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106-472: In modern Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican usage, presbyter is distinct from bishop , and in English it is synonymous with priest . In other Protestant usage, for example, Methodism, presbyter does not refer to a member of a distinctive priesthood called priests but rather to a minister , pastor , or elder . The word presbyter etymologically derives from Greek πρεσβύτερος ( presbyteros ),

212-659: A "metropolitical see" whose diocesan bishop is ex officio metropolitan (such as the Archbishops of Canterbury and Sydney), while in Canada metropolitans are elected by the provincial houses of bishops from among the sitting diocesans. Prior to 1970, however, the metropolitan of the Province of Rupert's Land was always the bishop of the eponymous diocese , centred on Winnipeg. (Since then, only one Bishop of Rupert's Land, Walter Jones , has been elected metropolitan). The title

318-421: A bishop is, and before that by the instigation of the devil emulations in respect to religion arose, and people began to say: I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, the churches were governed by the common counsel of the presbyters. But, after that each one was accustomed to regard those whom he had baptized as his own disciples and not of Christ, it was decreed in the whole world that one chosen from among

424-505: A bishop up until the dismissal of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey by Henry VIII . Similarly, the position of Kanclerz in the Polish kingdom was always held by a bishop until the 16th century . In modern times, the principality of Andorra is headed by Co-Princes of Andorra , one of whom is the Bishop of Urgell and the other, the sitting President of France , an arrangement that began with

530-475: A cathedral church, the diocesan bishop has been informed beforehand. The metropolitan is obliged to request the pallium , a symbol of the power that, in communion with the Church of Rome, he possesses over his ecclesiastical province. This holds even if he had the pallium in another metropolitan see. It is the responsibility of the metropolitan, with the consent of the majority of the suffragan bishops, to call

636-817: A council or college of ordained presbyters ( πρεσβύτεροι , 'elders'). In Acts 11:30 and Acts 15:22, a collegiate system of government in Jerusalem is chaired by James the Just , according to tradition the first bishop of the city . In Acts 14:23, the Apostle Paul ordains presbyters in churches in Anatolia . The word presbyter was not yet distinguished from overseer ( ἐπίσκοπος , episkopos , later used exclusively to mean bishop ), as in Acts 20:17, Titus 1:5–7 and 1 Peter 5:1. The earliest writings of

742-468: A direct historical lineage dating back to the original Twelve Apostles or Saint Paul . The bishops are by doctrine understood as those who possess the full priesthood given by Jesus Christ , and therefore may ordain other clergy, including other bishops. A person ordained as a deacon , priest (i.e. presbyter ), and then bishop is understood to hold the fullness of the ministerial priesthood, given responsibility by Christ to govern, teach and sanctify

848-432: A group or college of presbyter-overseers functioning as leaders of the local churches. Occasionally women were described as presbyter on their tomb inscriptions or in other texts. Eventually, the head or "monarchic" bishop came to rule more clearly, and all local churches would eventually follow the example of the other churches and structure themselves after the model of the others with the one bishop in clearer charge, though

954-466: A laity, and then selects three to be forwarded to the Holy See . In Europe, some cathedral chapters have duties to elect bishops. The Eastern Catholic churches generally elect their own bishops. Most Eastern Orthodox churches allow varying amounts of formalised laity or lower clergy influence on the choice of bishops. This also applies in those Eastern churches which are in union with the pope, though it

1060-682: A majority vote of the General Conference which meets every four years." In the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States, bishops are administrative superintendents of the church; they are elected by "delegate" votes for as many years deemed until the age of 74, then the bishop must retire. Among their duties, are responsibility for appointing clergy to serve local churches as pastor, for performing ordinations, and for safeguarding

1166-496: A position similar to that of metropolitans in the Latin Church. Among the differences is that Eastern Catholic metropolitans within the territory of the patriarchate are to be ordained and enthroned by the patriarch, who may also ordain and enthrone metropolitans of sees outside that territory that are part of his Church. Similarly, a metropolitan has the right to ordain and enthrone the bishops of his province. The metropolitan

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1272-425: A provincial council, decide where to convene it, and determine the agenda. It is his prerogative to preside over the provincial council. No provincial council can be called if the metropolitan see is vacant. The Metropolitans of a given territory are also involved in the selection of bishops. Every three years, they compile a list of promovendis - a list of priests who may be suitable for the office of bishop. This

1378-502: A single province and headed by a metropolitan. Metropolitan archbishops of Eastern Catholic Churches sui juris are appointed by the Pope (rather than elected by their synod) and have much less authority even within their own churches. Metropolitans of this kind are to obtain the pallium from the Pope as a sign of his metropolitan authority and of his Church's full communion with the Pope, and only after his investment with it can he convoke

