Okay kiddo, you know how when you and your friends play a game, you all agree on the rules before you start? That way you all know what you can and can't do. Well, churches are kind of like that too. There are certain rules that they follow, which help them to work together and make sure everyone is playing fair.
One of the ways that churches do this is by dividing things up into different groups, called "patriarchates." Think of these like different teams in a game. Each team has its own captain, or "patriarch," who helps to make sure everyone on that team is following the rules.
There are five of these teams in the church, and they are called patriarchates because each one has a patriarch who is in charge. The five patriarchates are located in different parts of the world – there's one in Rome, one in Constantinople, one in Alexandria, one in Antioch, and one in Jerusalem.
Each of these patriarchates has certain powers and responsibilities that are specific to them. For example, the patriarch of Rome is in charge of the Roman Catholic Church, while the patriarch of Constantinople is in charge of the Eastern Orthodox Church. They all work together, but they also have their own special roles to play.
Now, sometimes these different teams don't agree on everything. They might have different ideas about how things should be done. This is a normal part of life, even for churches. But it can also cause problems if they can't find a way to work together.
So, the limits of the five patriarchates are the boundaries that help them to work together smoothly. They help to make sure that everyone is playing by the same rules, and that they all have a say in how things are done. It's like having a big team, made up of smaller teams, where everyone is working toward the same goal.