A periodeutes ( gr, περιοδευτής, plural ''periodeutai'', περιοδευταὶ), sometimes anglicized periodeut, was an itinerant

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

in various

Eastern Christian churches Eastern Christianity comprises Christian traditions and church families that originally developed during classical and late antiquity in Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Northeast Africa, the Fertile Crescent and ...

. The fifty-seventh canon of the Fourth Council of Laodicea (380) prescribed that the '' chorepiskopoi'' (country bishops) should be replaced by ''periodeutai'', that is, priests who have no fixed residence and act as organs of the city bishops. In the

Maronite Church The Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic ''sui iuris'' particular church in full communion with the pope and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. The current head of the Maro ...

, a ''periodeutes'' (''bardūt'') is "a kind of

vicar forane A dean, in an ecclesiastical context, is a cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, and many Lutheran denominations. A dean's assist ...

who acts for the bishop in the inspection of the rural clergy." In

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

, the title is ''periodiota''.A. M. Mundadan, ''History of Christianity in India'', Vol. 1 (Bangalore: TPI, 1984), p. 99.

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