Regarding bishops

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As a change of pace from the typical topics of liturgical abuse, seemingly questionable actions by priest, bad music, overly enthusiastic “signs of peace”, I thought I would ask this question.

At Mass this morning, during the consecration when we pray for the Pope and our bishop(s), I was struck with a sudden question. How many different kinds of bishops are there and what is the distinction? I can recall a few:
  • Bishop
  • Archbishop
  • Metropolitan
  • Auxiliary Bishop
  • Patriarch
  • Cardinal
  • Prefect
  • Bishop who will succeed the current bishop (name?)
  • Bishop who will not succeed the current bishop (name?)
  • I am sure there are several others.
I know what some of these are; e.g. Cardinals elect the Pope, Auxilliaries assist the bishop, but I do not understand the distinction between many of these, especially the first three on the list.

And in a related question, what is the difference between a diocese and an archdiocese? And what the heck is a metropolitan diocese?

Thanks in advance. 🙂
 
rpp said:
As a change of pace from the typical topics of liturgical abuse, seemingly questionable actions by priest, bad music, overly enthusiastic “signs of peace”, I thought I would ask this question.

At Mass this morning, during the consecration when we pray for the Pope and our bishop(s), I was struck with a sudden question. How many different kinds of bishops are there and what is the distinction? I can recall a few:
  • Bishop
  • Archbishop
  • Metropolitan
  • Auxiliary Bishop
  • Patriarch
  • Cardinal
  • Prefect
  • Bishop who will succeed the current bishop (name?)
  • Bishop who will not succeed the current bishop (name?)
  • I am sure there are several others.
I know what some of these are; e.g. Cardinals elect the Pope, Auxilliaries assist the bishop, but I do not understand the distinction between many of these, especially the first three on the list.

And in a related question, what is the difference between a diocese and an archdiocese? And what the heck is a metropolitan diocese?

Thanks in advance. 🙂
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OK - well we can eliminate “Prefects” because they aren’t a type of bishop, but someone who holds a curial office.

An auxiliary is a bishop who assists another bishop in a larger diocese where help is needed for sacramental purposes or administrative purposes. Some dioceses have multiple auxiliary bishops, such as Chicago, because of the large number of members.

A bishop who is “in line” to be bishop of a diocese when the current bishop retires is called an “co-adjutor” - he becomes a bishop but does not “take over” the diocese until the current bishop retires/dies.

A bishop who is a former/retired bishop of a diocese is called “emeritus” - a title of honor keeping him connected to the diocese.

A “bishop-elect” is a man who has been elected to a diocese by the Pope but has not yet been installed.

A Metropolitan Archbishop holds authority over the Metropolitan see, a larger see in a region under which are subordinate dioceses.

There are three designations of Cardinals. Cardinal Bishop, the most senior prelates in the church. Cardinal Deacon, the “lower” of the orders, are typically priests who are elevated for their 80th birthday, or members of the Roman Curia. Cardinal Priest, the most numerous of the three orders, they are men who hold important dioceses throughout the world.

There might be more, but thats a start.
 
Primates are the Bishops of what is considered the “highest” see in a particular country. Canada’s primatial see is Quebec, and the Primate of Canada is Marc Cardinal Ouellet.

To be thorough, we could add Pope to this list.
 
rpp said:
As a change of pace from the typical topics of liturgical abuse, seemingly questionable actions by priest, bad music, overly enthusiastic “signs of peace”, I thought I would ask this question.

At Mass this morning, during the consecration when we pray for the Pope and our bishop(s), I was struck with a sudden question. How many different kinds of bishops are there and what is the distinction? I can recall a few:
  • Bishop
  • Archbishop
  • Metropolitan
  • Auxiliary Bishop
  • Patriarch
  • Cardinal
  • Prefect
  • Bishop who will succeed the current bishop (name?)
  • Bishop who will not succeed the current bishop (name?)
  • I am sure there are several others.
I know what some of these are; e.g. Cardinals elect the Pope, Auxilliaries assist the bishop, but I do not understand the distinction between many of these, especially the first three on the list.

And in a related question, what is the difference between a diocese and an archdiocese? And what the heck is a metropolitan diocese?

Thanks in advance. 🙂
Click to expand...
How many different kinds of Bishops are there? well as far as Holy Orders goes, ONE. “Bishop”. All those you list are titles for various offices and functions of a Bishop.
 
Also, you do not necessarily have to be a bishop to be a cardinal. In fact it is possible, but highly improbable for a lay person to become a Cardinal. In “recent” years however all of the Cardinals have been Bishops.
 
fatherwannabe said:
OK - well we can eliminate “Prefects” because they aren’t a type of bishop, but someone who holds a curial office.

An auxiliary is a bishop who assists another bishop in a larger diocese where help is needed for sacramental purposes or administrative purposes. Some dioceses have multiple auxiliary bishops, such as Chicago, because of the large number of members.

A bishop who is “in line” to be bishop of a diocese when the current bishop retires is called an “co-adjutor” - he becomes a bishop but does not “take over” the diocese until the current bishop retires/dies.

A bishop who is a former/retired bishop of a diocese is called “emeritus” - a title of honor keeping him connected to the diocese.

A “bishop-elect” is a man who has been elected to a diocese by the Pope but has not yet been installed.

A Metropolitan Archbishop holds authority over the Metropolitan see, a larger see in a region under which are subordinate dioceses.

There are three designations of Cardinals. Cardinal Bishop, the most senior prelates in the church. Cardinal Deacon, the “lower” of the orders, are typically priests who are elevated for their 80th birthday, or members of the Roman Curia. Cardinal Priest, the most numerous of the three orders, they are men who hold important dioceses throughout the world.

There might be more, but thats a start.
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You’ve already gotten some answers so I’ll just elaborate on parts of your questions.

I’m going to answer specifically for Latin rite Catholics in the United States because that’s what I know best but a lot of this applies to Eastern Catholics (and sometimes to Orthodox and Anglicans) and other countries.

Various regions around world are divided into Ecclesiastical provinces. These various provinces are divided in individual dioceses which have their own bishops. One bishop (the archbishop) in each province will be the primate of that province and his diocese is called an archdiocese. Sometimes the archdiocese is referred to as the metropolitan diocese and thus the head is the metropolitan.

In practice, the titles Primate and Metropolitan would belong to the same man but they refer to the different roles he plays.

If you look up Ecclesiastical Province on Wikipedia you will find lots of good info.
 
mwscott said:
Also, you do not necessarily have to be a bishop to be a cardinal. In fact it is possible, but highly improbable for a lay person to become a Cardinal. In “recent” years however all of the Cardinals have been Bishops.
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Except Avery Dulles, a Jesuit priest (not a bishop). He was a cardinal (passed away last year).
 
SMHW said:
Various regions around world are divided into Ecclesiastical provinces. These various provinces are divided in individual dioceses which have their own bishops. One bishop (the archbishop) in each province will be the primate of that province and his diocese is called an archdiocese. Sometimes the archdiocese is referred to as the metropolitan diocese and thus the head is the metropolitan.

In practice, the titles Primate and Metropolitan would belong to the same man but they refer to the different roles he plays.
Click to expand...
The Archbishop is not necessarily a Primate. The Pope is Bishop of Rome, Metropolitan of the Roman Province, and Primate of Italy. Primates have precedence over a nation, Metropolitans have precedence over a smaller province.
 
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