List of current Christian leaders

The following is a current list of the highest-ranking leaders in major Christian churches or denominations. The list is in descending order based on the number of congregants.

## Catholic Church

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### Pope

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The 267th bishop of Rome is Pope Leo XIV, who was elected on 8 May 2025. The pope is the patriarch of the Latin Church, the largest of the Catholic Church's 24 autonomous (sui iuris) churches. The pope is also head of the college of bishops which governs the universal church. The Papal primacy doctrine of Catholics states that this primacy extends in perpetuity to the pope and throughout the Catholic Church.

### Eastern Catholic Churches

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The pope is the supreme leader of these churches, and also, the head of the universal college of bishops. Each autonomous (sui iuris) church has its own patriarch or other presiding bishop:

* Coptic Catholic Church: Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak
* Melkite Greek-Catholic Church: Patriarch Youssef Absi
* Maronite Church: Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rahi
* Syriac Catholic Church: Patriarch Mar Ignatius Joseph III Yonan
* Chaldean Catholic Church: Patriarch Louis Raphaël I Sako
* Armenian Catholic Church: Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian
* Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church: Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk
* Syro-Malabar Church: Major Archbishop Mar Raphael Thattil
* Syro-Malankara Catholic Church: Major Archbishop Moran Mor Baselios Cleemis Catholicos
* Romanian Greek-Catholic Church: Major Archbishop Lucian Mureșan
* Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church: Metropolitan William C. Skurla
* Hungarian Greek Catholic Church: Bishop Péter Fülöp Kocsis
* Slovak Greek Catholic Church: Metropolitan Jonáš Maxim
* Ethiopian Catholic Church: Archbishop Berhaneyesus Souraphiel
* Eritrean Catholic Church: Archbishop Menghesteab Tesfamariam

Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem

## Eastern Orthodox Church

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### Patriarchates

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* Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople: Bartholomew I of Constantinople
* Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria: Theodore II
* Patriarch of Antioch: John X
* Patriarch of Jerusalem: Theophilos III
* Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus': Kirill
* Archbishop of Peć and Serbian Patriarch: Porfirije
* Patriarch of Romania: Daniel
* Patriarch of All Bulgaria: Daniel
* Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia: Ilia II

### Archbishoprics

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* Archbishop of Cyprus: George III
* Archbishop of Athens and all Greece: Ieronymos II
* Archbishop of Albania: John Pelushi
* Archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia: Stefan

### Metropolises

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* Metropolitan of All Poland: Sawa
* Metropolitan of the Czech Lands and Slovakia: Rastislav Gont

### Churches in partial communion

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* Metropolitan of All America and Canada: Tikhon Mollard (autocephaly not universally recognized)
* Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine: Epiphanius I (autocephaly not universally recognized, canonical ordination not universally recognised[1])

## Oriental Orthodox Churches

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* Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria: Tawadros II. He also holds the title Patriarch of All Africa on the Holy Apostolic See of Saint Mark the Evangelist and is the spiritual leader of more than 16 million Copts.
* Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East: Ignatius Aphrem II. He is also the Supreme head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church and Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church in India.
* Catholicos of India: Baselios Joseph. He also holds the office of Malankara Metropolitan of Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church.
* Catholicos of All Armenians: Karekin II
* Catholicos of the East: Baselios Marthoma Mathews III[2]
* Patriarch-Catholicos of Axum: Abune Mathias
* Patriarch of Eritrea: Basilos

### Churches not in communion

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* Patriarch of the British Orthodox Church: Abba Seraphim El-Suriani
* Metropolitan of the Malabar Independent Syrian Church: Cyril Mar Baselios I

## Church of the East

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* Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East: Mar Awa III
* Catholicos-Patriarch of the Ancient Church of the East: Gewargis III Younan

## Old Catholic Church

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Archbishop of Utrecht Bernd Wallet

* Old Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht: Bernd Wallet, the principal leader of the Union of Utrecht. As a primate of the Old Catholic Church in communion with the see of Utrecht, he is considered first among equals though he does not have jurisdictional authority.
* Prime Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church: Anthony Mikovsky, the principal leader of the Union of Scranton.

## Anglican Communion

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* Monarch of the United Kingdom: King Charles III is the supreme governor of the Church of England,[3] which places him as the titular leader of Anglican Christians in England.

Justin Welby, most recent Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of All England

* The Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church is the Most Rev. Sean Rowe.

