Diocesan bishop#Bishop emeritus
{{Short description|Administrator in charge of large districts in Christian denominations}}
A diocesan bishop, within various Christian traditions, is a bishop or archbishop in pastoral charge of a diocese or archdiocese. In relation to other bishops, a diocesan bishop may be a suffragan, a metropolitan (if an archbishop) or a primate. They may also hold various other positions such as being a cardinal or patriarch.
Titular bishops in the Roman Catholic Church may be assistant bishops with special faculties, coadjutor bishops (these bishops are now named as coadjutors of the dioceses they will lead, and not as titular bishops), auxiliary bishops, nuncios or similar papal diplomats (usually archbishops), officials of the Roman Curia (usually for bishops as heads or deputies of departments who are not previous ordinaries), etc. They may also hold other positions such as cardinal. The see of titular bishop is only nominal, not pastoral- meaning he does not exercise final authority as the head bishop (the ordinary), or have the right to automatically succeed the aforementioned individual (the coadjutor), over an existing diocese or archdiocese or their Eastern rite equivalents, (arch-)eparchies. Titular bishops may be active or retired. Occasionally, as a priest, they may have been given a titular bishopric or archbishopric as an honor by the Pope, similar to when he names some cardinals.[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1D.HTM Code of Canon Law (1983), canon 376. Quote=Bishops to whom the care of some diocese is entrusted are called diocesan; others are called titular] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080219141242/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1D.HTM |date=February 19, 2008 }}
Roman Catholic Church
{{Catholic Church Hierarchy}}
{{See also|Hierarchy of the Catholic Church#Diocesan bishops|Bishops in the Catholic Church#Diocesan bishops or eparchs}}
A diocesan bishop{{cite web |title=Canon 376 |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1D.HTM |publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana |work=1983 Code of Canon Law |access-date=27 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080219141242/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1D.HTM |archive-date=19 February 2008 }} — in the Catholic Church — is entrusted with the pastoral care of a local Church (diocese), over which he holds ordinary jurisdiction.{{cite web |title=Canon 369 |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1D.HTM |publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana |work=1983 Code of Canon Law |access-date=27 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080219141242/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1D.HTM |archive-date=19 February 2008 }} He is responsible for teaching, governing, and sanctifying the faithful of his diocese, sharing these duties with the priests and deacons who serve under him.{{cite web |title=Canon 381 |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1D.HTM |publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana |work=1983 Code of Canon Law |access-date=27 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080219141242/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1D.HTM |archive-date=19 February 2008 }}
=Coadjutor bishop=
The Holy See can appoint a coadjutor bishop{{cite web |title=Canon 403 §3 |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1D.HTM |publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana |work=1983 Code of Canon Law |access-date=27 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080219141242/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1D.HTM |archive-date=19 February 2008 }} for a diocese. He has special faculties and the right of succession.
=Auxiliary bishop=
The diocesan bishop may request that the Holy See appoint one or more auxiliary bishops to assist him in his duties.{{cite web |title=Canon 403 §1 |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1D.HTM |publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana |work=1983 Code of Canon Law |access-date=27 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080219141242/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1D.HTM |archive-date=19 February 2008 }}
=Bishop emeritus=
When a diocesan bishop or auxiliary bishop retires, the word "emeritus" is added to his former title, i.e., "Archbishop Emeritus of ...", "Bishop Emeritus of ...", or "Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of ...". Examples of usage are: "The Most Reverend (or Right Reverend) John Jones, Bishop Emeritus of Anytown"; and "His Eminence Cardinal James Smith, Archbishop Emeritus of Anycity". The term "Bishop Emeritus" of a particular see can apply to several people, if the first lives long enough. The sees listed in the 2007 Annuario Pontificio as having more than one bishop emeritus included Zárate-Campana, Villavicencio, Versailles, and Uruguaiana. There were even three Archbishops Emeriti of Taipei. The same suffix was applied to the Bishop of Rome, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, on his retirement.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}
Eastern Orthodox
Archiereus ({{langx|grc|ἀρχιερεύς}}, Russian, arkhierei) is a Greek term for diocesan bishop, when considered as the culmination of the priesthood.{{Catholic Encyclopedia |wstitle=Archiereus |volume=1 |first=Andrew Jackson |last=Shipman |inline=1}} It is used in the liturgical books of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Church, for those services which correspond to the pontifical services of the Roman Rite. The term is distinct from protoiereus (archpriest), the highest ecclesiastical rank which a married priest may attain in the Greek Church.
The word is used in the New Testament Epistle to the Hebrews to mean "high priest" (Heb 2:17; 3:1; 4:14,15; 5:1,5,10; 6:20; 7:26,27,28; 8:1,3; 9:7,11,25; 19:11; 13:11).{{cite book |last1=McKelvey |first1=R. J. |title=Pioneer and Priest: Jesus Christ in the Epistle to the Hebrews |date=31 August 2017 |publisher=Lutterworth Press |isbn=978-0-7188-4605-3 |page=21 |language=en}}
Anglican Church
{{Further|List of Anglican Communion dioceses|List of bishops in the Church of England#Diocesan bishops}}
As of 2022, the Church of England and its associated Anglican Communion consists of 848 dioceses.{{cite web|url=http://anglican.org/official/Dioceses.html|website=anglican.org|access-date=10 March 2025|title=The Anglican Domain: Dioceses|quote=
There are approximately 848 dioceses in the Anglican Communion. As of July 2022, we are aware of websites for 552 of them; that's about 65%.}} Some of these priests hold political power and responsibilities outside of the church in ex officio capacities. The 26 most senior bishops of the Church of England are entitled to sit in the House of Lords, the Parliament of the United Kingdom's upper house, as the Lords Spiritual.{{cite web|url=https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/lords-spiritual-in-the-house-of-lords-explained/|title=Lords spiritual in the House of Lords explained|publisher=UK Parliament|date=5 January 2024|first=Claire|last=Brader}} Additionally, the Bishop of Sodor and Man is entitled to similarly sit as a member of the Legislative Council, the upper house of the Isle of Man's Tynwald.{{cite book|url=https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/file/eb2ed4e8-d36b-52d1-3858-99c563da5ac3/1/Final%20Bishops%20Report.pdf|date=September 2003|title=Religious representation in a democratic legislature: a case study of the Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man in Tynwald.|first1=Peter W.|last1=Edge|first2=C.C. Augur|last2=Pearce|publisher=Oxford Brookes University, Centre for Manx Studies}}
See also
Footnotes
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