mjdonnelly:
MJ,
As Charles said, “can’t imagine why”
Let me offer a succinct response to Kathie’s question, avoiding citation to the outdated o/l Catholic Encyclopedia and to Canon Law.
harinkj:
What is the difference between an archdiocese and a diocese? Is it just size? Or do all dioceses belong to an archdiocese?
Kathie,
An archdiocese is NOT a collection of dioceses.
- An archdiocese is an archdiocese.
- A diocese is a diocese.
A diocese is ordinarily headed by a bishop; an archdiocese by an archbishop. (Occasionally, a diocese is headed by a bishop who holds the title of “archbishop
ad honorem” or “archbishop
ad personam”, indicating that the title was conferred on him as an honorific or personal title, because of service to the Church, rather than because he heads an archdiocese).
It is incorrect to speak of a diocese or its bishop as being “under”, “in”, or “belonging to” an archdiocese or archbishop.
Most archdioceses are also metropolitan sees, in which case the archbishop is, technically, called a
metropolitan archbishop. A metropolitan see (a/k/a metropolitanate, metropolia, metropolis) is the principal jurisdiction (or See) within an ecclesiastical province.
An ecclesiastical province generally consists of a metropolitan archdiocese and one or more dioceses (in rare instances, some also include another archdiocese that isn’t a metropolitan archdiocese). The other Sees (usually dioceses) within the ecclesiastical province were, historically, referred to as
suffragn (or dependent) Sees and the bishops of those Sees were said to be
suffragn to the metropolitan archbishop.
In practical terms, however,
suffragn is, today, essentially an anachronistic holdover from an earlier era, when a metropolitan archbishop exercised actual authority. For more than a century, the practical relationship between a metropolitan archbishop and the bishops of the dioceses in the same ecclesiastical province has been essentially only collegial.
Before advances in communication and transportation technology made it possible for Rome to contact or be contacted by almost any hierarch within a matter of hours, metropolitans exercised considerable jurisdictional authority over their suffragns. That’s now solely a matter of historical interest and the role of metropolitan is essentially honorific, having very limited authority with respect to his suffragns. A metropolitan’s rights are:
- to have the place of precedence over any hierarch (other than a patriach or a papal legate) in any procession or ecclesiastical function within a suffragn diocese at which he happens to be in attendance
- to display or have his symbol of office (e.g., his archepiscopal crozier) borne before him when participating in any ecclesiastical function within a suffragn diocese. (Ordinarily, a hierarch - other than a patriarch or papal legate - has no right to display the signs of his jurisdictional authority outside of his own territorial bounds)
- to convoke a provincial council once in every three years, which his suffragns are bound to attend, for the purpose of non-binding discussion relative to issues and/or problems common to two or more of the jurisdictions within the province
- to lead his suffragns in their visits made every five years to the Holy See (i.e., the dicennial ad limina visits) to report on the state of their jurisdictions
- to afford a tribunal to hear appeals made to it from decisions that were originally rendered in the tribunals of his suffragn jurisdictions, and
- to name the vicar capitular of a suffragn diocese which is sede vacante or without a bishop, but only if the chapter of the suffragn diocese failed to do so within the required 8 days after the death of its bishop
harinkj:
What are the bishops in an archdiocese or diocese who are called auxiliary bishops?
They are bishops named by Rome to assist the archbishop or bishop in his task of administering his archdiocese or diocese. In large jurisdictions, each auxiliary may be responsible for oversight of a geographic area, called a deanery. He serves as a resource for the pastors and priests who serve parishes within the deanery and keeps the archbishop or bishop advised of needs, issues, concerns.
In very large jurisdictions which operate multiple services, such as a school system, social service agencies, or a health care system, an auxiliary may be appointed as the superintendent, director, or administrator of the services.
In jurisdictions with a large population of ethnic faithful who are recent immigrants, an auxiliary (perhaps of the same ethnicity) may be designated specific responsibility to oversee the pastoral needs of and ministry to those faithful.
Many years,
Neil
