Sacerdotal state

A sacerdotal state is a state whose head is also an ecclesiastical leader designated by a religious body. An example of this kind of state is the Vatican City, whose head of state is the pope of the Catholic Church since the eighth century.[1][2] Andorra operates under a semi-sacerdotal system, as one of its co-heads of state is the bishop of Urgell, while the other is the president of France. However unlike the Vatican, the co-princes of Andorra are not closely involved in the government.

In the past it was common for bishops to assume civil as well as clerical power and rule as prince-bishops. This was common in the Holy Roman Empire, where three of the seven imperial electors were prince-archbishops (Trier, Mainz and Cologne). After the Peace of Westphalia certain prince-bishoprics became bi-confessional and alternated between Catholic bishops and Protestant administrators.

Current Sacerdotal States

The following are sacerdotal or partly sacerdotal states:

Andorra is a semi-sacerdotal state due to the Bishop of Urgell, Joan Enric Vives i Sicília (left) being one of its co-princes, the country joint heads of state, alongside French President Emmanuel Macron (right)

Andorra

Andorra operates under a semi-sacerdotal system, as one of its co-heads of state is the bishop of Urgell, while the other is the president of France, however the co-princes of Andorra are not closely involved in the government.[3] The Bishop of Urgell is one of the two Catholic religious figures that also lead a country, the other being the Pope of Vatican City. Like other bishops, the Bishop of Urgell is also appointed by the Pope thus the pope appoints a fellow head of state.

Iran

The Supreme Leader of Iran is elected for life by a body consisting of senior Twelver clerics. The supreme leader, known as an ayatollah, is the spiritual leader of the country as well as a powerful political figure with wide-ranging powers and his own military force.[4]

United Kingdom

Since the English Reformation, English and British monarchs have held the title supreme governor of the Church of England, signifying leadership of the state church. The subsequent personal and legal unions with Wales, Scotland and Ireland did not extend Anglicanism's status of state church to these lands. Thus in the United Kingdom, the monarch is the head of state and also the leader of the state church in England and its Crown dependencies.[5]

Vatican City's head of state and the head of government since the eighth century is the Pope, who is the head of the Catholic Church, with the current pope being Pope Francis (pictured).

Vatican City
See also: Pontificate

Vatican City's head of state since the eighth century is the pope of the Catholic Church.[6][7] The pope is one of the two Catholic religious figures that also lead a country, the other being the Bishop of Urgell of Andorra.

Former Sacerdotal States

The following are states that were sacerdotal or partly sacerdotal:

Montenegro

Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro was an Eastern Orthodox ecclesiastical principality that existed from 1516 until 1852 in the Balkans during the Ottoman Empire's rule over the most of the region.[8]

Tibet

In the past, Tibet was ruled by the Dalai Lamas, political leaders who were symbolic religious leaders but had no formal position in religious organisations, so not being sacerdotal.[9]

References
  1. "Dutch MPs protest Vatican international voting rights over AIDS". 18 November 2000. Archived from the original on 26 July 2003.
  2. "In Biden's visit with the pope, a page from Reagan's playbook?". www.theconversation.com. 2021-10-27. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  3. Things about the history of Andorra Archived 9 February 2010 at archive.today French Co-prince (in Catalan)
  4. "The Assembly of Experts - The Iran Primer". iranprimer.usip.org. 13 June 2011. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  5. Queen and the Church of England, Official website of the British Monarchy, archived from the original on 2 December 2010, retrieved 18 June 2010; Roles and Responsibilities: Overview, The Archbishop of Canterbury, archived from the original on 3 August 2008, retrieved 9 October 2008
  6. "Dutch MPs protest Vatican international voting rights over AIDS". 18 November 2000. Archived from the original on 26 July 2003.
  7. "In Biden's visit with the pope, a page from Reagan's playbook?". www.theconversation.com. 2021-10-27. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
  8. Pavlovic, Srdja (2008). Balkan Anschluss: The Annexation of Montenegro and the Creation of the Common South Slavic State. Purdue University Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-1-55753-465-1.
  9. Schaik, Sam van. Tibet: A History. Yale University Press 2011, page 129, "Gelug: the newest of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism"
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