A metropolis religious jurisdiction, or a metropolitan archdiocese, is an
episcopal see whose
bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...
is the
metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, 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 ...
or
archbishop of an
ecclesiastical province
An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of sev ...
. Metropolises, historically, have been important cities in their provinces.
Eastern Orthodox
In the
Eastern Orthodox Churches, a metropolis (also called ''metropolia'' or ''metropolitanate'') is a type of
diocese
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...
, along with
eparchies,
exarchate
An exarchate is any territorial jurisdiction, either secular or ecclesiastical, whose ruler is called an exarch. The term originates from the Greek word ''arkhos'', meaning a leader, ruler, or chief. Byzantine Emperor Justinian I created the fir ...
s and
archdioceses.
In the churches of
Greek Orthodoxy, every diocese is a metropolis, headed by a metropolitan while
auxiliary bishops are the only non-metropolitan bishops.
In non-Greek Orthodox churches, mainly Slavic Orthodox, the title of Metropolitan is given to the heads of
autocephalous
Autocephaly (; from el, αὐτοκεφαλία, meaning "property of being self-headed") is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern O ...
churches or of a few important
episcopal sees.
Catholic Church
In the
Latin Church
, native_name_lang = la
, image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg
, imagewidth = 250px
, alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran
, caption = Archbasilica of Saint Jo ...
, or Western Church, of the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
, a metropolitan see is the chief
episcopal see of an
ecclesiastical province
An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of sev ...
. Its
ordinary is a
metropolitan archbishop and the see itself is an
archdiocese. It has at least one
suffragan diocese
A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandri ...
.
There are very few suffragan sees that have the rank of archdiocese, such as the
Archdiocese of Avignon
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Avignon ( Latin: ''Archidioecesis Avenionensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse d'Avignon'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese exercises jurisdiction over the ...
that is a suffragan of the
Archdiocese of Marseille
The Archdiocese of Marseille ( Latin: ''Archidioecesis Massiliensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Marseille'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. . Other non-metropolitan archdioceses are directly subject to the
Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
and are merely "aggregated" to an ecclesiastical province, without being part of it.
In the
Eastern Catholic Churches
The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of ...
, a
metropolitanate
A metropolis religious jurisdiction, or a metropolitan archdiocese, is an episcopal see whose bishop is the metropolitan bishop or archbishop of an ecclesiastical province. Metropolises, historically, have been important cities in their provinces.
...
is an autonomous church of a lower category than the
patriarch
The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in c ...
al and the
major archiepiscopal churches and is headed by a single metropolitan of a fixed
episcopal see.
See also
*
Hierarchy of the Catholic Church
References
Eastern Orthodox Church
Episcopacy in the Catholic Church
Episcopacy in Eastern Orthodoxy
Episcopacy in Oriental Orthodoxy
Christian terminology
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