Catholic ecclesiastical titles

The pope is the bishop of Rome and the head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of state of the Papal States, and since 1929 of the much smaller Vatican City State. From a Catholic viewpoint, the primacy of the bishop of Rome is largely derived from his role as the apostolic successor to Saint Peter, to whom primacy was conferred by Jesus, who gave Peter the Keys of Heaven and the powers of "binding and loosing", naming him as the "rock" upon which the

senior ecclesiastical official of the Catholic Church

right|thumb|Arms of a Catholic abbot are distinguished by a gold crozier with a veil attached and a black [[galero with twelve tassels (the galero of a territorial abbot would be green).]]

In Christianity, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdiocese, and some who hold non-metropolitan sees or are otherwise granted a titular archbishopric. In others, such as the Lutheran Church of Sweden, the title is borne by the leader of the denomination. thumb|The Archbishop of Uppsala is the primate of the [[Church of Sweden. The Church of Sweden was the only Lutheran church to keep the episcopal polity and apostolic

thumb|upright|Saint Stephen, one of the first seven deacons in the Christian Church, holding a [[Gospel Book in a 1601 painting by Giacomo Cavedone.]] A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions.

The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy , the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certain cases also popes – such as the pope of Rome or pope of Alexandria).

thumb|Archbishop Karl-Josef Rauber, former nuncio to [[Belgium and Luxembourg]]

ecclesiastical office, archbishop at the head of a metropolitan archdiocese

cleric; member of certain bodies subject to an ecclesiastical rule

A vicar (; Latin: vicarius) is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, vicar is cognate with the English prefix "vice", similarly meaning "deputy". It also refers to a senior priest in the Church of England. The title appears in a number of Christian ecclesiastical contexts, but also as an administrative title, or title modifier, in the Roman Empire. In addition, in the Holy Roman Empire, a local representative of the emperor, such as an archduke, could be styled "vi

assistant to a member of the clergy

thumb|Eufemia Szaniawska, Abbess of the Benedictine Monastery in Nesvizh|Nieśwież with a [[crosier, , National Museum in Warsaw]] thumb|Abbess Joanna van Doorselaer de ten Ryen, Waasmunster Roosenberg Abbey

thumb| Benedictine and [[Archabbot Ildefons Schober in prelate dress and cappa magna]] thumb|right|A Cardinal (Catholic Church)|cardinal, a [[nuncio and two bishops in Belgium.]] A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'prefer'; hence, a prelate is one set over others.

personal representative of the pope of the Catholic Church in foreign nations or for some special mission

position, assistant of the diocesan bishop of any diocese, without right to succession of the same

Subdeacon is a ministry in various branches of Christianity. The subdeacon has a specific liturgical role and is placed below the deacon and above the acolyte in the order of precedence.

thumb|upright|The Acolyte by Abraham Solomon, 1842

thumb|Portrait of Monsignor James F. Loughlin. The ecclesiastical dress of priests styled monsignor is similar to that of bishops. Monsignor ( ; ) is a form of address or title for certain members of the clergy in the Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian monsignore, meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" can be abbreviated as Mons. or Msgr. In some countries, the title "monsignor" is used as a form of address for bishops. However, in English-speaking countries, the title is unrelated to the episcopacy, though many priests with the title later become bishops.

profession in church

An ', sometimes simply advocate, (German, ), or ' (French, ) was a type of medieval office holder, particularly important in the Holy Roman Empire, who was delegated some of the powers and functions of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as an abbey. They typically had responsibility for the "comital" functions which defined the office of early medieval "counts", such as taxation, recruitment of militias, and maintaining law and order. This type of office could apply to specific agricultural lands, villages, castles, and even cities. In some regions, advocates came to be governors

a Catholic liturgical minister who proclaims Scripture, by readings from the Old or New Testament

missionary area not yet developed enough to become a diocese

cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy

official host of a staged event or similar performance

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.

catholic position

position, assistant of the diocesan bishop of any diocese, with the right to succession thereof

an officer of a church or civic authority who by reason of office has ordinary power to execute laws

Administrative division used in the Catholic Church

A chorbishop is a rank of Christian clergy below bishop. The name chorepiscope or chorepiscopus (plural chorepiscopi) is taken from the Greek and means "rural bishop".

territorially delimited particular church in Catholicism, whose attention is entrusted to a prelate or an abbot, who governs it as its own pastor, in the same way as a diocesan bishop

leader or head of a religious institute in the Roman Catholic Church, and some other Christian denominations

thumb | right | Statue of Augustus as Pontifex Maximus In Roman antiquity, a pontiff () was a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs. The term pontiff was later applied to any high or chief priest and, in Roman Catholic ecclesiastical usage, to bishops, especially the pope, who is sometimes referred to as the Roman pontiff or the supreme pontiff.