1484-662: A term of six years, which can be renewed, depending upon the local synod's "constitution" (which is mirrored on either the ELCA or ELCIC's national constitution). Since the implementation of concordats between the ELCA and the Episcopal Church of the United States and the ELCIC and the Anglican Church of Canada , all bishops, including the presiding bishop (ELCA) or the national bishop (ELCIC), have been consecrated using

1590-556: A vision for the denomination, though they have no legislative authority of their own. In all of these areas, bishops of the United Methodist Church function very much in the historic meaning of the term. According to the Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church , a bishop's responsibilities are: Leadership.—Spiritual and Temporal — Metropolitan bishop In Christian churches with episcopal polity ,

1696-827: Is a title used by all Oriental Orthodox Churches in Malankara . Malankara Metropolitan was a legal title given to the head of the Malankara Syrian Church , aka Puthencoor (New Allegiance) Syrian Christians, by the Government of Travancore and Cochin in South India. This title was awarded by a proclamation from the King of Travancore and the King of Cochin to the legal head of the Malankara Church. The Supreme Court of India has authenticated

1802-518: Is at variance with Catholic understanding of Christian teaching, and have contributed to the reaffirmation of Catholic rejection of Anglican ordinations. The Eastern Orthodox Churches do not accept the validity of any ordinations performed by the Independent Catholic groups, as Eastern Orthodoxy considers to be spurious any consecration outside the church as a whole. Eastern Orthodoxy considers apostolic succession to exist only within

1908-487: Is done immediately after baptism , and thus the priest is the one who confirms, using chrism blessed by a bishop. Bishops in all of these communions are ordained by other bishops through the laying on of hands. Ordination of a bishop, and thus continuation of apostolic succession, takes place through a ritual centred on the imposition of hands and prayer . Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, Old Catholic and some Lutheran bishops claim to be part of

2014-572: Is forwarded to the local Apostolic Nuncio , who evaluates the candidates in a consultative and confidential process. The Nuncio in turn forwards the best candidates to the Congregation for Bishops in Rome, who conduct a final evaluation of candidates and offer their findings to the Pope for his final decision of appointment. In those Eastern Catholic Churches that are headed by a patriarch , metropolitans in charge of ecclesiastical provinces hold

2120-801: Is given to diocesan bishops of some important historical sees (Article 14 of the Constitution of Serbian Orthodox Church). For example, diocesan bishop of the Eparchy of Montenegro and the Littoral is given the honorary title of metropolitan, but without any jurisdiction over other diocesan bishops in Montenegro . Diocesan bishop of the Eparchy of Dabar-Bosnia is also given the honorary title of metropolitan, but without any jurisdiction over other diocesan bishops in Bosnia and Herzegovina . Metropolitan

2226-498: Is headed by a metropolitan, the archbishop of the diocese designated by the Pope . The other bishops are known as suffragan bishops . The metropolitan's powers over the dioceses of his province, other than his own diocese, are normally limited to: The metropolitan also has the liturgical privilege of celebrating sacred functions throughout the province, as if he were a bishop in his own diocese, provided only that, if he celebrates in

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2332-416: Is necessary. The practice of only one bishop ordaining was normal in countries where the church was persecuted under Communist rule. The title of archbishop or metropolitan may be granted to a senior bishop, usually one who is in charge of a large ecclesiastical jurisdiction. He may, or may not, have provincial oversight of suffragan bishops and may possibly have auxiliary bishops assisting him. Apart from

2438-462: Is older") thus describes the character qualities of the episkopos . The term "elder" would therefore appear to describe the character, while the term "overseer" (for that is the literal rendering of episkopos ) connotes the job description. Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity , bishops are normally responsible for

2544-572: Is required that he give assent. The pope, in addition to being the Bishop of Rome and spiritual head of the Catholic Church, is also the Patriarch of the Latin Church. Each bishop within the Latin Church is answerable directly to the Pope and not any other bishop except to metropolitans in certain oversight instances. The pope previously used the title Patriarch of the West , but this title

2650-468: Is reversed. Primates of autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches below patriarchal rank are generally designated as archbishops. In the Greek Orthodox churches , archbishops are ranked above metropolitans in precedence. The reverse is true for some Slavic Orthodox churches (Russian Orthodox, Bulgarian Orthodox ) and also for Romanian Orthodox Church , where metropolitans rank above archbishops and

2756-504: Is seen by most Protestant Christians as stripping the laity of its priestly status , while those who use the term defend its usage by saying that, while they do believe in the priesthood (Greek ἱερεύς hiereus – a different word altogether, used in Rev 1:6, 1 Pet 2:9) of all believers, they do not believe in the eldership of all believers. This is generally true of United Methodists , who ordain elders as clergy ( pastors ) while affirming

2862-597: Is that of the "Spiritum primatus sacerdotii habere potestatem dimittere peccata" : the primate of sacrificial priesthood and the power to forgive sins. The efficient organization of the Roman Empire became the template for the organisation of the church in the 4th century , particularly after Constantine's Edict of Milan . As the church moved from the shadows of privacy into the public forum it acquired land for churches, burials and clergy . In 391, Theodosius I decreed that any land that had been confiscated from

