Sacerdotal state

This occurred, for example, in the Holy Roman Empire, where three of the seven imperial electors were prince-archbishops (those of Trier, Mainz and Cologne).

After the 1648 Peace of Westphalia certain prince-bishoprics became bi-confessional and alternated between governance by Catholic bishops and by Protestant administrators.

The Supreme Leader of Iran is elected for life by a body consisting of senior Twelver Shia Muslim clerics.

The subsequent personal and legal unions with Wales, Scotland and Ireland did not extend Anglicanism's status of state church to these lands.

[5] Vatican City operates under an episcopal system, its head of state since the eighth century is the pope of the Catholic Church.

Vatican City 's head of state and the head of government since the eighth century is the Pope , who is the head of the Catholic Church , with the current pope being Pope Francis (pictured).