Archpriest

The ecclesiastical title of archpriest, traditionally archpresbyter or protopresbyter, belongs to certain priests with supervisory duties over one or several parishes in the Eastern Orthodox Church (and some Eastern Catholic). The archpriest is somewhat analogous to the dean (vicar forane) in the Latin Church. The Orthodox archpriest is conferred the title via liturgical ceremony and wears a specific vestment and typically a pectoral cross.

In early Christianity, the archdeacon (Greek: αρχιδιάκονος/archidiákonos) was the head of the deacons of an eparchy/diocese, as is still the case in the Eastern Orthodox Church, while the archpriest (protopresbyter) was the chief of the priesthood in the eparchy ("presbyterium" in Latin usage). The latter's duties included assisting the bishop in spiritual matters when necessary.

Eastern Christianity

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the highest ranks of priesthood include protopresbyter (Ancient Greek: πρωτοπρεσβύτερος, protopresbyteros), with synonyms protoiereus (from Ancient Greek: πρωτοϊερεύς, "first priest", πρωθιερέας, Serbian: protojerej, Russian: протоиерей), protopriest, roughly equivalent to that of protopope or archpriest, or protopop (Greek: πρωτόπαπας, Cyrillic: протопоп; from πρωτος and πάπας, "first priest, archpriest"), roughly corresponding to archdeacon or dean (parish priest) in the Roman Catholic Church. The rank of archimandrite (monastery abbot), is conferred to monastic priests as an honorary title, while protopresbyter is given to non-monastic priests.

It is conferred to the priest in a ceremony with cheirothesia by the bishop with the laying on of hands and prayer: at the little entrance of the divine liturgy, the candidate is conducted to the ambo in the middle of the church where the bishop blesses him and says a prayer. The bishop addresses Christ, asking him to "... endue our brother (name) with Thy Grace, and adorn him with virtue to stand at the head of the Presbyters of Thy people, and make him to be a good example to them that are with him..."

The Orthodox archpriest typically wears an epigonation, a vestment originally worn only by bishops; however, details vary locally, and in some places being given the epigonation is an honor that typically precedes being made an archpriest and in other places, it is an honor that is given to only some archpriests (in the Russian tradition, the nabedrennik is given prior to elevation). An archpriest also wears a pectoral cross both as part of his street clothes and when vested; in the Russian tradition, every priest wears a pectoral cross and being given a gold pectoral cross and then a jeweled one typically precede being made an archpriest and protopresbyter, respectively.

At imperial Constantinople there was an elaborately organized court of ecclesiastical persons around the Ecumenical Patriarch, whose various places in choir when the patriarch celebrated are given in the Euchologion together with a statement of their duties. Among these the protopop had the first place on the left. "The protopope stands above the left choir when the pontiff celebrates, he gives to him [the pontiff] Holy Communion and in the same way the pontiff to the protopope and he has all first places [τὰ πρωτεῖα πάντα -ta proteia panta] in the church" (Goar, 225). Under him the "second one" (ὁ δευτερεύων ho deutereuon), takes his place in his absence (ibid.). So also Leo Allatius's list, where it is said further that: "he holds the place [κρατῶν τόπον - kraton topon, as deputy] of the pontiff" (ibid., 229). He is promoted by presentation to the patriarch, who lays his hand on him with prayer, and the clergy cry "axios" (ἄξιος) three times (the rite from Allatius is given by Goar, 238). Goar notes that the protopope, at least to some extent, succeeded to the place of the chorepiscopus. He could ordain lectors; at concelebrations where no bishop is present he presided and said the ekphonesis (ἐκφώνησις - exclamations chanted aloud at the end of prayers and litanies). In the bishop's absence he took his place as president, and had jurisdiction over his fellow-clergy. George Kodinos (fourteenth century) says of the protopope: "he is first in the tribunal [τοῦ βήματος - tou bematos, in authority] holding the second place after the pontiff" (De Officiis, I, quoted by Goar 237).

Distinct from the official of the patriarchal court, though bearing the same title, were the archpriests in the country parishes. They correspond to Catholic rural deans, having delegate episcopal jurisdiction for minor cases, from which appeal may be made to the bishop. So Theodore Balsamon (twelfth century): "It is forbidden by the canons that there should be bishops in small towns and villages, and because of this they ordain for these priests who are protopops and chorepiscopi" (Syntagma, III, 142). There are cases in which a protopope in a remote place has episcopal jurisdiction, but not orders, like some vicars Apostolic, or the archpriests in England from 1599 to 1621. In such cases they are distinguished from archpriests and have such officials under them (so the introduction to Nicholas Bulgaris' "Sacred Catechism", Venice, 1681).

