The difference is that the Metropolitan role in a Patriarchal and Major Archepiscopal church is defined by the Patriarchal and Major Archeparch of the ritual Church, adn they do not represent the ritual church juridically, whereas in the Metropolitan Chuch the role is well defined by canon law and the Metropolitan does represent the ritual church juridically.
You know that, and I know that (not as well as you
), but it is most probable that those who need a basic explanation of pallium vs. omophor would be lost in these details pretty quickly.I remember hearing it said that the BCA Metropolitan is, in a sense, the preeminent hierarch out of all hierarchs in the US, inasmuch as he is the only one who is the head of a sui iuris church. (It was some years ago that I heard that, so I don’t remember the precise wording.)
While factual that he is the head of the only sui juris Church in the U.S., “preeminence” is theoretical, at best, in reality.
I don’t recall precisely how it was phrased – hence the vague/general qualifier “in a sense”. And no, I can’t.
I’d vote for Sayedna Samra, but he probably has enough on his plate already
Though I’m sure you already know this, pre-eminence has nothing to do with being the president of an episcopal conference. The president of an episcopal conference is elected (except in a few countries). This is different from the synod where the presidency is indeed by virtue of pre-eminence (i.e., of the metropolitan).
Good quote. It’s worth noting that different people can draw upon that passage in different ways – for example, I would say that my understanding of it was different (particular with respect to the papacy) before I started attending EC parishes, even though I have always been and continue to be Catholic.
Of course. Just trying to share a point about “pre-eminence”, perhaps using a bad example.
That is not really true. We had a thread here recently that covered that point fairly well.
Yes, but the BCAofP is the seat of a sui juris Metropolitan Church, whereas the Ukrainian Archeparchy is the seat of the Metropolitan Archbishop for the Major Archiepiscopal UGCC. Even they are not truly equivalent. Metropolitan William is accountable directly to the Pontiff whereas Metropolitan Stefan is accountable to His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
I get a little confused/forgetful regarding the Maronites in the US. They have 2 eparchies but no archeparchy … is that right?
It certainly feels that way sometimes, but I think this is the first time I’ve seen it stated.
You can read about it in the old Catholic Encyclopedia article on “Archbishop.”
So they’re bishops in name only?
I was referring to their jurisdictions on the metropolitan/archepiscopal level, not on the episcopal level.
In the United States, there are two dioceses with a total of 60 parishes and 99 priests serving about 75,000 faithful. The diocese of St. Maron of Brooklyn is presided over by Bishop Gregory J. Mansour (Pastoral Center, 109 Remsen Street, Brooklyn, New York, 11201), and Bishop Robert J. Shaheen heads the diocese of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles (1021 South Tenth St., St. Louis, Missouri 63104), founded in 1994. In Canada, the diocese of St. Maron of Montreal, headed by Bishop Joseph Khoury (12475 Grenet Street, Montreal, Quebec H4J 2K4) has 14 parishes for about 80,000 faithful. Bishop Ad Abikaram oversees the diocese of St. Maron of Sydney (105 The Boulevard, PO Box 385, Strathfield, NSW 2135 Australia), which has ten parishes for an estimated 150,000 Maronites in Australia.