The order of precedence depends, to a minor degree, on the nature of the procession and the venue in which it occurs. However, as a general rule, it should not vary.
For instance, at the enthronement, a few years ago, of Archbishop Cyril (Bustros) as Eparch of Newton for the Melkites, the order of procession (forgive the inclusion of non-hierarchs - I cut and pasted this part from elsewhere and it's too late and I'm too tired to cull it down to the hierarchs, which are the focus of discussion) was:
Servers
Members of religious congregations not in holy orders
- Novices
- Nuns
- Religious Brothers
- Brother Monks
Seminarians
Non-celebrating minor clergy
- Readers
- Cantors
- Sub-deacons
- Deacons
Serving minor clergy
- Deacons
- Proto-deacons
- Arch-deacons
Orthodox Presbyters (other than those formally representing hierarchs)
Latin Presbyters
Eastern Hieromonks and Presbyters with no title of minor prelature
Orthodox Minor Prelates formally representing their hierarchs
Eastern, Oriental & Latin Minor Prelates
- Monsignori
- Archimandrites
- Archpriests
- Periodeuts
- Chorepiscopi
- Proto-Presbyters (non-Melkite)
Non-hierarchical Concelebrants
- Cathedral Rector
- Melkite Proto-Presbyters
- Maronite Chorbishop/Dean of New England
- Melkite Patriarchal Exarch
Hegumens
Abbots
Eastern, Oriental, and Latin Catholic bishops (intermingled, by date of episcopal ordination - note that this is how it should be done; there are those who would separate the Eastern and Oriental from the Latins, for the sake of uniformity of vesture, etc - to do so is blatantly incorrect and defies the concept of the unity of the Church)
Metropolitan Archbishop of Hartford (Latin)
Metropolitan Arch-Eparch of Philadelphia of the Ukrainians
Metropolitan Cardinal-Archbishop of Boston (Latin)
Metropolitan Arch-Eparch of Pittsburgh of the Ruthenians
Emeritus Eparch of Newton of the Melkites
Eparch-Designate of Newton of the Melkites
Apostolic Nuncio to the United States
Patriarch of Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem, and All the East of the Melkites
Hartford and Philadelphia were sequenced for precedence by date of episcopal ordination
Boston had precedence over the other 2 Metropolitans (Hartford and Philadelphia) by virtue of being also a Cardinal
Pittsburgh had precedence over Boston by virtue of heading a
sui iuris Church
Newton had its precedence by virtue of the ceremony being in and of their jurisdiction
Apostolic Nuncio had his precedence by virtue of representing the Pope
His Beatitude had precedence by virtue of his Patriarchy and by reason of being in a cathedral of his Church
sui iuris--------------------
In contrast, when Newton was still an exarchate, at the time (1969) of the enthronement of Archbishop Joseph (Tawil), of blessed memory, the differences in precedence were:
Pittsburgh - the Ruthenian Metropolia was not yet termed
sui iurisPhiladelphia - by prior date of elevation to Archbishop
Hartford - again, by prior date of elevation
Newton - by virtue of being exarch-designate
Apostolic Delegate - by virtue of representation
and (being three hierarchs who genuinely liked and enjoyed one another's company) the then-Archbishop of Boston, Richard Cardinal Cushing, Patriarch Maximos V Hakim, and GO Archbishop Iakovos, all of blessed memory, processed side-by-side (truth be told, it was, most likely, the better to chit-chat among themselves while awaiting the start of the procession).
Had that not been the case, it would have been Archbishop Iakovos, followed by the Cardinal, followed by the Patriarch.
The Cardinal would have immediately preceded the Patriarch (rather than been factored into the other Metropolitans by date of episcopal ordination) because the cathedral of an apostolic exarchate in the diaspora (an apostolic exarchate being a papal jurisdiction) would have been technically within the geographic bounds of the Latin metropolitan, rather than being a distinct canonical jurisdiction. Thus, the Latin Cardinal Archbishop of Boston would not have been 'outside' his own canonical jurisdiction once he stepped onto its grounds (as is now the case when the Latin Archbishop of Boston enters upon the grounds of the cathedral or the other Melkite temples and institutions that are within the broader geographic bounds of the Boston Latin Archdiocese).
