Patriarch

Patriarch
The Patriarch presiding over the Great Synod in 2061
Name	Patriarch
Full title	████████████████████████
Office held	Supreme ecclesiastical authority and constitutional head of state of Santa Berllium
Institution	Church of Mark
Predecessor	Anselmar
Successor	█nknown
First appearance	1873
Current officeholder	Mark
Selection method	Election by the Chorus of Wives
Hereditary	No

Patriarch is the highest-ranking office within the Church of Mark, serving as the supreme ecclesiastical authority and the constitutional head of state of the theocratic nation of Santa Berllium. The holder of this office presides over doctrine, canon law, and the internal hierarchy of the Church, while also wielding significant influence over military strategy and foreign policy. Although church tradition dates the lineage to a founder born around 1061, historical records confirm that the title "Mark" first appeared on a muster roll in 1873. The position is not hereditary; instead, each new patriarch is selected from among the bishops by the Chorus of Wives, a collective body of women married into the Church. The current officeholder, known as ████████████████████████, assumed the full title in 2042 following the fall of Anselmar and the collapse of the previous regime. He is the ninth man to hold the name "Mark" since the first documented instance in 1873. While the Church teaches that this specific Mark has lived for over a millennium, archival research published by exiled archivist Teodor suggests these are successive individuals trained to maintain a consistent persona and lineage. The office remains central to Santa Berllium's identity, acting as the nexus between religious faith and civil governance in a world increasingly divided by conflict and moral crisis.

The office of Patriarch carries immense spiritual weight within the Church of Mark, which governs the interior

• Church of Mark
• Santa Berllium
• Chorus of Wives