In imperial Russia, royal Bulgaria, royal Rumania and Habsburg Austria, the protopopes had authority over a district containing several parishes which they had to visit occasionally, representing for the clergy the court of first instance. In Orthodox Hungary and Transylvania there are protopresbyterates (eparchies), in which the protopope is elected by clergy and people and rules under the bishop. In these cases he may be compared to rural deans in the Western church. Such an office is the highest to which a married Orthodox priest may aspire, since bishops are always monks. In Russia the protopope (protoierei) sometimes wears the Byzantine mitre (but without a cross atop it) and epigonation, but not the omophorion or sakkos.

In the Russian tradition, protopresbyter (Russian: npотопресвитер) is a higher rank than protopop (протопоп), although this is a later addition; both titles are translated as "archpriest".

Western Christianity

Latin Catholic Church

In the western Church, by the Middle Ages, the use of the title archipresbyter had evolved and became assigned to the priest of the principal parish among several local parishes. This priest had general charge of worship in this archpresbyterate, and the parishioners of the smaller parishes had to attend Sunday Mass and hold baptisms at the principal parish while the subordinate parishes instead held daily mass and homilies. By the time of the Council of Trent (1545–1563) the office of archpriest was replaced by the office of vicar forane, also known in English as "dean". The first recorded use of this meaning of the title comes from 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 territory.

Exceptionally, the pope on occasion raised a territory to the rank of archipresbyterate nullius, detached from any prelature, yet under a non-prelate, as happened in 1471 with the future abbacy (1583) and later (1828–1986) Diocese of Guastalla.

In 1598, during the persecution of Catholics in England, an archpriest was appointed by the Holy See as head of the Catholic Church in England. The archpriest had authority over all of the secular clergy in the country. The Archpriest Controversy was a dispute between Roman Catholics supporting and opposed to this structure. In 1623 the Apostolic Vicariate of England was established, headed by an apostolic vicar rather than an archpriest.

In the Latin Catholic Church, it was traditional in some localities for a priest to be assisted at his First Mass by another priest termed for the occasion the archipresbyter, who functioned as the deacon otherwise does. This was not a permanent title but referred only to the particular occasion.

The title of archpriest has survived in Rome, in Malta and elsewhere, where it is now held by the rectors of the principal basilicas. However, the title is entirely honorary, reflecting the fact that these churches held archpriest status in the past. In Rome today, there are four archpriests (all bishops), one for each of the four papal major basilicas of John Lateran, St. Peter, St. Mary Major, St. Paul. According to the specific historical tradition, many churches throughout the world, other than basilicas, are under the authority of a priest who bears the title of archipresbyter. However, the title is mostly honorary and today, such an archpriest has no control over subordinate clergy other than that of a parish priest over junior clergy assigned to assist him in meeting pastoral needs.

The use of "archpriest" (French: archiprêtre, Italian: arciprete) in the Latin Church should not be confused with "protopriest", the senior Cardinal-Priest in the College of Cardinals.

Other uses

In the Church of England there exists the "Archpriest of Haccombe", a unique remnant of pre-Reformation local Latin practice first employed in 1315, confirmed by council on 1 April 1913 under King George V. The title reflects the fact that the archpriest has the right to sit beside the bishop and acknowledges no authority below that of the Archbishop of Canterbury, although today it is more appropriate to go through the usual channels of the church's hierarchy. The office most closely resembling the role is rural dean (rural dioceses) or area dean (urban dioceses). Like the archpriest of old, these officers have supervisory duties, but not ordinary jurisdiction, and are entitled to carry out visitations of subordinate parishes when so commissioned.

The Unitarian Church of Transylvania is divided into five Archpriestships as a form of territorial governance, virtual dioceses.

See also

• Archimandrite
• Arnaud de Cervole, also known as "the Archpriest"
• Archpriest of Hita

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Just as among the deacons of the bishop's church one stood out as the special assistant and representative of the bishop, and, as archdeacon, acquired a jurisdiction of his own, so do we find since the fourth century in numerous dioceses an Archpriest, or head of the college of presbyters, who aided and represented the bishop in the discharge of his liturgical and religious duties. As a rule, and especially in Rome, whence the custom spread, the oldest of the presbyters was invested with this rank; in the Greek Church, on the other hand, his appointment often lay in the hands of the bishop. By the seventeenth canon of the Fourth Synod of Carthage, the archpriest was also associated with the bishop as his representative in the care of the poor. After the complete Christianization of the Roman and Germanic peoples, we meet in the West with another kind of archpriest. The spiritual needs of the population scattered through the rural districts multiplied so rapidly that it became impossible for the clergy of the episcopal city to attend to all. Consequently, we soon find the larger rural centres equipped with their own churches, a permanent clergy, and their own sources of support. The inhabitants of the neighbouring hamlets, and of the widely scattered manors were, from the beginning, subject to these larger, or mother-churches (ecclesia rusticana, dioecesana, parochia), in so far as it was there that they heard Mass and received the sacraments. The entire parish was known as christianitas or plebs.