-------------------
In general, Eastern and Oriental Catholic hierarchs attending and participating in a procession in a Latin venue should be ordered (by date of episcopal ordination) for precdeence with their Latin peers. That would include those who are the primatial hierarchs of
sui iuris Churches in which an Exarchate or Eparchy is the highest status of canonical jurisdiction (
e.g., the Byzantine Greek, Italo-Greico-Albanian, and Slovak Churches
sui iuris). So, bishops, archbishops, and Latin metropolitan archbishops.
Next should be those Metropolitan Archbishops who are the ranking primates of Metropolitan Churches
sui iuris, again by date; then Major-Archbishops of Churches
sui iuris, again by date; and, finally, Patriarchs - Coptic, followed by Melkite, and the others by date of election.
But, in a temple of his own Church
sui iuris, a Patriarch has precedence over all other Patriarchs, and Patriarchs Emeritus of that same Church enjoy precedence over all Patriarchs other than the then-reigning Patriarch.
------------------
The one notable exception to the above is that, in a procession of the College of Cardinals, any Eastern or Oriental Catholic hierarch who is also a Cardinal (other than those who are Patriarchs) would be ordered with his fellow Cardinals by the date so named.
Patriarchs who are also Cardinals are automatically ascribed to the ranks of the Cardinal Bishops and would be ordered with their fellow-Cardinal Bishops, by date named as Cardinal; however, they (and all the Cardinal Bishops) would have precedence only after the Dean of the College of Cardinals.
-----------------------
Precedence, even as head of a Church
sui iuris, would almost always give way to a Latin hierarch in whose canonical jurisdiction one is a guest and in which one is processing - although a Major-Archbishop or Patriarch is most likely to be afforded honorific precedence there (processing with or alongside the resident hierarch).
Such
might also be accorded to a Metropolitan of a Church
sui iuris if the resident hierarch is particularly sensitive to the distinction - although it's not a scenario one would expect to encounter very frequently. (A similar honorific precedence might well be accorded any visiting hierarch of higher status than the resident hierarch. The ordinary of a place is not likely to stand on strict protocol in the presence of a hierarch who is of higher ecclesiastical rank/stature than himself.)
-----------------------
In answer to Peter's query: Cardinal is a dignity, not a separate episcopal rank or status. There is no 'authority' that attends to the cardinalate, other than that of serving as an elector - and that is not an authority, it is a prerogative.
Not so, a Patriarch. A Patriarch enjoys authority as a function of being a Patriarch.
Canon 58 (CCEO)
Patriarchs of Eastern Churches precede all bishops of any degree everywhere in the world, with due regard for special norms of precedence established by the Roman Pontiff.
Canon 56 (CCEO)
A patriarch is a bishop who enjoys power over all bishops, including metropolitans and other Christian faithful of the Church over which he presides, according to the norm of law approved by the supreme authority of the Church.
A Cardinal is, at base, a bishop (other than in those rare instances of priests who have been named cardinal and whose request not to be ordained to the episcopate has been granted by the Pope). Any ecclesiastical authority that a Cardinal exercises is a function of his episcopal role as a bishop or archbishop or his office as the head of a curial function, not that he is a Cardinal. A Patriarch derives his authority from the fact of being Patriarch.
Canon 349 (Latin Code)
The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church constitute a special College, whose prerogative it is to elect the Roman Pontiff in accordance with the norms of a special law. The Cardinals are also available to the Roman Pontiff, either acting collegially, when they are summoned together to deal with questions of major importance, or acting individually, that is, in the offices which they hold in assisting the Roman Pontiff[/b] especially in the daily care of the universal Church.
Canon 351 (Latin Code)
§1 Those to be promoted Cardinals are men freely selected by the Roman Pontiff, who are at least in the order of priesthood ...; those who are not already Bishops must receive episcopal consecration.
Many years,
Neil
