Episcopacy in Eastern Orthodoxy

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

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|Diocesan synod in Kraków in 1643 presided by Bishop [[Piotr Gembicki]]

ecclesiastical office, archbishop at the head of a metropolitan archdiocese

method whereby the ministry of the Christian Church is held to be derived from the apostles by a continuous succession

Eparchy ( eparchía "overlordship") is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. An eparchy is governed by an eparch, who is a bishop. Depending on the administrative structure of a specific Eastern Church, an eparchy can belong to an ecclesiastical province (usually a metropolis), but it can also be exempt. Each eparchy is divided into parishes, in the same manner as a diocese in Western Churches. Historical development of eparchies in various Eastern Churches was marked by local distinctions that can be observed in modern ecclesias

thumb|The cathedra of the Pope in the [[apse of St. John Lateran, the cathedral church of Rome]] thumb|Modern cathedra at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in [[Los Angeles]] thumb|19th-century cathedra in Lichfield Cathedral

bishop who is not in charge of a diocese, such as coadjutor bishops, auxiliary bishops, bishops emeriti, vicars apostolic, nuncios, superiors of departments in the Roman Curia, and cardinal bishops of suburbicarian dioceses

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

administrator of a non-metropolitan diocese in some Christian denominations

form of church governance consisting of a hierarchy of bishops

one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province

diocese headed by an archbishop and having suffragan dioceses under its jurisdiction

thumb|Bishop Petar I Petrović Njegoš|Petar I. Petrovic (1747–1830), as portrayed in ''L'Evêque ou Wladika Vladika or Wladika (, , ) is an informal Slavic title and address for bishops in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches, specifically the Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, and American Orthodox Churches. In Old Church Slavonic, the meaning of the word is equivalent to English mister or lord''.