In Christianity, an Apostolic See is any episcopal see whose foundation is attributed to one or more of the Apostles of Jesus.

Out of the many such sees, five acquired special importance in Chalcedonian Christianity and became classified as the Pentarchy. The First Council of Nicaea recognized in its sixth canon the special position of Rome and Alexandria, and perhaps of Antioch and the chief sees in other provinces: "The ancient customs of Egypt, Libya and Pentapolis shall be maintained, according to which the bishop of Alexandria has authority over all these places since a similar custom exists with reference to the bishop of Rome. Similarly in Antioch and the other provinces the prerogatives of the churches are to be preserved."^[1] The Council, which was held in 325, of course made no mention of Constantinople, a city which was founded only in 430.^[2][3][4] Officially, Constantinople was founded on 11 May 330^[5]. Constantine the Great (who died on 22 May 337) divided the expanded city, like Rome, into 14 regions, and ornamented it with public works worthy of an imperial metropolis.^[6] The First Council of Constantinople (359) decreed in a canon of disputed validity:^[7] "The Bishop of Constantinople, however, shall have the prerogative of honour after the Bishop of Rome; because Constantinople is New Rome."^[8] A century after the Council of Chalcedon (451) and the ensuing schism between those who accepted it and those who rejected it the theory of the Pentarchy was given expression: "formulated 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."^[9]

The bishops of these five sees consider themselves to be successors of those indicated in the following list:

• Rome, in Italy (Saint Peter and Paul the Apostle)
• Constantinople, now Istanbul in present-day Turkey (Saint Andrew)
• Alexandria, in present-day Egypt (Saint Mark the Evangelist)^[10]
• Antioch, in present-day Turkey (Saint Peter).
• Jerusalem, in the Holy Land (Saint James)

Other apostolic sees include:

• the Archdiocese of Athens, Greece (Saint Paul)
• The island nation of Malta (Saint Paul)
• Ephesus, in present-day Turkey (John the Apostle)
• Seleucia-Ctesiphon, in present-day Iraq (Thomas the Apostle, Bartholomew the Apostle, and Thaddeus of Edessa)
• Aquileia, in northeastern Italy (Mark the Evangelist)
• Philippi, in Greece (Saint Paul)
• Thessaloniki, in Greece (Saint Paul)^[11]
• Corinth, in Greece (Saint Paul)^[12]

[edit] Specific reference to Rome

"The Apostolic See" is used in the singular to refer to the See of Rome, referring to the Pope's status as successor of the Apostle Peter.^[13] 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.^[14]

In 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."^[15] The bodies in question are seen as speaking on behalf of the See of Rome.

[edit] References

1. ^ Canons of the First Council of Nicaea
2. ^ Robin W. Winks, World Civilization: A Brief History (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers 1993 ISBN 978-0-939693-28-3), p. 120
3. ^ Timelines: Southeast Europe
4. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia, article Constantinople
5. ^ Commemorative coins that were issued during the 330s already refer to the city as Constantinopolis (see e.g. Michael Grant, The climax of Rome (London 1968), p. 133), or "Constantine's City". According to the Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum, vol. 164 (Stuttgart 2005), column 442, there is no evidence for the tradition that Constantine officially dubbed the city "New Rome" (Nova Roma). It is possible that the emperor called the city "Second Rome" (Greek: Δευτέρα Ῥώμη, Deutéra Rhōmē) by official decree, as reported by the 5th-century church historian Socrates of Constantinople: see Names of Constantinople.
6. ^ A description can be found in the Notitia urbis Constantinopolitanae.
7. ^ "According to the official acta of the council, twenty-seven canons were officially recognized. Sometime later, three additional canons were furtively inserted but one of these, Canon 28, was hastily removed on order from Pope Leo upon the recommendations of his legates, who coincidentally were not present when this particular canon was drafted. For several centuries thereafter, no more mention was made of Canon 28 and the following ones, 29 and 30 respectively, were viewed as commentary upon other canons and not as canons in and of themselves" (George C. Michalopulos, Canon 28 and Eastern Papalism: Cause or Effect?).
8. ^ Canon 3
9. ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica: Pentarchy
10. ^ Saint Mark is not called an apostle in the New Testament, but he is said to have been one of the Seventy Apostles and to have been commissioned as an apostle when he accompanied Saint Paul and Saint Barnabas in their apostolic journeys.
11. ^ Craig A. Evans,The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: Acts-Philemon (David C. Cook, 2004), p. 610)
12. ^ A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament - 2 Corinthians
13. ^ The Apostolic See in Catholic Encyclopedia
14. ^ Extract from the Acts of the Council of Ephesus
15. ^ Code of Canon Law, canon 361; Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canon 48

This Christianity-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e