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

Pope

The 266th bishop of Rome is Pope Francis, who was elected on the 13th of March 2013. As bishop of Rome the pope is the patriarch of the Latin Church, the largest of the Catholic Church's 24 autonomous (sui iuris) churches. He 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

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

Eastern Orthodox Churches

Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople: Bartholomew I is the spiritual leader of well over 250–300 million Orthodox Christians,^[1]^[2] though the Ecumenical Patriarch is not considered to be the head of the Eastern Orthodox Church. His official rank is primus inter pares (first among equals).
Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria: Theodore II
Patriarch of Antioch: John X
Patriarch of Jerusalem: Theophilos III
Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus': Kirill I
Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia: Ilia II
Patriarch of All Bulgaria: Neophyte
Archbishop of Peć and Serbian Patriarch: Irinej
Patriarch of Romania: Daniel
Archbishop of Cyprus: Chrysostomos II
Archbishop of Athens and all Greece: Ieronymos II
Archbishop of Albania: Anastasios
Metropolitan of All Poland: Sawa Hrycuniak
Metropolitan of the Czech Lands and Slovakia: Rastislav Gont
Metropolitan of All America and Canada: Tikhon Mollard (not universally recognised)
Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Ukraine: Epiphanius I (not universally recognised)

Oriental Orthodox Churches

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 Karim. He is also the Supreme head of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church in India.
Catholicos of All Armenians: Karekin II
Catholicos of the East: Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II
Patriarch-Catholicos of Axum: Abune Mathias
Patriarch of Eritrea: Abune Dioskoros, though the legitimacy of his assumption of office has been questioned due to his predecessor Abune Antonios being removed from office, which is largely seen as non-canonical, for criticizing the civil government.

Churches Not in Communion

Other Orthodoxy

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

Church of the East

Catholicos-Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East: Gewargis III.^[3]
Catholicos-Patriarch of the Ancient Church of the East: Addai II Giwargis

Old Catholic Church

Old Catholic Archbishop of Utrecht Joris Vercammen, 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

The Monarch of the United Kingdom, Elizabeth II, is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England^[4] which places her as the titular leader of Anglican Christians in England.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, is the principal leader of the Anglican Communion. In most contexts, however, the Archbishop of Canterbury is considered just the spiritual leader of the Church of England. As Primate of the Church of England and the bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, the see that churches must be in communion with in order to be a part of the Anglican Communion,^{[citation needed]} he is the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Also known as First Among Equals, he leads through example and persuasion but has no legal jurisdiction outside England.

Other

Secretary General of the World Evangelical Alliance: Bishop Efraim Tendero
President of the World Communion of Reformed Churches: Najla Kassab
President of the World Methodist Council: Bishop Paulo Lockmann
President of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference(CELC): Rev. Gaylin Schmeling
President of the Lutheran World Federation: Archbishop Musa Filibus.^[5] 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 ^[6]
President of the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church: Elder Ted N. C. Wilson
President of the Baptist World Alliance: Paul Mzisa
President of the Southern Baptist Convention: Pastor J.D. Greear.
President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Russell M. Nelson
Presiding Bishop of the Church Of God In Christ Inc.: Charles E. Blake
Executive Minister of Iglesia Ni Cristo: Eduardo V. Manalo
General of The Salvation Army: Brian Peddle
Prophet-President of the Community of Christ: Stephen M. Veazey
Patriarch of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church: Tomáš Butta
President of the Synod of the Reformed Church in the United States: Dr. Frank Walker
Overall Servant of the Members Church of God International: Eliseo Soriano
Metropolitan of Malankara: Moran mor Joseph Mar Thoma XXI, Primate of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church

References

^ http://www.adherents.com/adh_rb.html
^ http://christianity.about.com/od/easternorthodoxy/p/orthodoxprofile.htm
^ Biography of HH Mar Gewargis III Archived 2015-10-02 at the Wayback Machine, published September 28, 2015; retrieved October 30, 2015
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 16, 2010. Retrieved March 21, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-07-26. Retrieved 2009-07-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Structures & Ministries: New Apostolic Church International (NAC)". www.nak.org. Retrieved 2020-08-08.

[1] ttp://www.adherents.com/adh_rb.html

[2] ttp://christianity.about.com/od/easternorthodoxy/p/orthodoxprofile.htm

[3] Biography of HH Mar Gewargis III Archived 2015-10-02 at the Wayback Machine, published September 28, 2015; retrieved October 30, 2015

[4] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 16, 2010. Retrieved March 21, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[5] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-07-26. Retrieved 2009-07-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[6] "Structures & Ministries: New Apostolic Church International (NAC)". www.nak.org. Retrieved 2020-08-08.

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