Protodeacon derives from the Greek proto- meaning 'first' and diakonos, which is a standard ancient Greek word meaning "assistant", "servant", or "waiting-man". The word in English may refer to any of various clergy, depending upon the usage of the particular church in question.

bishop to whom the pope delegates the government of the Italian portion of the diocese of Rome. title given to the Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome

thumb|Heraldic coronet of a vidame thumb|François de Vendôme, vidame de Chartres, drawn in costume in 1829; vidame's coronet visible at upper left Vidame () was a feudal title in France, a term descended from mediaeval Latin . Like the avoué or advocatus, the vidame was originally a secular official chosen by the bishop of the diocese—with the consent of the count—to perform functions on behalf of the church's earthly interest that were religiously inappropriate; this especially included violence, even in the service of justice, and to act as protector.

sede vacante administrator appointed by the diocese or archdiocese, usually a priest

deacons and priests who are not members of religious orders

head of a province of a religious order

thumb|Tomb of Peter of Aspelt|Peter von Aspelt, Prince-Archbishop of Mainz and Archchancellor of Germany (1306-1320), [[Mainz Cathedral]]

An abbreviator (plural "abbreviators" in English, abbreviatores in Latin) or breviator was a writer of the Papal Chancery who adumbrated and prepared in correct form Papal bulls, briefs, and consistorial decrees before these were written out in extenso by the scriptores.

Wikimedia list article

position

upright=1.35|thumb|The portrait of the almoner or The breviary (1886) by [[Jules-Alexis Muenier.]]

The term "coadjutor" (literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence.

Cubicularius, Hellenized as koubikoularios (), was a title used for the eunuch chamberlains of the imperial palace in the later Roman Empire and in the Byzantine Empire. The feminine version, used for the ladies-in-waiting of the empresses, was koubikoularia (κουβικουλαρία).

Curial office of the Holy See

A prothonotary is the "principal clerk of a court," from Late Latin prothonotarius (c. 400), from Greek protonotarios "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the Byzantine Empire, from Greek '' protos "first" + Latin notarius ("notary"); the h'' appeared in Medieval Latin. The title was awarded to certain high-ranking notaries, and was first recorded in the English language in 1447.

A postulator is the person who guides a cause for beatification or canonization through the judicial processes required by the Catholic Church. The qualifications, role and function of the postulator are spelled out in the Norms to be Observed in Inquiries made by Bishops in the Causes of Saints, which has been in effect since 7 February 1983. A petitioner seeking the beatification may appoint as postulator anyone, cleric or not, who is an expert in theological, canonical and historical matters, and versed in the practice of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, subject to the approval of

type of monsignor title granted to some priests in the Catholic Church

thumb|Adolphus von Dalberg, Prince-Abbot of Fulda 1726–1737

position within the Roman Catholic Church

A scholaster, from the Latin scholasticus (schoolmaster), or magister scholarum, was the head of an ecclesiastical school, typically a cathedral school, monastic school, or the school of a collegiate church, in medieval and early-modern Europe. Depending on the size of the school and the status of the institution to which it was attached, the scholaster might be the only teacher, the head of a considerable educational establishment, or have oversight over all the schools in their city or territory. The scholaster might be a dignitary in a cathedral or collegiate chapter, alongside the provost,

religious superior or an official in the Franciscan Order

Abolished ecclesiastical title in the Roman Catholic Church

ecclesiastical profession

Official document

Prince-primate (German: Fürstprimas, Hungarian: hercegprímás) is a rare princely title held by individual (prince-) archbishops of specific sees in a presiding capacity in an august assembly of mainly secular princes, notably the following:

lay attendant of the pope and his papal household in Vatican City

Christian term