2968-677: Is the ordinary minister of the sacrament of confirmation in the Latin Church, and in the Old Catholic communion only a bishop may administer this sacrament. In the Lutheran and Anglican churches, the bishop normatively administers the rite of confirmation, although in those denominations that do not have an episcopal polity, confirmation is administered by the priest. However, in the Byzantine and other Eastern rites, whether Eastern or Oriental Orthodox or Eastern Catholic , chrismation

3074-551: Is the ordination and appointment of clergy to serve local churches as pastor, presiding at sessions of the Annual, Jurisdictional, and General Conferences, providing pastoral ministry for the clergy under their charge, and safeguarding the doctrine and discipline of the church. Furthermore, individual bishops, or the Council of Bishops as a whole, often serve a prophetic role, making statements on important social issues and setting forth

3180-479: Is to be commemorated in the liturgies celebrated within his province. A major archbishop is defined as the metropolitan of a certain see who heads an autonomous Eastern Church not of patriarchal rank. The canon law of such a Church differs only slightly from that regarding a patriarchal Church. Within major archepiscopal churches, there may be ecclesiastical provinces headed by metropolitan bishops. There are also autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches consisting of

3286-476: The 5th century , and Pope Gregory I in the 6th century . Both of these men were statesmen and public administrators in addition to their role as Christian pastors, teachers and leaders. In the Eastern churches , latifundia entailed to a bishop's see were much less common, the state power did not collapse the way it did in the West, and thus the tendency of bishops acquiring civil power was much weaker than in

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3392-859: The Apostolic Fathers , the Didache and the First Epistle of Clement , for example, show the church used two terms for local church offices—presbyters (seen by many as an interchangeable term with episkopos or overseer) and deacon. In the First epistle to Timothy and Epistle to Titus in the New Testament a more clearly defined episcopate can be seen. Both letters state that Paul had left Timothy in Ephesus and Titus in Crete to oversee

3498-525: The Body of Christ (the Church). Priests, deacons and lay ministers co-operate and assist their bishops in pastoral ministry. Some Pentecostal and other Protestant denominations have bishops who oversee congregations, though they do not necessarily claim apostolic succession. The English word bishop derives, via Latin episcopus , Old English biscop , and Middle English bisshop , from

3604-523: The Church in Jerusalem was according to most scholars similar to that of Jewish synagogues , but it had a council or college of ordained presbyters ( Greek : πρεσβύτεροι elders). In Acts 11:30 and Acts 15:22 , we see a collegiate system of government in Jerusalem though headed by James , according to tradition the first bishop of the city. In Acts 14:23 , the Apostle Paul ordains presbyters in

3710-457: The Far East —are much larger and more populous. As well as traditional diocesan bishops, many churches have a well-developed structure of church leadership that involves a number of layers of authority and responsibility. In Catholicism , Eastern Orthodoxy , Oriental Orthodoxy , High Church Lutheranism , and Anglicanism , only a bishop can ordain other bishops, priests, and deacons. In

3816-651: The Greek word ἐπίσκοπος , epískopos , meaning "overseer" or "supervisor". Greek was the language of the early Christian church, but the term epískopos did not originate in Christianity: it had been used in Greek for several centuries before the advent of Christianity. The English words priest and presbyter both derive, via Latin, from the Greek word πρεσβύτερος , presbýteros , meaning "elder" or "senior", and not originally referring to priesthood. In

3922-798: The Independent Anglican churches , and certain other, smaller, denominations. The traditional role of a bishop is as pastor of a diocese (also called a bishopric, synod , eparchy or see), and so to serve as a "diocesan bishop", or "eparch" as it is called in many Eastern Christian churches. Dioceses vary considerably in size, geographically and population-wise. Some dioceses around the Mediterranean Sea which were Christianised early are rather compact, whereas dioceses in areas of rapid modern growth in Christian commitment—as in some parts of Sub-Saharan Africa , South America and

4028-668: The International Standard Version of the Bible, a Protestant translation, responds to a criticism of its use of "elder" over "priest " by stating the following: No Greek lexicons or other scholarly sources suggest that "presbyteros" means "priest" instead of "elder". The Greek word is equivalent to the Hebrew zaqen, which means "elder", and not priest. You can see the zaqenim described in Exodus 18:21–22 using some of

4134-688: The Paréage of Andorra (1278) , and was ratified in the 1993 constitution of Andorra. The office of the Papacy is inherently held by the sitting Roman Catholic Bishop of Rome. Though not originally intended to hold temporal authority, since the Middle Ages the power of the Papacy gradually expanded deep into the secular realm and for centuries the sitting Bishop of Rome was the most powerful governmental office in Central Italy. In modern times,

