The Most Reverend (abbreviated asThe Most Revd orThe Most Rev) is anhonorificstyle given to certain (primarilyWestern)Christian clergy andministers. It is a variant of the more common style "The Reverend".
In theCatholic Church, two different systems may be found. In most countries, all bishops are styled "The Most Reverend", as well asmonsignors of the rank ofprotonotary apostolicde numero. In theUnited Kingdom, only archbishops bear the style "The Most Reverend", with other bishops styled "The Right Reverend".
By custom, this title is used for theministers general of the various branches of theOrder of Friars Minor as well as of theThird Order Regular of St. Francis.
In theEastern Orthodox tradition,archbishops under theEcumenical Patriarchate (those who are not theprimates ofautocephalous churches) andmetropolitans are styled "His Eminence, The Most Reverend" in English.[1] Other bishops are styled "The Right Reverend".
In theAnglican Communion, the style is applied toarchbishops[2] (including those who, for historical reasons, bear an alternative title, such as presiding bishop), rather than the style "The Right Reverend" which is used by other bishops. "The Most Reverend" is used by bothprimates (the senior archbishop of each independent national or regional church)[3] andmetropolitan archbishops (as metropolitan of anecclesiastical province within a national or regional church).
Retired archbishops usually revert to being styled "The Right Reverend",[4] although they may be appointed "archbishop emeritus" by their province on retirement, in which case they retain the title "archbishop" and the style "The Most Reverend", as a courtesy. ArchbishopDesmond Tutu was a prominent example. Uniquely within Anglicanism, for historical reasons, theBishop of Meath and Kildare is also given this style, despite not being an archbishop.[5]
The following statement, drawn up in 1876 bySir J. Bernard Burke, Ulster King at Arms, will show the historical grounds on which the claim of Meath rested: Anciently Meath was one of the five provinces, and the seat of the chief monarch of Ireland. In 1152,Cardinal Paparo, Legatea latere, brought over four palliums, and assigned one to each of the four bishops, Armagh, Dublin, Cashel, and Tuam, erecting those Sees into archbishoprics. As some consolation to Meath, and in recognition of the former royal eminence of that province, the Bishop of Meath was styled Most Reverend, and given the first place among bishopsprimus inter pares. […] At the Reformation, the Protestant Church found the Bishop of Meath accorded the first place among bishops, and has ever since allowed that pre-eminence to the See.
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