In Christianity, an apostolic see is any episcopal see whose foundation is attributed to one or more of the apostles of Jesus.

Out of the many such sees, five acquired special importance in Chalcedonian Christianity (beginning with the council held in 451) and became classified as the Pentarchy in Eastern Orthodox Christianity. But before then, the First Council of Nicaea of 325 recognized in its sixth canon the special position of Rome and Alexandria, and perhaps of Antioch and the chief sees in other provinces: "The ancient customs of Egypt, Libya and Pentapolis shall be maintained, according to which the bishop of Alexandria has authority over all these places since a similar custom exists with reference to the bishop of Rome. Similarly in Antioch and the other provinces the prerogatives of the churches are to be preserved."^[1] And Jerusalem received special recognition in the seventh canon.^[2] The Council, which was held in 325, of course made no mention of Constantinople, a city which was founded and became the capital of the empire only in 330.^[3][4][5] Officially, Constantinople was founded on 11 May 330.^[6] Constantine the Great (who died on 22 May 337) divided the expanded city (previously known as Byzantium), like Rome, into 14 regions, and ornamented it with public works worthy of an imperial metropolis.^[7] The First Council of Constantinople (381) decreed in a canon of disputed validity: "The Bishop of Constantinople, however, shall have the prerogative of honour after the Bishop of Rome; because Constantinople is New Rome."^[8] A century after the Council of Chalcedon (451) and the ensuing schism between those who accepted it and those who rejected it, the theory of the Pentarchy was given expression: "formulated in the legislation of the emperor Justinian I (527–565), especially in his Novella 131, the theory received formal ecclesiastical sanction at the Council in Trullo (692), which ranked the five sees as Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem."^[9]

The bishops of these five sees consider themselves to be successors of those indicated in the following list:

• Rome, in Italy (Saint Peter and Paul the Apostle)
• Constantinople, now Istanbul in present-day Turkey (Saint Andrew)
• Alexandria, in Egypt (Saint Mark the Evangelist)^[10]
• Antioch, in present-day Turkey (Saint Peter).
• Jerusalem, in the Holy Land (Peter and Saint James)

Other sees who claim to be founded by an apostle and thus can claim to be apostolic sees include:

• the Archdiocese of Athens, Greece (Saint Paul)
• Ephesus, in present-day Turkey (John the Apostle)
• Seleucia-Ctesiphon, in present-day Iraq (Thomas the Apostle, Bartholomew the Apostle, and Thaddeus of Edessa)
• Aquileia, in northeastern Italy (Mark the Evangelist)
• See of Milan, in northwestern Italy (Barnabas the Apostle)
• See of Syracuse, in Sicily (Peter)
• Philippi, in Greece (Saint Paul)
• Thessaloniki, in Greece (Saint Paul)^[11]
• Corinth, in Greece (Saint Paul)^[12]
• Malta (Saint Paul)
• Paphos, in Cyprus (Barnabas and Paul)
• Armenian Apostolic Church (Thaddeaus (Jude the Apostle) and Bartholomew the Apostle)
• Saint Thomas Christians in India (Thomas the Apostle)

Specific reference to Rome[link]

In Roman Catholic usage,^[13] "the Apostolic See" is used in the singular and capitalized to refer specifically to the See of Rome, with reference to the Pope's status as successor of the Apostle Peter.^[14] This usage existed already at the time of the third ecumenical council, held at Ephesus in 431, at which the phrase "our most holy and blessed pope Cœlestine, bishop of the Apostolic See" was used.^[15]

In Catholic canon law, the term is applied also to the various departments of the Roman Curia. Both the Code of Canon Law and the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches state: "In this Code the terms Apostolic See or Holy See mean not only the Roman Pontiff, but also, unless the contrary is clear from the nature of things or from the context, the Secretariat of State, the Council for the public affairs of the Church, and the other Institutes of the Roman Curia."^[16] The bodies in question are seen as speaking on behalf of the See of Rome.