The archpriest was the first in rank among priests attached to such mother-churches. He was at the head of the local clergy, had charge of Divine worship, and supervised the duties of the ecclesiastical ministry. He was, however, subject to the archdeacon; several such large rural communities, or parishes, constituted an archidiaconate. The private chapels, which gradually multiplied on the estates of the great landowners and to which priests were attached, with the bishop's permission, were not exempt from the jurisdiction of the archpriest. All parishioners were obliged to be present at the principal Mass on Sunday in the mother-church (ecclesia baptismalis, titulus major). All baptisms took place there and burial services were held nowhere else. In the lesser churches of the territory (tituli minores) there were permitted only the daily Mass, the usual devotions, and instruction in the elements of Christian faith. The archpriest of the mother-church was the head of all the clergy in his parish, and was responsible for the proper execution of their ecclesiastical duties and for their manner of life. Gradually, it came about, especially in the Carlovingian period, that many tituli minores became independent parish churches, where all religious ceremonies, including Sunday Mass and baptism, were performed; the number of parishes was thus notably increased. It came about also that when a diocese was very extensive, the entire diocese was subdivided into a number of districts (called archipresbyterates, decanates, or christianitates), over each of which a priest was placed as dean or archpriest. The use of the term archipresbyterate for these diocesan districts proves that the former extensive parishes made a basis for this division, though the boundary lines of the new districts did not necessarily correspond with the limits of the original parishes. In many cases entirely new ecclesiastical districts were created, and sometimes several former archipresbyterates were united. Sometimes, also, attention was paid to the civil subdivisions of the territory in question. The entire clergy of such a district constituted the rural chapter, at the head of which was the archpriest or rural dean. It was his duty, as representative to the bishop, to supervise the entire religious and ecclesiastical life of the entire territory. He enforced the regulations of the bishop and the decrees of the diocesan synods, and watched over their observance; presented to the bishop for ordination all candidates for ecclesiastical office; adjusted minor differences among the clergy, and made known to the archdeacon any grosser misdeeds of the clergy or laity in order that the suitable penance might be imposed upon the offender. It was customary in the Carlovingian period that on the first of every month the archpriest and clergy of his deanery should meet in common in order to discuss matters of importance. At a later date such meetings were called only once or twice a year. The rural chapter acquired in time the right of presentation to the deanery; it also elected a camerarius for the administration of certain common funds, and a diffinator, or assistant to the dean. The union of such archipresbyterates formed an archidiaconate, whose deans were subject to the archdeacon.

In the course of time, the office of dean or archpriest underwent many changes. This development was not the same in every country, and to this fact are traceable many local differences. The Council of Trent was content with the establishment of regulations concerning the visitations of parishes by the deans (Sess. XXIV, cap. 3, De reform.). St. Charles Borromeo abolished the office of dean in his diocese and established in its place that of rural vicar, or vicar forane (vicarii foranei), an office at all times revocable. In France, and in those neighbouring territories affected by the ecclesiastical reorganization that followed the French Revolution, each of the new dioceses was divided into deaneries whose limits was calculated to correspond with the civil subdivisions. In each district the parish priest of the principal church was usually the dean. According to actual ecclesiastical law the division of a diocese into deaneries pertains to the bishop; he may, if he chooses, combine several such districts and make of them a single larger one. The selection of the deans pertains entirely to the bishop, though in some countries the rural chapters still retain the right of election. Deans possess no proper jurisdiction; they are merely delegates of the bishop for the performance of stated ecclesiastical duties. Their principal duty is to facilitate relations between the clergy of their deanery and the ordinary (the bishop), to exercise a certain supervision over the clergy, to visit the parishes, and look into the administration of parochial duties by the parish priests. They are also wont to receive from the bishop permanent faculties for the performance of certain ecclesiastical benedictions. The duty of assisting the bishop at Pontifical Mass, once incumbent on the archpriest of the cathedral, has devolved partly on the dean of the cathedral chapter, and partly on the auxiliary-bishop, should there be one.

THOMASSINUS, Vetus et nova Ecclesiæ disciplina (London, 1706), pt. I, bk. II, iii-vi, 1, 221 sqq.; SCHMIDT, Thesaurus juris ecclesiastici germanici (Heidelburg, 1777), III, 290 sqq. 314 sqq.; STUTZ, Geschichte des kirchlichen Benefizialwesens von Anfang bis Alexander III (Berlin, 1895); IMBART DE LA TOUR, Les paroisses rurales dans l'ancienne France du IVe au XIe siècle (Paris, 1900); SÄGMÜLLER, Die Entwicklung des Archipresbyterats und Dekanats bis zum Ende des Karolingerreiches (Tübingen, 1898); IDEM, Lehrbuch des katholischen Kirchenrechts (Freiburg, 1904), 372 sqq.

Bibliography

• Cross, F. L., ed. (1957). Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. London: Oxford University Press; pp. 79–80

External links

• Media related to Archpriests at Wikimedia Commons
• "Archpriest in Catholic Encyclopedia". NewAdvent (organization).
• Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Protopope". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.