarchate’s confirmation has long depended on the assent of the states with authority over the Holy Land — historically the Ottoman Porte, and in the modern period Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority — and Theophilos III, facing pressure over both the property question and the broader squeeze on Christian institutions in Jerusalem, has appealed to Jordan and rallied the heads of the city’s churches in defense of the Christian presence (Times of Israel, “Embattled Greek Orthodox Patriarch Asks Jordan’s Help over Jerusalem Land Sales”). The three ancient patriarchates together thus illustrate a recurring Orthodox pattern: apostolic dignity and global jurisdiction (Alexandria’s continent, Jerusalem’s holy places) coexisting with small, vulnerable, and internally divided local flocks, and with disputes that draw in the rivalries of the larger churches and the interests of states.

See Also

References

  • First Council of Nicaea (325), Canons 6–7; Council of Chalcedon (451); Quinisext Council (Trullo, 692), Canon 36; trans. NPNF Series II, Vol. 14. “Organization of the Eastern Orthodox Church” (modern diptych order).
  • “Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria” and “Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria” (enthroned 24 October 2004; Kenyan community 200,000–300,000; African mission and dioceses) — used to locate primary biographical and statistical data.
  • “Meletios II of Antioch” / “The End of the ‘Greek Captivity’ of Antioch,” Orthodox History, 2021 (Arabization of 1899; first Arab patriarch since 1724; Russian backing).
  • “Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa,” and Interfax, “Russian Orthodox Church Sets Up Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa” (formation 29 December 2021; 102 clergy from eight countries) — used to locate the Holy Synod decisions of 26 December 2019 and 29 December 2021 (mospat.ru).
  • Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, statement of 12 January 2022 condemning the exarchate (“immoral invasion and incursion”).
  • Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, “Resolution Objecting to the Uncanonical Interference of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem in the Canonical Jurisdiction of Antioch” (Qatar); OrthoChristian, “Church of Antioch Breaks Off Eucharistic Communion with Patriarchate of Jerusalem,” 29 April 2014.
  • Orthodox Times, “Patriarchate of Antioch Restores Communion with the Patriarchate of Jerusalem,” October 2023.
  • Orthodox Times / SyriacPress, anniversary reports on the abduction of Metropolitan Paul (Yazigi) and Archbishop John (Ibrahim), 22 April 2013.
  • “Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre” and “Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem” (Greek hierarchy / Arab faithful; Greek patriarchs since 1534; Status Quo).
  • NPR, “Greek Orthodox Church Sells Land In Israel, Worrying Both Israelis And Palestinians,” 2017; The Times of Israel, “Supreme Court Upholds Greek Church Sales to Far-Right Group” and related Jaffa Gate litigation coverage.