STAUROPÉGION. — In Byzantine canon law, it denotes a privilege granted by the patriarch by virtue of which a place or pious foundation is withdrawn from the ordinary authority of the local bishop and placed, directly and exclusively, under the patriarch or the head of the Church in a given nation, whether archbishop or synod (this second form exists only among dissidents).
The name (from σταυρός = cross and πηγνύναι = to fix or plant) derives from the custom of planting a cross in the foundation of a church or other pious place to invest it with this privilege. The cross is planted chiefly where the altar or sanctuary is to be erected. The usage is due to the rule, in force in the Byzantine rite, that tracing a cross upon a person or thing signifies consecration to God and, consequently, places it under the authority of the Church. If the thing is already sacred by its nature or destination, planting the cross in it signifies taking possession of it on the part of the ecclesiastical authority. The institution of the stauropégion is due to an immemorial custom (Balsamon, on Apostolic Canon 31); mention of it is found already in the 8th century, but probably even before the term existed, there were monasteries dependent on patriarchs or emperors. This custom is based on canons 6 and 7 of the Council of Nicaea and canons 1 and 2 of the First Council of Constantinople, which recognize in the patriarchs true ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the entire patriarchal territory. The grant of immunities to monasteries by emperors also contributed to the introduction of the stauropégion. The reaction of monastic superiors against the excessive interference of some bishops in the affairs, even internal, of monasteries also played a part. To justify this interference, the bishops invoked the rather general provisions of canon 4 of the Council of Chalcedon. Also influential was the faculty attributed to the founder of a monastery or other place to designate the authority under which it was to depend; founders generally designated the patriarchal authority. The stauropégion flourished from the 9th century onward, reaching its fullest development at the end of the 13th century and until the fall of Constantinople (1453). Balsamon speaks of the reaction of metropolitans and bishops against the concession of the stauropégion and their insistence that it be abolished; this reaction led the patriarchs to define the institution more precisely and to suppress many abuses.
Besides being granted by planting the cross in the foundation of the sacred place, the stauropégion is granted by a decree, that is, a patriarchal seal. The decree establishes full penalties against those who violate the stauropégion. The stauropégion is also established by the omission of the synthronon (= a throne with seats, erected in the abbey church behind the altar), where the bishop sits during divine services. The synthronon, in fact, indicates that the bishop has jurisdiction over the church. The rite of the stauropégion is described in the *Ecologia* (ed. Rome 1873, pp. 316–17).
The stauropégion includes, besides the privileged place, the metochia dependent on it and the goods belonging to II. The metochia, however, do not necessarily follow the juridical status of the principal monastery. As to time, the concession is perpetual and irrevocable.
The patriarch has full ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the stauropégic place and the persons belonging to II. Hence, he has the right to be commemorated in the divine offices and to receive the tribute (*chanouchikon* or *synetheia*), to make canonical visitations, with the right and duty of promoting ecclesiastical discipline and suppressing abuses, to bless the hegumen and to ordain priests or deacons. The first two prerogatives are sometimes omitted in favor of the local bishop, especially when the stauropégion is granted to a building already constructed.
The concession of the stauropégion entails autonomy in the governance and administration of the stauropégic place; the immunities defined in the *typika* (foundation charters); the free election of the hegumen of a stauropégic monastery; moreover, ordinarily the hegumen has the faculty of issuing letters dismissorial for ordinations and attestations for ordinations received; the hegumen may be adorned with some pontifical insignia.
The recent motu proprio of Pius XII, *Postquam apostolicis Litteris* (9 Feb. 1952), gives precise norms regarding stauropégic monasteries.