# Stauropegion

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{{short description|Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic entity directly subordinated to a primate or Synod}}
{{Christianity|state=collapsed}}

A '''stauropegion''', also spelled '''stavropegion''' (from {{langx|el|σταυροπήγιον}}, in turn from σταυρός ''stauros'' {{lit.}} "cross" and πήγνυμι ''pegnumi''  {{lit.}} "to affirm"), is a [monastery](/source/monastery) or a [parish](/source/parish) which depends directly on the [primate](/source/Primate_(bishop)) or on the [Holy Synod](/source/Holy_Synod) of a particular Church, and which is not under the jurisdiction of the [local bishop](/source/local_bishop). The name comes from the [Byzantine](/source/Byzantine) tradition of summoning the [Patriarch](/source/Patriarch) to place a [cross](/source/cross) at the foundation of stauropegic monasteries or parochial [churches](/source/Church_(building)).{{sfn|Burdzy|2019|p=263-267}}

Such exempt jurisdictions, both monastic and parochial, are common in [Eastern Christianity](/source/Eastern_Christianity), mainly in [Eastern Orthodox Churches](/source/Eastern_Orthodox_Churches), but also in some [Eastern Catholic Churches](/source/Eastern_Catholic_Churches). Their institutional counterparts in the [Latin Rite](/source/Latin_Church) ecclesiastical order of the [Catholic Church](/source/Catholic_Church) are various [exempt jurisdictions](/source/Exemption_(Catholic_canon_law)), such as monasteries directly subjected to the [Holy See of Rome](/source/Holy_See_of_Rome).

== Stauropegic monasteries ==
A stauropegic monastery, also rendered "stavropegic", "stauropegial" or "stavropegial", is an [Eastern Orthodox](/source/Eastern_Orthodox) or [Eastern Catholic](/source/Eastern_Catholic) Christian [monastery](/source/monastery), subordinated directly to a [primate](/source/Primate_(bishop)) or [Synod](/source/Synod), rather than to a [local Bishop](/source/Local_bishop).

The practice of exempting some monasteries from jurisdictions of local bishops, placing them under a direct jurisdiction of the patriarch, was present at least since the reign of [Byzantine Emperor](/source/List_of_Byzantine_emperors) [Maurice](/source/Maurice_(Byzantine_Emperor)) (582-602). Such exemptions became more common after the [Council of Constantinople](/source/Council_of_Constantinople_(861)) (861). In time, those practices included not only monasteries but also various parish churches, to the extent authorities had to regulate the issue by imposing stricter criteria for exemption.{{sfn|Thomas|1987|p=214-243}}{{sfn|Troianos|2012|p=173}}

Stauropegic monasteries are distinguished from the greatest monasteries, called ''[lavra](/source/lavra)s'', and from the patriarchal ''[metochion](/source/metochion)s'', where the patriarch serves as a parish priest. The ''metochions'' of the Patriarch of Moscow are the [Vysokopetrovsky Monastery](/source/Vysokopetrovsky_Monastery) and [Nikolo-Perervinsky Monastery](/source/Nikolo-Perervinsky_Monastery).

===Bulgarian Orthodox Church===
The [Bulgarian Orthodox Church](/source/Bulgarian_Orthodox_Church) has three stauropegic monasteries:<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bulgariamonasteries.com/stavropigialni_manastiri.html|title=Ставропигиални манастири в България - България манастири|website=www.bulgariamonasteries.com|access-date=2020-01-07}}</ref>
* [Rila Monastery](/source/Rila_Monastery)
* [Bachkovo Monastery](/source/Bachkovo_Monastery)
* [Troyan Monastery](/source/Troyan_Monastery)

The [Alexander Nevsky Cathedral](/source/Alexander_Nevsky_Cathedral%2C_Sofia) and the [Sofia Seminary](/source/Sofia_Seminary) are also directly subordinate to the Bulgarian Patriarch and Synod.

===Greek Orthodox Church===
The Greek Eastern Orthodox community has one stauropegic monastery:
* [Mount Athos Monastery](/source/Monastic_community_of_Mount_Athos)

===Serbian Orthodox Church===
[[File:JuPećPatriarchenkloster1.jpg|thumb|right|190px|[Patriarchal Monastery of Peć](/source/Patriarchal_Monastery_of_Pe%C4%87), stauropegic monastery of the [Serbian Orthodox Church](/source/Serbian_Orthodox_Church)]]

Several major Serbian Orthodox monasteries had special status in [Middle Ages](/source/Middle_Ages). Today, the [Serbian Orthodox Church](/source/Serbian_Orthodox_Church) has two stauropegic monasteries:<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-01-03|title=Манастири - АРХИЕПИСКОПИЈА|url=http://arhiepiskopija.rs/index.php/arhiepiskopija/manastiri|access-date=2021-07-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103090553/http://arhiepiskopija.rs/index.php/arhiepiskopija/manastiri|archive-date=2020-01-03}}</ref>
* [Patriarchal Monastery of Peć](/source/Patriarchal_Monastery_of_Pe%C4%87), ancient seat of the [Serbian Patriarchate of Peć](/source/Serbian_Patriarchate_of_Pe%C4%87) (1346-1463 and 1557-1766). The principal title of [Serbian Patriarch](/source/Serbian_Patriarch)s is still [Archbishop of Peć](/source/Archbishop_of_Pe%C4%87).
*[Saint Sava Serbian Orthodox Monastery](/source/Saint_Sava_Serbian_Orthodox_Monastery_and_Seminary) in [Libertyville, Illinois](/source/Libertyville%2C_Illinois), [United States](/source/United_States).

