Presbeia
- This article deals with presbeia in canon law and tradition. For the presbeia of the saints, see intercession.
The term presbeia (πρεσβεία, Greek for "prerogatives," "seniority," or "privileges") refers to the position of certain bishops with regard to others, whether purely in honor or in terms of authority. It may also refer to the seniority of order among clergy in general, ascertained by some combination of rank, title or elevation (clergy award), and date of ordination.
Canonical literature distinguishes between two forms of honor for bishops, the presbeia timis (πρεσβεία τιμίς, "prerogatives of honor") and the akolouthia timis (ακολουθία τιμίς, "service of honor"). The first term, presbeia timis, refers to authoritative prerogatives, such as the right to ordain bishops in a certain region. The latter, akolouthia timis, refers to purely honorific status. For instance, at one point in the history of the Church in Palestine, the Patriarch of Jerusalem had the akolouthia timis because of his position as the bishop of the Holy City of Jerusalem, but the nearby Metropolitan of Caesarea held the presbeia timis, having the right to ordain bishops in Palestine.
The traditional phrase, primus inter pares ("first among equals") is an example of timis which is both presbeia and akolouthia in that it gives its holder a position more honored than all other Orthodox bishops, but also it has traditionally been associated with the right to preside at Ecumenical Councils. It may further include other sorts of prerogatives, depending on canonical interpretation.
Presbeia in the Liturgy
Churches following the Greek and Russian traditions have two different ways of determining presbeia at the altar.
In Greek (and Antiochian) practice, presbeia is reckoned in the following order:
- Hierarchs, grouped by title/elevation, and then refined by year of ordination
- Monastic priests, grouped by title/elevation and then refined by year of ordination
- Non-monastic priests, grouped by title/elevation and then refined by year of ordination
- Monastic deacons, grouped by title/elevation and then refined by year of ordination
- Non-monastic deacons, grouped by title/elevation and then refined by year of ordination.
In Russian practice, presbeia is reckoned in the following order:
- Hierarchs, grouped by title/elevation, and then refined by year of ordination
- Priests, grouped by title/elevation, with monastic priests preceding non-monastic priests of the same title/elevation, and then refined by year of ordination
- Deacons, grouped by title/elevation, with monastic deacons preceding non-monastic deacons of the same title/elevation, and then refined by year of ordination.
In liturgies where clergy of both traditions are serving, the rules of the host parish's tradition should be observed. There is not a universal practice for blending the two schemes of titles/elevations for services that include clerics of both traditions. However, the following is one common way of doing so for priests at a Russian celebration:
- Protopresbyter (Greek or Russian)
- Patriarchal Cross (Russian)
- Royal Doors open until the Our Father (Russian)
- Royal Doors open until the Cherubikon (Russian)
- Miter with superimposed Cross (Russian)
- Archimandrite (Russian or Greek)
- Mitered Archpriest (Russian)
- Decorated Cross (Russian)
- Palitza (Russian) or Oikonomos (Greek)
- Igumen (Russian)
- Archpriest (Russian) or Sakellarios (Greek)
- Gold Cross (Russian)
- Violet Kamilavka (Russian)
- Purple Skufia (Russian)
- Nabedrennik (Russian) or Pnevmatikos (Greek)
This would be different at a Greek celebration, where all monastic clergy rank before all non-monastic clergy. Thus a hieromonk would rank before all non-monasic priests of whatever rank, even a non-monastic protopresbyter.
See also
| This article forms part of the series Clergy |
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