4240-662: The Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro from 1516 to 1852, assisted by a secular guvernadur . More recently, Archbishop Makarios III of Cyprus , served as President of the Cyprus from 1960 to 1977, an extremely turbulent time period on the island. In 2001, Peter Hollingworth , AC , OBE – then the Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane – was controversially appointed Governor-General of Australia . Although Hollingworth gave up his episcopal position to accept

4346-565: The Roman Empire , larger concentrations of believers were to be found in urban environs. The Bishop of such cities came to hold a pre-eminence of honour in the province of which his diocese was the capital , with some eventually gaining a primacy even over other provinces with their own primus inter pares . By the middle of the 3rd century Carthage had become the leading see in Roman North Africa . The Council of Nicea codified this arrangement into canon law in accordance with

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4452-399: The local church . Paul commands Titus to ordain presbyters/bishops and to exercise general oversight. Early sources are unclear but various groups of Christian communities may have had the bishop surrounded by a group or college functioning as leaders of the local churches. Eventually the head or "monarchic" bishop came to rule more clearly, and all local churches would eventually follow

4558-542: The ordained elders (presbyters) by vote of the delegates in regional (called jurisdictional) conferences, and are consecrated by the other bishops present at the conference through the laying on of hands. In the United Methodist Church bishops remain members of the "Order of Elders" while being consecrated to the " Office of the Episcopacy ". Within the United Methodist Church only bishops are empowered to consecrate bishops and ordain clergy. Among their most critical duties

4664-756: The "chief pastor" of the local synod, upholding the teachings of Martin Luther as well as the documentations of the Ninety-Five Theses and the Augsburg Confession . Unlike their counterparts in the United Methodist Church , ELCA and ELCIC synod bishops do not appoint pastors to local congregations (pastors, like their counterparts in the Episcopal Church, are called by local congregations). The presiding bishop of

4770-598: The Catholic church was unheard of during the first generation of Christianity, because at that time priesthood was still associated with animal sacrifices in both the Jewish and pagan religions. ... When the Eucharist came to be regarded as a sacrifice [after Rome's theology], the role of the bishop took on a priestly dimension. By the third century bishops were considered priests. Presbyters or elders sometimes substituted for

4876-561: The Council of Hierarchs and ordain the bishops of his autonomous Church. In his autonomous Church it is for him to ordain and enthrone bishops and his name is to be mentioned immediately after that of the Pope in the liturgy. In the Eastern Orthodox Church , the title of metropolitan is used variously, in terms of rank and jurisdiction. In terms of rank, in some Eastern Orthodox churches metropolitans are ranked above archbishops in precedence , while in others that order

4982-466: The ELCA and the national bishop of the ELCIC, the national bishops of their respective bodies, are elected for a single 6-year term and may be elected to an additional term. Although ELCA agreed with the Episcopal Church to limit ordination to the bishop "ordinarily", ELCA pastor- ordinators are given permission to perform the rites in "extraordinary" circumstance. In practice, "extraordinary" circumstance have included disagreeing with Episcopalian views of

5088-685: The East churches. Some provinces of the Anglican Communion have begun ordaining women as bishops in recent decades – for example, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Cuba. The first woman to be consecrated a bishop within Anglicanism was Barbara Harris , who was ordained in the United States in 1989. In 2006, Katharine Jefferts Schori, the Episcopal Bishop of Nevada , became

5194-538: The Eastern liturgical tradition, a priest can celebrate the Divine Liturgy only with the blessing of a bishop. In Byzantine usage, an antimension signed by the bishop is kept on the altar partly as a reminder of whose altar it is and under whose omophorion the priest at a local parish is serving. In Syriac Church usage, a consecrated wooden block called a thabilitho is kept for the same reasons. The bishop

5300-583: The English Reformation. Since in the primitive church the offices of presbyter and episkopos were not clearly distinguished, many Puritans held that this was the only form of government the church should have. The Anglican divine, Richard Hooker , objected to this claim in his famous work Of the Laws of Ecclesiastic Polity while, at the same time, defending Presbyterian ordination as valid (in particular Calvin's ordination of Beza ). This

5406-534: The Holy See, hoping to continue in some sacramental role. In those instances where the pope does grant reconciliation, those deemed to be clerics within the Independent Old Catholic movement are invariably admitted as laity and not priests or bishops. There is a mutual recognition of the validity of orders amongst Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Old Catholic, Oriental Orthodox and Assyrian Church of

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5512-460: The Isle of Man . In the past, the Bishop of Durham had extensive vice-regal powers within his northern diocese, which was a county palatine , the County Palatine of Durham , (previously, Liberty of Durham ) of which he was ex officio the earl . In the 19th century, a gradual process of reform was enacted, with the majority of the bishop's historic powers vested in The Crown by 1858. Eastern Orthodox bishops, along with all other members of

