Archbishop

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(Archiepiskopos,archiepiscopus).

In the Catholic Church

An archbishop ormetropolitan, in the present sense of the term, is abishop who governs adiocese strictly his own, while he presides at the same time over thebishops of a well-defined district composed of simpledioceses but not of provinces. Hence none of these subordinatebishops rule over others. Thesebishops are called the suffragans or comprovincials. The archbishop's owndiocese is the archdiocese. The severaldioceses of the district form thearchiepiscopal, ormetropolitan,province.

Historical origin

Some writers wrongly point to Sts. Timothy and Titus, the disciples ofSt. Paul, as to the first archbishops in theChurch. Probably they weremetropolitans in the wider sense of the term, one forAsia Minor, the other for the island of Crete. But it remains impossible to assign the exactdate when archbishops, as we now use the term, were first appointed. It istrue thatmetropolitans are mentioned as a well-known institution in theChurch by theCouncil of Nicæa (325) in its fourth, fifth and sixth canons, and by the Council of Antioch (341) whose seventh canon is a classical passage in this matter. It reads: "Thebishops of every province must be aware that thebishop presiding in themetropolis has charge of the whole province; because all who have business come together from all quarters to themetropolis. For this reason it is decided that he should, according to the ancient and recognized canon of our fathers, do nothing beyond what concerns their respectivedioceses and the districts belonging thereto", etc. But it cannot be denied that even at, this period the term "metropolitan" was used indiscriminately for all higher ranks above the simple episcopate. It was thus applied also topatriarchs andprimates. The same must be said of the term "archbishop" which does not occur in the present meaning before the sixth century, although the office of archbishop ormetropolitan in the stricter sense, indicating a hierarchical rank above the ordinarybishops but below theprimate and patriarch, was already substantially the same in the fifth century as it is today. A peculiar condition obtained inAfrica, where the archiepiscopal office was not attached to a certain see, themetropolis, but where it always devolved upon the seniorbishop of the province, whatever see he might occupy. He was called "the first or chief bishop", or also "thebishop of the first or chief see".

Jurisdiction

Thejurisdiction of the archbishop is twofold, episcopal and archiepiscopal. The first extends to his own diocese exclusively and comprises therights and powers of the fullest government of thediocese,clergy andlaity, spiritual and temporal, except as restricted by Church law. Unless such restriction be clearly stated in law, the presumption is in favour of the episcopal authority. The contrary holds in regard to the archiepiscopal authority. It extends to the province and the suffraganbishops only in as far as it is explicitly stated in thelaw. Where thelaw is silent, the presumption is against the archbishop. Be it remembered, however, that rightfully established and approved custom obtains the force of law. Archiepiscopaljurisdiction, being permanently attached to the office as such, is ordinaryjurisdiction, not merely delegated or vicarious. It reaches immediately the suffraganbishops, and mediately the faithful of theirdioceses. However, it has not always been the same either in regard to time or place. While themetropolitan office was everywhere the same in character, the extent and measure of its right and power would be greatly modified by local conditions, particularlaws and customs, and sometimes bypapal privileges. Although many of theserights are mentioned in different places of theCorpus Juris Canonici, yet there never was a uniform law to define them all in detail. In former times the archbishop'sjurisdiction was far more ample than it is at present. Themetropolitan could confirm,consecrate, and transfer thebishops of his province, accept from them theoath of allegiance and fidelity, summon them singly or collectively to hismetropolis (even outside of a council) at his pleasure, cite the suffragans into his court in civil and criminal trials, give them leave of absence from theirdioceses and letters commendatory in their travels, allow them to dispose ofchurch property, regulate theChurch calendar of the province by fixing and announcing thedate ofEaster, administer the suffragandioceses in case of vacancy, and, finally, receive appeals lodged with him from any part of his province. But this extensive power of archbishops was later on greatly restricted, specially in theLatin Church, by several of thepopes, and lastly by theCouncil of Trent. The charge made by theJansenists that thepopes curtailed therights of archbishops in order to increase and strengthen their own claim of universal primacy, is best refuted by the fact that themetropolitan authority in it struggles against encroachingprimates andpatriarchs or rivalmetropolitans, found no stronger support than that given by theHoly See. On the other hand,Rome had also to defend the native or acquiredrights and privileges of suffraganbishops against usurping claims of theirmetropolitans. That theHoly See did not exceed its powers is furtherproved by the fact theCouncil of Trent restrictedrights ofmetropolitans even more than thepopes had done. In theCatholic Churches ofAsia and Africa the formermetropolitan office is today merged in the patriarchal office. The archbishops under thosepatriarchs have no province nor archiepiscopaljurisdiction, but only hold the rank or archiepiscopal dignity. But inAustria,Hungary, Roumania,Servia, and Herzegovina theCatholics of the different Oriental rites,Ruthenians, Greeks, andArmenians, still have archbishops in the proper sense, who retain a large portion of their formerjurisdiction, more than those of theLatin Rite. Since theCouncil of Trent therights of an archbishop in theLatin Church may be described as follows:

(1) In regard to his suffraganbishops themetropolitan may compel them to assemble in provincial council every three years, and to attend faithfully to their episcopalduties, in particular those of residing regularly within their own diocese, of holdingdiocesansynods, and of maintainingdiocesanseminaries (whereclerical candidates cannot otherwise receive anecclesiastical training). In the provincial council the archbishop is invested with all therights of the presiding officer, but his voice counts no more than any of his suffragans. Modern practice has it also that when the archbishop's warning is not heeded by the delinquent suffragan, he will not himself use compulsory measures, e.g. censures, but report the case toRome. Only civil, not criminal, cases of suffragans come within the competency of the archbishop.