===Russian Orthodox Church===
The first stauropegic monastery in the [Russian Orthodox Church](/source/Russian_Orthodox_Church) was [Simonov Monastery](/source/Simonov_Monastery) (1383). It was subordinated directly to the [Ecumenical Patriarch](/source/Ecumenical_Patriarch), because it was founded by Greeks and home to the [patriarch](/source/Ecumenical_patriarch_of_Constantinople) during his visits to [Moscow](/source/Moscow).

In 1561, [Ivan the Terrible](/source/Ivan_the_Terrible) decreed that the following seven monasteries should precede all the rest:
*[Trinity Lavra](/source/Trinity_Lavra), [Sergiev Posad](/source/Sergiev_Posad)
*[Chudov Monastery](/source/Chudov_Monastery), Moscow
*[Andronikov Monastery](/source/Andronikov_Monastery), Moscow
*[Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery](/source/Kirillo-Belozersky_Monastery), [Kirillov](/source/Kirillov_(town))
*[Epiphany Monastery](/source/Epiphany_Monastery), Moscow
*[Pafnutiev Monastery](/source/Pafnutiev_Monastery), [Borovsk](/source/Borovsk)
*[Joseph-Volokolamsky Monastery](/source/Joseph-Volokolamsky_Monastery) near [Volokolamsk](/source/Volokolamsk)

After the establishment of the [Patriarchate in Moscow](/source/Patriarch_of_Moscow), no stauropegic monasteries were subordinated directly to the Patriarch for some time. [Nikon](/source/Patriarch_Nikon) then founded the [New Jerusalem Monastery](/source/New_Jerusalem_Monastery), [Valday Iversky Monastery](/source/Valday_Iversky_Monastery), and [Kiy Island Monastery](/source/Kiy_Island), which he governed himself, instead of placing each under an [hegumen](/source/hegumen) (abbot). 

The Greek custom, first introduced by Nikon, was continued by other Patriarchs and the [Holy Governing Synod](/source/Holy_Governing_Synod). Stauropegic houses were not always the most important monasteries, the holiest, the richest, or the largest. They might have been dear to the ruling Patriarch for personal reasons. In the 19th century, apart from four [lavra](/source/lavra)s, seven monasteries were considered stauropegial:
* [Novospassky Monastery](/source/Novospassky_Monastery), Moscow
* [New Jerusalem Monastery](/source/New_Jerusalem_Monastery), Istra
* [Simonov Monastery](/source/Simonov_Monastery), Moscow
* [Donskoy Monastery](/source/Donskoy_Monastery), Moscow
* [Solovetsky Monastery](/source/Solovetsky_Monastery), Solovki
* [Yakovlevsky Monastery](/source/Yakovlevsky_Monastery), Rostov
* [Zaikonospassky Monastery](/source/Zaikonospassky_Monastery), Moscow

{{As of|2000}}, the following monasteries were recognized as stauropegial by the Russian Orthodox Church:

Monasteries of [Moscow](/source/Moscow):
* [Danilov Monastery](/source/Danilov_Monastery), Moscow
* [Donskoy Monastery](/source/Donskoy_Monastery), Moscow
* [Novospassky Monastery](/source/Novospassky_Monastery), Moscow
* [Sretensky Monastery](/source/Sretensky_Monastery), Moscow
* [Zachatyevsky Convent](/source/Zachatyevsky_Convent), Moscow
* [Intercession Convent, Moscow](/source/Intercession_Convent%2C_Moscow)
* [Nativity Convent, Moscow](/source/Nativity_Convent%2C_Moscow)

Monasteries of Central Russia:
* [Joseph-Volokolamsky Monastery](/source/Joseph-Volokolamsky_Monastery), [Moscow Oblast](/source/Moscow_Oblast)
* [New Jerusalem Monastery](/source/New_Jerusalem_Monastery), Moscow Oblast
* [Optina Monastery](/source/Optina_Monastery), [Kaluga Oblast](/source/Kaluga_Oblast)
* [St. Savva Monastery](/source/St._Savva_Monastery), Moscow Oblast
* [Ugreshi Monastery](/source/Ugreshi_Monastery), Moscow Oblast
* [Amvrosievsky Shamordinsky Convent](/source/Amvrosievsky_Shamordinsky_Convent), Kaluga Oblast
* [Borisoglebsky Anosin Convent](/source/Borisoglebsky_Anosin_Convent), Moscow Oblast
* [Intercession Convent, Khotkovo](/source/Intercession_Convent%2C_Khotkovo), Moscow Oblast
* [Krestovozdvizhensky Convent](/source/Krestovozdvizhensky_Convent), Moscow Oblast

