Maphrian

The Maphrian (Syriac: ܡܦܪܝܢܐ Maphryānā, also rendered as mafriano, etc.) was historically the prelate in the Syriac Orthodox Church who ranked second in the hierarchy after the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch. The Maphrian, whose title literally means "one who bears fruit", i.e. "consecrator", was originally the head of the church in Persia and the lands outside of the Roman Empire. Eventually he bore the additional title of Catholicos of the East, signifying a connection to the Catholicate of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the seat of the Patriarch of the Nestorian Church of the East. The position is somewhat similar to an exarch in other churches. The title was resurrected in the 20th century, and is now given to the Catholicos of India, leader of the local Jacobite Syrian Christian Church and the second highest prelate of the wider Syriac Orthodox Church.