5618-429: The New Testament a more clearly defined episcopate can be seen. We are told that Paul had left Timothy in Ephesus and Titus in Crete to oversee the local church ( 1Tim 1:3 and Titus 1:5 ). Paul commands them to ordain presbyters/bishops and to exercise general oversight, telling Titus to "rebuke with all authority" ( Titus 2:15 ). Early sources are not clear, but various groups of Christian communities would have had

5724-413: The Pope is also the sovereign Prince of Vatican City , an internationally recognized micro-state located entirely within the city of Rome. In France , prior to the Revolution , representatives of the clergy — in practice, bishops and abbots of the largest monasteries — comprised the First Estate of the Estates-General . This role was abolished after separation of Church and State

5830-414: The Universal Church, and not through any authority held by individual bishops; thus, if a bishop ordains someone to serve outside the (Eastern Orthodox) Church, the ceremony is ineffectual, and no ordination has taken place regardless of the ritual used or the ordaining prelate's position within the Eastern Orthodox Churches. The position of the Catholic Church is slightly different. Whilst it does recognise

5936-406: The West. However, the role of Western bishops as civil authorities, often called prince bishops , continued throughout much of the Middle Ages . As well as being Archchancellors of the Holy Roman Empire after the 9th century, bishops generally served as chancellors to medieval monarchs, acting as head of the justiciary and chief chaplain . The Lord Chancellor of England was almost always

6042-401: The apostolic succession in lines stemming from the original apostles. The New Westminster Dictionary of Church History states that "In Sweden the apostolic succession was preserved because the Catholic bishops were allowed to stay in office, but they had to approve changes in the ceremonies." While traditional teaching maintains that any bishop with apostolic succession can validly perform

6148-451: The appointment, it still attracted considerable opposition in a country which maintains a formal separation between Church and State . During the period of the English Civil War , the role of bishops as wielders of political power and as upholders of the established church became a matter of heated political controversy. Presbyterianism was the polity of most Reformed Christianity in Europe, and had been favored by many in England since

6254-419: The bishop at the Eucharist. By the end of the third century people all over were using the title 'priest' (hierus in Greek and sacerdos in Latin) for whoever presided at the Eucharist. With the legalization of Christianity and the threat of paganism dwindling from the passage of time, the use of the word priest was adopted from presbyter; as they felt there was no longer a chance of their faith being confused with

6360-447: The bishop into compliance. Other contemporary Christian writers do not describe monarchial bishops, either continuing to equate them with the presbyters or speaking of episkopoi (bishops, plural) in a city. Clement of Alexandria (end of the 2nd century) writes about the ordination of a certain Zachæus as bishop by the imposition of Simon Peter Bar-Jonah's hands. The words bishop and ordination are used in their technical meaning by

6466-415: The bull Apostolicae curae in 1896, the Catholic Church has insisted that Anglican orders are invalid because of the Reformed changes in the Anglican ordination rites of the 16th century and divergence in understanding of the theology of priesthood, episcopacy and Eucharist. However, since the 1930s, Utrecht Old Catholic bishops (recognised by the Holy See as validly ordained) have sometimes taken part in

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6572-415: The church by Roman authorities be returned. The most usual term for the geographic area of a bishop's authority and ministry, the diocese , began as part of the structure of the Roman Empire under Diocletian . As Roman authority began to fail in the western portion of the empire , the church took over much of the civil administration. This can be clearly seen in the ministry of two popes : Pope Leo I in

6678-520: The churches he founded. The term presbyter was often not yet clearly distinguished from the term overseer (ἐπίσκοποι episkopoi , later exclusively used as meaning bishop), as in Acts 20:17 , Titus 1:5–7 and 1 Peter 5:1. The earliest writings of the Apostolic Fathers , the Didache and the First Epistle of Clement for example, show the church used two terms for local church offices—presbyters (seen by many as an interchangeable term with episcopos or overseer) and deacon . In Timothy and Titus in

6784-436: The city. By virtue of their authority over multiple provinces, the sees of Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch were by this time already exercising "supra-metropolitan" reach that would later be extended and become known as Patriarchates . After Nicaea the designation of Metropolitan applied to such sees as Caesarea and Carthage, which by the late 4th century had a recognised primacy over multiple provinces of Syria Palaestina and

6890-444: The clergy, are canonically forbidden to hold political office. Occasional exceptions to this rule are tolerated when the alternative is political chaos. In the Ottoman Empire , the Patriarch of Constantinople , for example, had de facto administrative, cultural and legal jurisdiction, as well as spiritual authority, over all Eastern Orthodox Christians of the empire, as part of the Ottoman millet system. An Orthodox bishop headed

6996-475: The comparative form of πρέσβυς ( presbys ), "old man". However, while the English word priest has presbyter as the etymological origin, the distinctive Greek word (Greek ἱερεύς hiereus ) for "priest" is never used for presbyteros/episkopos in the New Testament, except as being part of the general priesthood of all believers , with the first Christians making a distinction between pagan and Jewish priests and New Testament presbyters. The earliest organization of

