A ''protoiereus'' (from grc, πρωτοϊερεύς, "first priest",

Modern Greek Modern Greek (, , or , ''Kiní Neoellinikí Glóssa''), generally referred to by speakers simply as Greek (, ), refers collectively to the dialects of the Greek language spoken in the modern era, including the official standardized form of the ...

: πρωθιερέας) or protopriest in the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

is a priest usually coordinating the activity of other subordinate priests in a bigger church. The title is roughly equivalent with the title of

protopope A protopope, or protopresbyter, is a priest of higher rank in the Eastern Orthodox and the Byzantine Catholic Churches, generally corresponding to Western Christianity's archpriest or the Latin Church's dean. History The rights and duties of the ...

archpriest The ecclesiastical title of archpriest or archpresbyter belongs to certain priests with supervisory duties over a number of parishes. The term is most often used in Eastern Orthodoxy and the Eastern Catholic Churches and may be somewhat analogous ...

. Даль В. И. Толковый словарь живого великорусского языка. М.:"Русский язык", 2000. . Vol. 3, page 394

References

{{reflist Eastern Orthodox clergy Ecclesiastical titles Eastern Christian ecclesiastical offices