Archpriest: Encyclopedia - Archpriest

Archpriest

An archpriest is the title of a priest which has supervisory duties over a number of parishes. The term is most often used in Eastern Orthodoxy and Eastern-Rite Catholicism, since the corresponding office in the Roman Catholic Church has been replaced by the vicar forane.

Much like the archdeacon was the head of the diaconate of a diocese in ancient times, the archpriest was first the chief of the presbyterium of the diocese. Eventually by the Middle Ages, the office evolved into the priest of the principal parish among several local parishes. This priest had general charge of worship in this archpresbyteriate, and the parishoners of the smaller parishes had to attend Sunday Mass and hold baptisms at the principal parish. The subordinate parishes instead held daily mass and homilies.

This system was soon changed, and by the time of the Council of Trent the office of archpriest was replaced by the office of vicar forane, also known as the "dean" in English. The oldest known use of this title comes from St. Charles Borromeo's reforms in his own diocese. Unlike vicars general and vicars episcopal, vicars forane are not prelates, which means they do not possess ordinary power. Their role is entirely supervisory, and they perform visitations for the bishop and report to the bishop or vicar general any problems in their vicariate.

The practice of having an archpriest has remained in Rome and in some countries like Malta. The rectors of the major basilicas have the title archpriest. However, the title is entirely honorary, reflecting the fact that these churches held archpriestly status in Rome's past.

In Eastern Orthodoxy, the rank of archpriest remains as a title of honor or seniority. It is synonymous with that of protopresbyter in Greek usage, but in Slavic usage they are distinct offices. In either case, it is the highest rank married clergy can ordinarily expect to attain. Archpriests are styled "Very Reverend" and are distinguished by the award of a pectoral cross. In the Slavic tradition this is specifically the gold cross, and they may be further distinguished with the award of the purple kamilavka, the epigonation, the jewelled pectoral cross, and the mitre. They might possess some limited supervisory responsibility over other clergy as the local dean or diocesan chancellor, but only because as senior clergy they are more likely to be selected for such offices.

Categories: Christian group structuring | Roman Catholic Church offices | Ecclesiastical titles

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Archpriest", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki