in reply to Re^4: Demotions of monks
in thread Demotions of monks

> Patriarch and Pope ("pappas") both derive from the Greek word for father.

I have to correct myself, there is some confusion regarding patriarch, the official etymology says "founder of the family" from Ancient Greek πατριά (patriá, “generation, ancestry, descent, tribe, family”)

Tho the similarities between patria and pater are certainly not accidental.

So bottom line, patriarch is less gender specific than pope.

Cheers Rolf
(addicted to the Perl Programming Language :)
Wikisyntax for the Monastery