metropolitan
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A metropolitan is an archbishop who leads a major diocese within the Christian church hierarchy, overseeing both their own large archdiocese and often providing supervision to smaller dioceses in the surrounding region. This position matters because it creates a structured chain of command in the church that helps organize religious authority across geographical areas.
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Petro Mohyla, Metropolitan of Kiev, Galicia and all Rus' In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), is held by the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis.
Originally, the term referred to the bishop of the chief city of a historical Roman province, whose authority in relation to the other bishops of the province was recognized by the First Council of Nicaea (AD 325). The bishop of the provincial capital, the metropolitan, enjoyed certain rights over other bishops in the province, later called "suffragan bishops".