## Other

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* Presiding Bishop of the Global United Fellowship: Bishop Joel Peebles
* Secretary General of the World Evangelical Alliance: Thomas Schirrmacher
* Chairman of the World Assemblies of God Fellowship: David Mohan
* President of the World Communion of Reformed Churches: Najla Kassab
* President of the World Methodist Council: Bishop Debra Wallace-Padget

* President of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC): Rev. Gaylin Schmeling
* President of the Lutheran World Federation: Bishop Henrik Stubkjær. Although the president does not have any jurisdiction outside of his own regional church, as president of the LWF he oversees the meetings of the leaders of other regional churches.
* Chairman of the Pentecostal World Fellowship: Dr. William Wilson
* Chief Apostle of the New Apostolic Church: Jean-Luc Schneider[4]
* President of the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church: Elder Ted N. C. Wilson
* President of the Baptist World Alliance: Tomás Mackey
* President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Russell M. Nelson
* Presiding Bishop of the Church Of God In Christ Inc.: John Drew Sheard, Sr
* Executive Minister of Iglesia ni Cristo: Eduardo V. Manalo
* General of The Salvation Army: Lyndon Buckingham
* Prophet-President of the Community of Christ: Stassi D. Cramm
* Patriarch of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church: Tomáš Butta
* President of the Synod of the Reformed Church in the United States: Dr. Frank Walker
* Patriarch of the Apostolic Catholic Church: Juan Almario Calampiano
* Overall Servant of the Members Church of God International: Daniel Razon
* Mar Thoma Metropolitan of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church: Theodosius Mar Thoma
* President of the Southern Baptist Convention: Clint Pressley
* General Superintendent of the United Pentecostal Church International: David K. Bernard

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Statement by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church concerning the encroachment of the Patriarchate of Constantinople on the canonical territory of the Russian Church".
2. ^ "The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church |". mosc.in. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
3. ^ "General Synod". Archived from the original on April 16, 2010. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
4. ^ "Structures & Ministries: New Apostolic Church International (NAC)". www.nak.org. Retrieved 2020-08-08.

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Patriarchates in Christianity

Traditional ecclesiastical jurisdictions of primates in Christianity, sorted according to earliest apostolic legacy and branched where multiple denominational claimants:
bold blue = Catholic Church, light blue = Eastern Orthodox Church (* unrecognized), bold/light green = Oriental Orthodoxy, italic blue = Nestorianism, bold italic blue = pre-schism

Early
Christianity
(Antiquity)
(30–325/476)|

| Pentarchy
(five
apostolic
sees)|

| Patriarch of Rome (1st cent.)|

* Holy See (since 1st cent.)

|

Patriarch of Constantinople
(451)|

* Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (since 330)
* Latin Patriarchate of Constantinople (1204–1964)
* Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople (since 1461)
* Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate (since 1924*)

Patriarch of Antioch
(1st cent.)|

* Patriarchate of Antioch (1st cent.–518)
* Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch (since 518)
* Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch (since 519)
* Maronite Patriarchate (since 685)
* Latin Patriarchate of Antioch (1099–1964)
* Syriac Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch (since 1668)
* Melkite Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch (since 1724)

* Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia (since 1058)
* Patriarchate of Cilicia (since 1740)

Patriarch of Alexandria
(1st cent.)|

* Patriarchate of Alexandria (1st cent.–451)
* Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria (since 451)
* Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria (since 451)
* Latin Patriarchate of Alexandria (1219–1964)
* Coptic Catholic Patriarchate of Alexandria (since 1824)

Patriarch of Jerusalem (451)|

* Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem (since 451)
* Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem (since 638)
* Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem (since 1099)

Other|

| Patriarch of Carthage (2nd cent.)|

* Patriarch of Carthage (2nd cent.–1076)

|

Patriarch of Seleucia-Ctesiphon
(280)|

* Patriarch of Seleucia-Ctesiphon (280–1552)
* Chaldean Catholic Patriarchate of Baghdad (since 1553)
* Patriarchs of the Church of the East (Eliya line) (1558–1830)
* Patriarchs of the Church of the East (Shimun line) (1692–1830)
* Assyrian Church of the East Patriarchate of Seleucia-Ctesiphon (since 1830)
* Ancient Church of the East Patriarchate of Seleucia-Ctesiphon (since 1968)

Patriarch of Armenia (301)|

* Catholicos of All Armenians (Patriarch of Etchmiadzin) (since 301)

* Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia (since 1058)
* Patriarchate of Cilicia (since 1740)

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(476–1517)|

* Patriarchate of Aquileia (568–1751)
* Patriarchate of Grado (725–1451)
* Patriarchate of Bulgaria (919*/927–1018)
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* Patriarchate of Cyprus (1185*–1191)
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* Tarnovo Patriarchate of Bulgaria (1235–1394)
* Serbian Orthodox Patriarchate of Peć (1346*/1375–1463)
* Patriarchate of Venice (since 1451)
* Catholicate of Abkhazia (15.*/16. century–1814)

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* Patriarchate of the West Indies (since 1524)
* Latin Patriarchate of Ethiopia (1555–1663)
* Patriarchate of the East Indies (since 1572)
* Serbian Orthodox Patriarchate of Peć (1557–1766)
* Patriarchate of Moscow (since 1589)
* Patriarchate of Lisbon (since 1716)

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* Patriarchate of Karlovci (1848–1920)
* Patriarchate of Georgia (since 1917*/1990)
* Serbian Orthodox Patriarchate of Peć (since 1920)
* Patriarchate of Romania (since 1925)
* Patriarchate of Croatia (*1942–1945)
* Patriarchate of Bulgaria (since 1953)
* Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarchate of Ethiopia (since 1959)
* Patriarchate of Kyiv (1992*–2018; since 2019*)
* Eritrean Orthodox Patriarchate of Eritrea (since 1994)

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