In
Christianity, an
archbishop is an elevated
bishop. In many Christian Churches, this means that they lead a
diocese of particular importance called an archdiocese, or in the
Anglican Communion an
Ecclesiastical Province, but this is not always the case. An archbishop is equivalent to a bishop in sacred matters but simply has a higher precedence or degree of prestige. Thus, when someone who is already a bishop becomes an archbishop, that person does not receive
Holy Orders again or any other
sacrament; however, in the rarer case when a person who is not a bishop at all becomes an archbishop, they will need to be
ordained a bishop before being created an
archbishop and installed. The word comes from the
Greek αρχι, which means "first" or "chief", and
επισκοπος, which means "overseer" or "supervisor".
Western Christianity
In Western Christianity, an archbishop is entitled to a few extra privileges that a simple bishop does not receive. Roman Catholic archbishops are allowed ten tassles a side on their
coat of arms, while a bishop only receives six. In addition, an archbishop can also place an archiepiscopal cross (two bars instead of one) behind his shield. In the Church this cross used to be carried immediately before archbishops in liturgical processions, but this is now not always done. In the Anglican Communion an archiepiscopal or primatial cross is carried before an archbishop in procession. Also in liturgical protocol, archbishops precede simple bishops.
Otherwise, archbishops dress and are styled the same as a normal bishop. Exceptions to style occur in the Anglican Communion and in countries where the Anglican Communion is prevalent. In those places, an archbishop is styled
The Most Reverend while a simple bishop is styled
The Right Reverend.
Most of the following applies equally to the
Latin rite Roman Catholic Church and the churches of the
Anglican Communion, though in the latter, the only archbishops are the provincial metropolitans and the church
primates.
Archbishops of archdioceses
Most archbishops are called so because they are in charge of an archdiocese, a diocese of particular importance. Most of the time, this importance is because the archdiocese is the metropolitan see of the
ecclesiastical province in which the see is located. These metropolitan archbishops, in addition to the usual ceremonial privileges of archbishops, hold the responsibilities of a
metropolitan bishop over the
suffragan bishops of the province and are thus the only archbishops who wear the
pallium by right. In the Roman Catholic Church, if the archdiocese is particularly significant, the archbishop may become a
cardinal. The Pope also reserves the right to honor non-metropolitan archbishops and other bishops (those in the curia, those with a personal title, or in other sees) because of their contribution to the Church, as he does when he honors priests who are prominent theologians. These latter individuals who are elevated are usually, but not always, past the voting age of 80 in a papal conclave.
Sometimes, a diocese is an archdiocese because of its history or size and not because of its jurisdictional importance. Their archbishops, while retaining the ceremonial privileges of archbishops, are really normal residential bishops and usually are suffragan to some metropolitan bishop. Most of these non-metropolitan archdioceses are located in Europe, and a few examples are the
Archdiocese of Strasbourg, which is not in any
ecclesiastical province, and the
Archdiocese of Avignon, whose archbishop is a
suffragan of the
Metropolitan Archbishop of Marseille.
An example of a non-metropolitan archdiocese outside of Europe is the
Archdiocese of Hobart in
Australia, which is suffragan of the Metropolitan
Archdiocese of MelbourneSome
titular sees are/were archiepiscopal, so their incumbents are also archbishops. These
titular archbishops retain the privileges of archbishops but have the jurisdiction of neither a metropolitan nor a residential bishop.
Other archbishops
Roman Catholic archbishop's coat of arms (version with
galero)
A residential archbishop who resigns his see and does not take up another one retains the title
Archbishop Emeritus of the last see he occupied before the resignation. This occurs when an archbishop retires or is transferred to some other non-diocesan office, such as the
Roman Curia. In the past the Pope would normally bestow a
titular see on every retired bishop and every bishop who transferred to the Curia, so this recent
canonical innovation was instituted to conserve titular sees for active auxiliary bishops and members of the
Roman Curia who have not had a diocesan appointment yet.
If archdiocese
X has a
coadjutor bishop, his official title is
Coadjutor Archbishop of X. However, until he succeeds to the archiepiscopal see, the coadjutor archbishop is treated as an important bishop and diocesan official and is considered an auxiliary bishop with the privilege of succession, and not as a regular archbishop.
Finally some archbishops hold their privileges
ad personam. This means that the archiepiscopal dignity is conferred on them alone and not their diocese. The primates of the Anglican Communion are this kind of archbishop, since they only hold archiepiscopal rights for the duration of their presidency. In the Latin-rite Roman Catholic Church, the
Pope grants
ad personam archiepiscopal privileges, which usually endure perpetually.
Eastern Christianity
In the Eastern churches (Catholic and Orthodox) archbishops and metropolitans are distinct, although a metropolitan may be referred to as
metropolitan archbishop. In the
Greek Orthodox Church, archbishops outrank metropolitans, and have the same rights as
Russian Orthodox metropolitans. In the Russian tradition metropolitans outrank archbishops. The
Oriental Orthodox generally follow the pattern of the Slavic tradition with respect to the archbishop/metropolitan distinction. In denominations (such as
Ukrainian Greek Catholic) where the bishop is called an
eparch, the archbishop is normally called an
archeparch.
See also