7102-495: The continuous sequence of ordained bishops since the days of the apostles referred to as apostolic succession. In Scandinavia and the Baltic region, Lutheran churches participating in the Porvoo Communion (those of Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, and Lithuania), as well as many non-Porvoo membership Lutheran churches (including those of Kenya, Latvia, and Russia), as well as the confessional Communion of Nordic Lutheran Dioceses , believe that they ordain their bishops in

7208-549: The core tenets of Christianity; this is the case even though the clergy of the Independent Catholic groups may use the proper ordination ritual. There are also other reasons why the Holy See does not recognise the validity of the orders of the Independent clergy: Whilst members of the Independent Catholic movement take seriously the issue of valid orders, it is highly significant that the relevant Vatican Congregations tend not to respond to petitions from Independent Catholic bishops and clergy who seek to be received into communion with

7314-527: The delegates were bishops in the actual sense of the term but that they neither possessed fixed sees nor had a special title. Since they were essentially itinerant, they confided the fixed necessary functions relating to the daily life of the community to the care of some of the better-educated and highly respected converts. Along with this was the title "priest" being distinctively ascribed to presbyters/bishops. Writer Greg Dues, author of Catholic Customs & Traditions , claims that Priesthood as we know it in

7420-444: The doctrine and discipline of the church. The General Conference, a meeting every four years, has an equal number of clergy and lay delegates. In each Annual Conference, CME bishops serve for four-year terms. CME Church bishops may be male or female. In the United Methodist Church (the largest branch of Methodism in the world) bishops serve as administrative and pastoral superintendents of the church. They are elected for life from among

7526-407: The early Christian era the two terms were not always clearly distinguished, but epískopos is used in the sense of the order or office of bishop, distinct from that of presbýteros , in the writings attributed to Ignatius of Antioch in the second century. The earliest organization of the Church in Jerusalem was, according to most scholars, similar to that of Jewish synagogues , but it had

7632-429: The ecclesiastical province. Metropolitan (arch)bishops preside over synods of the bishops of their ecclesiastical province, and canon law and tradition grant them special privileges . In some churches, such as the Church of Greece , a metropolis is a rank granted to all episcopal sees. Their bishops are all called metropolitans, the title of archbishop being reserved for the primate . As Christianity expanded in

7738-655: The episcopate, and as a result, ELCA pastors ordained by other pastors are not permitted to be deployed to Episcopal Churches (they can, however, serve in Presbyterian Church USA , United Methodist Church, Reformed Church in America , and Moravian Church congregations, as the ELCA is in full communion with these denominations). The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS),

7844-523: The example of the other churches and structure themselves after the model of the others with the one bishop in clearer charge, though the role of the body of presbyters remained important. Around the end of the 1st century , the church's organization became clearer in historical documents. In the works of the Apostolic Fathers, and Ignatius of Antioch in particular, the role of the episkopos, or bishop, became more important or, rather, already

7950-604: The first woman to become the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. In the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), the largest Lutheran Church bodies in the United States and Canada, respectively, and roughly based on the Nordic Lutheran national churches (similar to that of the Church of England), bishops are elected by Synod Assemblies, consisting of both lay members and clergy, for

8056-447: The governance and administration of dioceses . The role or office of the bishop is called episcopacy . Organizationally, several Christian denominations utilize ecclesiastical structures that call for the position of bishops, while other denominations have dispensed with this office, seeing it as a symbol of power. Bishops have also exercised political authority within their dioceses. Traditionally, bishops claim apostolic succession ,

8162-605: The growing standardisation of ecclesiastical diocesan structure along the lines of secular Roman blueprints. It also gave the first documented use of the term "Metropolitan" in reference to such bishops as had the presidency over a province. Meanwhile, Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch had grown in ecclesiastical prominence such that by the early 4th century they had long-recognised jurisdiction over more than one province of bishops each. Alexandria had attained primacy over Roman Egypt , Roman Libya , and Pentapolis . The Bishop of Rome had Primatial authority over provinces within 100 miles of

8268-511: The head of an ecclesiastical province (or cluster of dioceses ). In the few Anglican churches with multiple provinces headed by metropolitans (namely the Church of England , the Church of Ireland , the Anglican Church of Canada , the Anglican Church of Australia , and the Church of Nigeria ), a metropolitan ranks immediately under the primate or senior metropolitan of the national church. Most metropolitans, but not all, are styled archbishop. In England, Ireland, and Australia, each province has

8374-528: The historic succession in line with bishops from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden , with at least one Anglican bishop serving as co-consecrator. Since going into ecumenical communion with their respective Anglican body, bishops in the ELCA or the ELCIC not only approve the "rostering" of all ordained pastors, diaconal ministers, and associates in ministry, but they serve as the principal celebrant of all pastoral ordination and installation ceremonies, diaconal consecration ceremonies, as well as serving as

