Archpriest

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Archpriest (Latin Archipresbyter , Greek ἀρχιπρεσβύτερος archipresbýteros ) is the name for various officials within the Roman Catholic , Orthodox (also called Protopresbyter here ) and Old Catholic Church.

Roman Catholic Church

Archpriests of the cathedral have been mentioned in cathedral churches since the 4th century. They were the bishop's deputies , who were responsible for representing the bishop in the event of his death or prevention. Since the 6th century there were archpriests in large churches in the episcopal cities and baptismal churches in the countryside. The clergy of the associated district was dependent on him and met with him monthly. From Charlemagne existed in the newly established small country parishes Archpriest, the 9th century it bore the title Dean . These archpriests appointed clergymen, visited the parishes and reported abuses to the bishop or the archdeacon , they had limited legal authority and disciplinary authority.

The archpriest at the cathedral was usually accepted into the later cathedral chapter , became dignitary as cathedral dean , sometimes also chapter head ( cathedral provost ), for example at Cologne cathedral , where both functions still exist today. In the cities, archpriest was often the title of pastor at a large parish church and associated with special privileges or honorary rights. Today the title in the Roman Catholic Church is purely an honorary title, but can be firmly linked to the office of dean. Thus, the members appointed by the Bishop head of a will deanery , which in the German speaking mostly " dean " or "deans" hot, especially in Romanesque countries today regular and general language as "archpriest" (z. B. Italian Arciprete , Spanish arcipreste ) designated.

The former position of the archpriest at an episcopal church lives on to this day at the four main papal churches of Rome , the former patriarchal basilicas , namely the Lateran basilica , St. Peter's Basilica , Santa Maria Maggiore and St. Paul Outside the Walls . Archpriest at St. Peter's Basilica has been Angelo Cardinal Comastri since 2006 , who is also Vicar General for the Vatican State . Archbishop Angelo De Donatis has been archpriest at the Lateran Basilica since 2017 . Cardinal Stanisław Ryłko was made Archpriest of Santa Maria Maggiore in 2016, and Cardinal James Michael Harvey was named Archpriest of St. Paul in 2012 .

Orthodox churches

In the Orthodox churches, the title of archpriest is given to clergymen as an honorary title, often to those who work in important churches or in prominent positions in the church service.

Old Catholic Church

In the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands the term archpriest was used for a dean in the 19th century.

See also

Web links

Wiktionary: Archpriest  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. cf. Can. 553 § 1 CIC .
  2. La gran mayoría de los párrocos guipuzcoanos rechaza al nuevo obispo de San Sebastián. In: Público (Spain) , December 15, 2009, accessed March 29, 2019 (Spanish).
  3. Vatican website (Italian) , accessed April 5, 2018
  4. Cardinal Rylko new archpriest of Santa Maria Maggiore . ( kath.net ).
  5. Vatican website , accessed March 8, 2011
  6. Dick J. Schoon : Van bisschoppelijke Cleresie tot Oud-Katholieke Kerk. Bijdrage tot de geschiedenis van het katholicisme in Nederland in de 19de eeuw. Valkhof Pers, Nijmegen 2004 ISBN 90-5625-165-1 , p. 730.