See also[link]

• Early centers of Christianity

References[link]

Sir John See KCMG
14th Premier of New South Wales
In office 28 March 1901 – 14 June 1904
Preceded by	William Lyne
Succeeded by	Thomas Waddell
Constituency	Grafton
Personal details
Born	(1844-10-14)14 October 1844 Yelling, Huntingdonshire, England
Died	31 January 1907(1907-01-31) (aged 62) Randwick, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Spouse(s)	Charlotte Mary Matthews (1876–1904)

Sir John See, KCMG (14 October 1844 – 31 January 1907) was a member of the New South Wales Legislature from 26 November 1880 to 15 June 1901, and was then Premier of New South Wales from 1901 to 1904.

See was a self-made man of strong character, an excellent business man and a sound politician. He was well regarded by both sides of politics, for Labour politicians remembered that during his administration the establishment of the State clothing factory had a great influence in abolishing sweating, and that women's suffrage was also introduced.^[1]

Early life[link]

See was the son of Joseph See, a farm-labourer, and his wife Mary Ann née Bailey, and was born in Yelling, Huntingdon, England. The Parish Records of his baptism show that he was christened "See or Seekings" and that his parents/grandparents etc. used both surnames. He was brought to Australia in 1852 by his parents who settled on the Hunter River in New South Wales. On the family move to Australia they no longer used the "Seekings" surname. After three years at school See worked on the family farm, but in 1863 took up land with a brother on the Clarence River. In 1865, following disastrous floods, he went to Sydney and began business as a produce dealer. This business became very flourishing under the name of John See and Company. He also became a partner in a small coastal shipping company, Nipper and See, which was afterwards floated into a company, as the North Coast Steam Navigation Company. See was a shrewd investor and became very well known in business circles in Sydney. In 1876, he married Charlotte Mary Matthews. See built a mansion in the Sydney suburb of Randwick and served on Randwick Council as alderman and mayor. He became a director of several well-known companies, a trustee of the Savings Bank of New South Wales, and president of the Royal Agricultural Society. In 1891, his shipping line had 14 steamships when it merged with another line to form the North Coast Steam Navigation Co. Ltd and he remained its joint managing director until his death. He also acquired property throughout the state.^[1][2]

Political career[link]

See entered politics in 1880 as member for Grafton^[3] and remained its member until he retired in 1904. In October 1885 he joined the George Dibbs government as Postmaster-General, but Dibbs was defeated before the end of the year. See was not in office again until October 1891 when he became for nearly three years Colonial Treasurer in the third Dibbs ministry. He was in charge of the bill which brought in the first protectionist tariff in New South Wales. The whole of his period as Treasurer was marked by much financial stress throughout Australia. From August 1894 until September 1899 Reid was in power, but when William Lyne came in, See was his Colonial Secretary.

On Lyne transferring to federal politics in March 1901, See became Premier and held office until 1904. His government passed the Industrial Arbitration Act in 1901 and the Female Suffrage Act in 1902. On the other hand, poor economic conditions and drought forced the government to abandon an ambitious public works program.^[2] Failing health and the death of his wife in March 1904 compelled him to retire in June. He accepted a seat in the Legislative Council, but was unable afterwards to exercise much influence in politics.

See died at Randwick, Sydney on 31 January 1907. He fathered ten children and was survived by four daughters and three sons.^[1]

Honours[link]

See was created Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1902.^[1] The See Park in Grafton is named after him.

References[link]

v t e Premiers of New South Wales Donaldson Cowper Parker Forster Robertson Martin Parkes Farnell Stuart Dibbs Jennings Reid Lyne · See Waddell Carruthers Wade McGowen Holman Storey Dooley Fuller Lang Bavin Stevens Mair McKell McGirr Cahill Heffron Renshaw Askin Lewis Willis Wran Unsworth Greiner Fahey Carr Iemma Rees Keneally O'Farrell