Suffragan diocese

{{Short description|A diocese other than the metropolitan archdiocese in an ecclesiastical province}}

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 Alexandria, and the Romanian Orthodox Church.

In the Catholic Church, although such a diocese is governed by its own bishop or ordinary, who is the suffragan bishop, the metropolitan archbishop has in its regard certain rights and duties of oversight.{{Specify|date=October 2019}} He has no power of governance within a suffragan diocese, but has some limited rights and duties{{Specify|date=October 2019}} to intervene in cases of neglect by the authorities of the diocese itself.[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1J.HTM Code of Canon Law, canons 435–436]