Grand Archbishop

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A Grand Archbishop (lat. archiepiscopus maior) is the head of an Eastern Catholic Church who exercises the same jurisdiction over his autonomous (sui iuris) particular Church as an Eastern Church patriarch in communion with the Roman pope.

The Vatican’s refusal to grant the title of patriarch to heads of churches that were not already patriarchal in the Old Church is intended to take into account the sensitivities of their non-Catholic counterparts. However, this is sometimes perceived as inappropriate in their own ranks and is overplayed in everyday life by non-official use of the more prestigious title “Patriarch”. Indeed, the differences between a Grand Archbishop and a Patriarch are predominantly ceremonial in nature:
The Grand Archbishop ranks in the protocolary order of honor below the patriarchs, but before the Catholic primates.
When major archbishops are appointed cardinals, they belong to the class of cardinal priests, while patriarchs belong to the class of cardinal bishops.

Like Eastern Church patriarchs, Grand Archbishops are also elected by the Synod of Bishops of their respective Church, but while the former ask the Pope for the ecclesiastica communio (the ecclesial community) only after their enthronement, the latter must be confirmed by the Pope before their enthronement.
Comparable to the Catholic “Grand Archbishops” are those heads of autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches called “archbishops” who, for various reasons, do not hold the title of patriarch, e.g. the Archbishop of Athens and the Archbishop of Cyprus.

There are currently four Grand Archbishop seats within the Catholic Church, which preside over autonomous particular churches of an Eastern rite:

Remarks:

Literature
Peter Hünermann, Bernd Jochen Hilberath: Herder's Theological Commentary on the Second Vatican Council. 2nd edition Herder, 2005, ISBN 3-451-28561-4.

Individual evidence

Episcopal Office