8480-607: The ideas, philosophies and culture of the Roman religion. The Roman Catholic Church , the Orthodox Church , the non-Chalcedonian churches , and similar groups typically refer to presbyters in English as priests ( priest is etymologically derived from the Greek presbyteros via the Latin presbyter ). Collectively, however, their "college" is referred to as the " presbyterium ", "presbytery", or "presbyterate". This usage

8586-531: The metropolitan also known as the Mar Thoma is the primate and supreme head of the church who is entitled to special privileges and remains the ultimate authority over the synod. Philipose Mar Chrysostom is the senior metropolitan as of 28 August 2007, and Joseph Mar Thoma was installed on 2 October 2007 as the 21st Malankara Metropolitan. In the Anglican Communion , a metropolitan is generally

8692-503: The middle (regional) level of church administration. In Romanian Orthodox Church there are six regional metropolitans who are the chairmen of their respective synods of bishops, and have special duties and privileges. For example, metropolitan of Oltenia has regional jurisdiction over four dioceses. On the other hand, in some Eastern Orthodox churches title of metropolitan is only honorary, with no special or additional jurisdiction. In Serbian Orthodox Church , honorary title of metropolitan

8798-545: The ordination conform to other canonical requirements (for example, is an adult male) and an eastern orthodox rite of episcopal ordination, expressing the proper functions and sacramental status of a bishop, is used; this has given rise to the phenomenon of episcopi vagantes (for example, clergy of the Independent Catholic groups which claim apostolic succession, though this claim is rejected by both Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy). With respect to Lutheranism, "the Catholic Church has never officially expressed its judgement on

8904-481: The ordination of Anglican bishops. According to the writer Timothy Dufort, by 1969, all Church of England bishops had acquired Old Catholic lines of apostolic succession recognised by the Holy See. This development has been used to argue that the strain of apostolic succession has been re-introduced into Anglicanism, at least within the Church of England. However, other issues, such as the Anglican ordination of women,

9010-409: The ordination of another bishop, some churches require two or three bishops participate, either to ensure sacramental validity or to conform with church law. Catholic doctrine holds that one bishop can validly ordain another (priest) as a bishop. Though a minimum of three bishops participating is desirable (there are usually several more) in order to demonstrate collegiality, canonically only one bishop

9116-399: The ordination, which is always done by other bishops, there are different methods as to the actual selection of a candidate for ordination as bishop. In the Catholic Church the Congregation for Bishops generally oversees the selection of new bishops with the approval of the pope. The papal nuncio usually solicits names from the bishops of a country, consults with priests and leading members of

9222-475: The presbyters should be placed over the others ... Therefore, as presbyters may know that by the custom of the church they are subject to the one who has been placed over them; so also bishops may understand that they are greater than presbyters more by custom than by the veritable ordinance of the Lord. Slightly different other versions (quoting John Calvin ) express the same. A Catholic explanation suggests that

9328-588: The priesthood of all believers. The Methodist Church of Great Britain has formally referred to its presbyters as such (rather than the common title of 'minister') since 1990, from when it was possible to be ordained as a Methodist deacon , which is also an order of Methodist ministry. The evangelical (or ultra low-church) Anglican Diocese of Sydney has abolished the use of the word "priest" for those ordained as such. They are now referred to as "presbyters". Presbyterians sometimes refer to their ruling elders and teaching elders (ministers) as presbyters. The website of

9434-413: The provincial capital, the metropolitan, enjoyed certain rights over other bishops in the province, later called " suffragan bishops ". The term metropolitan may refer in a similar sense to the bishop of the chief episcopal see (the "metropolitan see") of an ecclesiastical province . The head of such a metropolitan see has the rank of archbishop and is therefore called the metropolitan archbishop of

9540-471: The rank of metropolitan bishop , or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite ), pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis . Originally, the term referred to the bishop of the chief city of a historical Roman province , whose authority in relation to the other bishops of the province was recognized by the First Council of Nicaea (AD 325). The bishop of

9646-462: The role of the body of priests remained important. From the 2nd century , it is certain that the offices of bishop and presbyter were clearly distinguished, the bishop was understood as the president of the council of presbyters, and so the bishop was distinguished both in honor and in prerogative from the presbyters, who were seen as deriving their authority by means of delegation from the bishop. Each Episcopal see had its own bishop and his presence

9752-402: The same Clement of Alexandria. The bishops in the 2nd century are defined also as the only clergy to whom the ordination to priesthood ( presbyterate ) and diaconate is entrusted: "a priest (presbyter) lays on hands , but does not ordain ." ( cheirothetei ou cheirotonei ). At the beginning of the 3rd century, Hippolytus of Rome describes another feature of the ministry of a bishop, which