Monasteries of North-Western Russia:
* [Solovetsky Monastery](/source/Solovetsky_Monastery), [Arkhangelsk Oblast](/source/Arkhangelsk_Oblast)
* [Valaam Monastery](/source/Valaam_Monastery), [Republic of Karelia](/source/Republic_of_Karelia)
* [Vyashchizhi Monastery](/source/Vyashchizhi_Monastery), [Novgorod Oblast](/source/Novgorod_Oblast)
* [Ioannovsky Convent](/source/Ioannovsky_Convent), [Saint Petersburg](/source/Saint_Petersburg)

Monasteries outside Russia:
* [Assumption Monastery, Zhirovitsy](/source/Assumption_Monastery%2C_Zhirovitsy), [Hrodna Oblast](/source/Hrodna_Oblast), [Belarus](/source/Belarus)
* [Glinsk Hermitage](/source/Glinsk_Hermitage), [Sumy Oblast](/source/Sumy_Oblast), Ukraine
* [Holy Trinity Monastery](/source/Holy_Trinity_Monastery_(Jordanville%2C_New_York)), [Jordanville, New York](/source/Jordanville%2C_New_York), [United States](/source/United_States)
* [Pühtitsa Convent](/source/P%C3%BChtitsa_Convent), [Estonia](/source/Estonia)
* [St. George Monastery, Horodnytsia](/source/St._George_Monastery%2C_Horodnytsia), [Zhytomyr Oblast](/source/Zhytomyr_Oblast), Ukraine
* [Trinity Convent](/source/Trinity_Convent%2C_Korets), [Korets](/source/Korets), [Rivne Oblast](/source/Rivne_Oblast), Ukraine
* [Assumption Monastery, Zimne](/source/Zymne_Monastery), [Volyn Oblast](/source/Volyn_Oblast), Ukraine

===Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church===
A stauropegial monastery (''monasterium stauropegiaceum'') under patriarchal jurisdiction (''monasterium iuris patriarchalis'') is a monastery subject directly to the [patriarch](/source/Ukrainian_Greek_Catholic_Church) (can. 434 [Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches](/source/Code_of_Canons_of_the_Eastern_Churches)).<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|title=Univ Monastery Becomes Subject to Greek Catholic Patriarch|url=https://www.byzcath.org/index.php/news-mainmenu-49/2398-univ-monastery-becomes-subject-to-greek-catholic-patriarch|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019094407/https://www.byzcath.org/index.php/news-mainmenu-49/2398-univ-monastery-becomes-subject-to-greek-catholic-patriarch|archive-date=2021-10-19|access-date=2021-01-12|website=RISU.ORG.UA|publication-date=7 May 2008|via=Byzantine Catholic Church in America|url-status=live}}</ref>

Monasteries in Ukraine:
* [Univ Lavra](/source/Univ_Lavra)

== Stauropegic parishes ==
Stauropegic parishes in Eastern Orthodoxy are exempt parishes not under jurisdiction of a local bishop, but directly subjected to a higher hierarch, usually a patriarch. Such parishes are created for various reasons, symbolic or practical.

==See also==
* [Ecclesiastical jurisdiction](/source/Ecclesiastical_jurisdiction)
* [Eastern Orthodox canon law](/source/Eastern_Orthodox_canon_law)
* [Exemption (Catholic Church)](/source/Exemption_(Catholic_Church))
* [Royal Peculiar](/source/Royal_Peculiar)
* [Patriarchal Stavropegic Monastery of St. John the Baptist](/source/Patriarchal_Stavropegic_Monastery_of_St._John_the_Baptist) (England)
* [Orthodox Church in America Stavropegial Institutions](/source/Orthodox_Church_in_America_Stavropegial_Institutions)

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin|2}}
* {{Cite book|last=Burdzy|first=Dominika|chapter=At the Crossroads of Cultures: The Orthodox Confraternities of Central and Eastern Europe from the 16th to the 18th Century|title=A Companion to Medieval and Early Modern Confraternities|year=2019|location=Leiden-Boston|publisher=Brill|pages=257–279|isbn=9789004392915 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s_-GDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA257}}
* {{Cite book|last=Thomas|first=John P.|title=Private Religious Foundations in the Byzantine Empire|year=1987|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=Dumbarton Oaks|isbn=9780884021643 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jCAl9udu8IwC}}
* {{Cite book|last=Troianos|first=Spyros|chapter=Byzantine Canon Law from the Twelfth to the Fifteenth Centuries|title=The History of Byzantine and Eastern Canon Law to 1500|year=2012|location=Washington|publisher=CUA Press|pages=170–214|isbn=9780813216799 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BwnCVYHf5VAC&pg=PA170}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Portal|Christianity}}
* {{Wiktionary-inline|stauropegion}}

Category:Eastern Christian monasticism
Category:Church parishes

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Stauropegion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stauropegion) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stauropegion?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.