(2) Generally speaking, themetropolitan has no directjurisdiction over the subjects of his suffragans. But he acquires suchjurisdiction in three ways, namely: by appeal, by devolution, and by thecanonical visitation. Today archbishops cannot visit a suffragandiocese, unless the matter has been discussed and approved by the provincial council. Matters of episcopaljurisdiction will devolve upon the archbishop in certain cases mentioned in thelaw, when the suffraganbishop neglects to do hisduty, e.g. to fill in due time vacantbenefices orparishes, or to absolve fromexcommunication when thenecessary conditions have been complied with. This proceeds on the general principle that superiors ought to remedy the neglect of their inferiors lest too great harm be done to theChurch and her faithful children. When adiocese becomes vacant thecathedral chapter is bound to elect avicar-capitular who will act as administrator of the vacant diocese. If such election is not made in eight days the archbishop of the province will appoint thevicar-capitular. In theUnited States the archbishop appoints an administrator of the vacant diocese untilRome shall further provide. If the archdiocese becomes vacant, the senior suffragan appoints the administrator. An appeal or recourse, judicial or extrajudicial, lies directly, at least in the regular course ofecclesiastical procedure, from thebishop to his archbishop, as to the next higher instance. Whenever some disputed matter is thus brought, according to thelaw, from a suffragandiocese before themetropolitan for adjudication, he acquires directjurisdiction over the case. Appeals and recourses by the archbishop's own subjects against his judicial sentences, or other ordinances given in the first instance, lie directly, when allowed by law, to theHoly See, at least in the absence of a properprimate or patriarch. But, to expedite and facilitate matters, other ways are usually granted byRome, e.g. to appeal from the archbishop to his senior suffragan, as inEngland; or to the nearest othermetropolitan, as in theUnited States and inGermany; or to a second and special metropolitic court in the same province called Metropoliticum as inFrance. Since the establishment of the Apostolic Delegation in theUnited States cases from the suffragansees (except matrimonial cases) are usually brought directly before the delegate and no longer before the archbishop.

(3) Archbishops also have theright andduty of compelling, ifnecessary, the superiors ofreligious orders, even those who are otherwise exempt, in charge ofparishes or congregations, to have the Gospel preached in suchparishes according to the provisions of theCouncil of Trent. It may be observed, however that, although such are by law therights of an archbishop, their exercise is now seldom called for, so that his more prominent position is rather one ofhonour and dignity than of actualjurisdiction. Still, with all this, it remainsnecessary to distinguish the incumbent of ametropolitansee from the bearer of a mere honorary title of archbishop (who never receives thepallium and is never calledmetropolitan), often granted by theHoly See toprelates without an actual see and sometimes to ordinarybishops. By theMohammedan conquest nearly all of the earlymetropolitan sees inAsia and Africa became extinct. In more recent time some of these were restored by thepopes, being made residentialsees. But the titles of the others are conferred as a mere honorary distinction, mostly uponprelates of the Roman courts and coadjutorbishops ofmetropolitans. Besides the powers ofjurisdiction, archbishops also enjoy certainrights ofhonour within their province. The foremost among these is the right of wearing thepallium. Before receiving thepallium fromRome the archbishop cannot exercise any metropolitic functions nor officiate in pontifical vestments within the province, unless by a special privilege from theHoly See. Other honoraryrights are: to have the processional cross carried immediately before him, to wear themozetta or short cape, tobless the people, to precede his suffragans, and to occupy thebishop's throne, all this anywhere in the province. In the archiepiscopalcoat of arms the episcopal hat is flanked by ten tassels on each side. His address is "Your (His) Grace", "Most Reverend".

Manner of appointment

The vacancy of anarchiepiscopal see is filled in the same manner as that of an ordinarybishopric, whether it be by an election properly so called, or by a presentation ornomination, or by directpapal appointment. If the new archbishop be apriest, he will receive episcopalconsecration; if already abishop, he will be solemnly installed in the new office. But it is neither theconsecration nor the installation which makes the archbishop. It is his appointment to an archdiocese.

Statistics

There are at present (1906) in theCatholicChurch 164 archbishops with provinces, and 37 with only their diocese but no province, and, lastly, 89 purely titular archbishops. In theUnited States there are now 14 provinces, in British America 9, in Cuba 1, in thePhilippine Islands 1. For a full description of the presentmetropolitan organization in theCatholicChurch, East and West, see the articleHIERARCHY.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church

Archbishops are as a rule only titular, without any suffragans, but with their own diocese, the same as most of theCatholicmetropolitans in the East. But in the autocephalous, or independent, national churches ofAustria,Hungary,Servia, Roumania,Bosnia, and Herzegovina the so-called archbishops ormetropolitans exercise, in union with the autocephalous synod, the highestecclesiastical authority over theChurch of such country. Their office, therefore, resembles that of a patriarch.

The Anglican Episcopal Church

TheAnglican Church has two archbishops inEngland, one ofCanterbury, the other of York, both of whom are invested withprimatial dignity; and two archbishops inIreland, one of Armagh, the other ofDublin. Their authority is similar to that ofCatholic archbishops. InScotland theEpiscopalians have no archbishop; but one of thebishops is chosen by the rest to act as "Primus" withoutmetropolitanjurisdiction (seeBISHOP,DIOCESE,METROPOLITAN,HIERARCHY,PRIMATE).

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