9858-608: The same equivalent Hebrew terms as Paul uses in the GK of 1&2 Timothy and Titus. Note that the zaqenim are not priests (i.e., from the tribe of Levi) but are rather men of distinctive maturity that qualifies them for ministerial roles among the people. Therefore, the NT equivalent of the zaqenim cannot be the Levitical priests. The Greek presbyteros (literally, the comparative of the Greek word for "old" and therefore translated as "one who

9964-542: The second and third largest Lutheran bodies in the United States and the two largest Confessional Lutheran bodies in North America, do not follow an episcopal form of governance, settling instead on a form of quasi-congregationalism patterned off what they believe to be the practice of the early church. The second largest of the three predecessor bodies of the ELCA, the American Lutheran Church ,

10070-714: The time of the presidency of Ambrose (374-397) and temporarily exercised primacy over Northern Italy (the Diocesis Italia annonaria , which included territory across the Alps to the Danube). All provinces of Italy were under the broader Primatial oversight of the Archbishop of Rome at least by the end of the 4th century. In the Latin Church , an ecclesiastical province , composed of several neighbouring dioceses,

10176-538: The title can be used for important regional or historical sees . In terms of jurisdiction, there are two basic types of metropolitans in Eastern Orthodox Church: real metropolitans, with actual jurisdiction over their ecclesiastical provinces, and honorary metropolitans who are in fact just diocesan bishops with honorary title of metropolitan and no jurisdiction outside their own diocese. Some Eastern Orthodox churches have functioning metropolitans on

10282-629: The usage of the title by the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in its verdict in the Malankara Church case. Baselios Marthoma Mathews III was enthroned as Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan on 15 October 2021 at Parumala , Kerala. Under his see , the dioceses are further headed by diocesan metropolitans. In the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church which is based in India,

10388-491: The validity of orders as they have been handed down by episcopal succession in these two national Lutheran churches" (the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland ) though it does "question how the ecclesiastical break in the 16th century has affected the apostolicity of the churches of the Reformation and thus the apostolicity of their ministry". Since Pope Leo XIII issued

10494-574: The validity of the orders of certain groups which separated from communion with Holy See (for instance, the ordinations of the Old Catholics in communion with Utrecht, as well as the Polish National Catholic Church - which received its orders directly from Utrecht, and was until recently part of that communion), Catholicism does not recognise the orders of any group whose teaching is at variance with what they consider

10600-667: The wider Mahgreb , respectively. With the Imperial Capital having moved to Byzantium in 330, the renamed city of Constantinople became increasingly important in church affairs of the Greek East. The See of Constantinople was granted Archepiscopal status prior to a council held in the city in 381 . Coinciding with the city's use as the Imperial residence, the See of Milan was elevated to Metropolitan/Archepiscopal status by

10706-796: Was a congregationalist body, with national and synod presidents before they were re-titled as bishops (borrowing from the Lutheran churches in Germany ) in the 1980s. With regard to ecclesial discipline and oversight, national and synod presidents typically function similarly to bishops in episcopal bodies. In the African Methodist Episcopal Church , "Bishops are the Chief Officers of the Connectional Organization. They are elected for life by

10812-528: Was dropped from use in 2006, a move which caused some concern within the Eastern Orthodox Communion as, to them, it implied wider papal jurisdiction. The Catholic Church does recognise as valid (though illicit) ordinations done by breakaway Catholic, Old Catholic or Oriental bishops, and groups descended from them; it also regards as both valid and licit those ordinations done by bishops of the Eastern churches, so long as those receiving

10918-799: Was implemented during the French Revolution. In the 21st century, the more senior bishops of the Church of England continue to sit in the House of Lords of the Parliament of the United Kingdom , as representatives of the established church , and are known as Lords Spiritual . The Bishop of Sodor and Man , whose diocese lies outside the United Kingdom , is an ex officio member of the Legislative Council of

11024-461: Was necessary to consecrate any gathering of the church. Eventually, as Christendom grew, individual congregations were no longer directly served by a bishop. The bishop in a large city (the Metropolitan bishop ) would appoint a priest to pastor the flock in each congregation, acting as his delegate. The fourth century scholar Jerome (347–420) stated: Therefore a presbyter is the same as

11130-747: Was the official stance of the English Church until the Commonwealth, during which time, the views of Presbyterians and Independents ( Congregationalists ) were more freely expressed and practiced. Bishops form the leadership in the Catholic Church , the Eastern Orthodox Church , the Oriental Orthodox Churches , certain Lutheran churches, the Anglican Communion , the Independent Catholic churches ,

11236-404: Was very important and being clearly defined. While Ignatius of Antioch offers the earliest clear description of monarchial bishops (a single bishop over all house churches in a city) he is an advocate of monepiscopal structure rather than describing an accepted reality. To the bishops and house churches to which he writes, he offers strategies on how to pressure house churches who do not recognize

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