Adean, in anecclesiastical context, is acleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in theCatholic Church, theAnglican Communion, and manyLutheran denominations. A dean's assistant is called a sub-dean.
Latindecanus in the Roman military was the head of a group of ten soldiers within acenturia, and by the 5th century it was the head of a group of ten monks. It came to refer to various civil functionaries in the later Roman Empire.[1]
Based on the monastic use, it came to mean the head of achapter ofcanons of acollegiate church orcathedral church.[1]
Based on that use,deans in universities now fill various administrative positions.[citation needed]
Latindecanus should not be confused with Greekdiákonos (διάκονος),[2] from which the worddeacon derives, which describes a supportive role.
In theCatholic Church, theDean of the College of Cardinals and theCardinal Vice-Dean are the president and vice-president of the college. Both are elected. Except for presiding and delegating administrative tasks, they have no authority over the cardinals, acting asprimus inter pares (first among equals).
In the universities that grew out of thecathedral andmonastery schools, auniversity dean came to be an official with various administrative duties.[citation needed]
The chief priest of a Catholic cathedral is a dean.[citation needed]
The title "dean" is conferred upon aparish priest who serves as a senior figure, though usually without specific jurisdictional authority, over a section of a diocese.[3] These are sometimes referred to as "rural deans", and are expected to show a degree of leadership among the priests of the region, known as adeanery. This function is sometimes titled "vicar forane" (forane isLatin for "in a foreign land"). Anepiscopal vicar serves a similar function, but has more formal authority and specific powers undercanon law.
In recent years, theCatholic Church in England and Wales has introduced the custom of designating cathedral deans, formerly known as cathedral administrators. However, the term differs slightly from the Anglican usage as Catholic deans do not necessarily preside over thecathedral chapter (this function belonging to the office ofProvost) and are not necessarily required even to be a member of the chapter. More commonly, in places throughout the world where a cathedral chapter has not been erected (as for instance, in the United States, where there are no chapters at all), the termrector is used for the priest who serves as chief administrator of a cathedral church, as it is in other religious communities.[citation needed]
Another important use of the term within the Catholic Church is in the office of theDean of the College of Cardinals, who serves as senior member of that body.[citation needed] The current Dean isGiovanni Battista Cardinal Re, approved on 18 January 2020.
In theChurch of England and elsewhere in theAnglican Communion, the dean is the chief resident cleric of acathedral or othercollegiate church and the head of thechapter of canons. If the cathedral or collegiate church has its own parish, the dean is usually alsorector of the parish. However, in theChurch of Ireland the roles are often separated, and most cathedrals in theChurch of England do not have associated parishes. In theChurch in Wales, however, most cathedrals are parish churches, and their deans are now alsovicars of their parishes.In some parts of the Communion (particularly in theScottish Episcopal Church and, formerly in some cathedrals in England), the senior resident cleric in a cathedral is aprovost. Eachdiocese of the Scottish Episcopal Church has adean of the diocese: this is a cleric who, rather than heading the cathedral staff, assists thebishop in the administration of the diocese. In this way, a Scottish Episcopal dean is similar to anarchdeacon in the other member churches of the Communion (a post that does not exist in the Scottish church). In theAnglican Church of Canada, the roles of senior cleric of the cathedral are combined in one person who is referred to as "Rector of Cathedral and Dean of Diocese". Thus,Peter Elliott was Rector ofChrist Church Cathedral and Dean ofNew Westminster.[4]
The styleTheVery Reverend distinguishes a cleric as a dean (or a cathedral provost). For example, the Very ReverendJune Osborne was Dean ofSalisbury Cathedral.[5] The legal act by which a cathedral dean in the Church of England takes up his or her role is theinstitution, which is invariably followed in the same service by theinstallation (into his/herstall in the cathedral church); an "institution and installation" are very often referred to simply as an installation. In consideration of the high status of a Dean, the Very Reverend title is normally a permanent title preferment.[citation needed]
Some important deans include the deans ofSt Paul's,Canterbury Cathedral andWestminster Abbey. Westminster Abbey is aroyal peculiar, not the seat of any bishop or a cathedral, but is led by a dean. The deans ofWashington National Cathedral andSt. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin are likewise important clerics in their churches.[citation needed]
In many parts of the Anglican Communion,parishes are grouped together to formdeaneries, each being a constituent administrative district of the diocese. Usually, a deanery is led by one of theincumbents of the deanery's parishes, who is called arural dean, but in more urban areas this has often been replaced by the titlearea dean orregional dean. Such a dean chairs the meeting of the deanery's clergy (which, like a cathedral, is called a chapter), and may also chair adeanery synod. Rural deans (and those known by alternative titles) rank asprimi inter pares of their chapters, and do not have the seniority of cathedral or diocesan deans.[citation needed]
The head of an Anglicantheological college orseminary may also be called adean (in common with its use ineducation).[citation needed]
Within the Lutheran tradition, particularly in theNordic andBaltic tradition of evangelical episcopal Lutheranism, senior clergy bear the title 'Dean'. Each diocese usually has a cathedral Dean, in charge of the cathedral church, and a series of area deans to supervise the clergy in a given geographical area. In theEvangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, there are also deans in charge of leading the administrative work and personnel of the Chapters.[6]
United Methodists often speak of a "dean" in terms of the dean of the cabinet. Every annual conference has a bishop's cabinet made up of the district superintendents under the bishop's appointment, as well as occasionally a few other conference officials. One of these superintendents is chosen by their colleagues to serve as the dean, usually for one year. This dean then has certain administrative and leadership responsibilities, and is accountable to the bishop.[citation needed]
In United Methodist camping programs, the leader of a camp program is often referred to as the "dean." This likely grew out of the academic origin of Methodist Camps as "Epworth Institutes."
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