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The hierarchy of the Catholic Church consists of its bishops, priests, and deacons.[1][2] In the ecclesiological sense of the term, "hierarchy" strictly means the "holy ordering" of the church, the Body of Christ, so to respect the diversity of gifts and ministries necessary for genuine unity.
In canonical and general usage, it refers to those who exercise authority within a Christian church.[3] In the Catholic Church, authority rests chiefly with bishops,[4] while priests and deacons serve as their assistants, co-workers or helpers.[5] Accordingly, "hierarchy of the Catholic Church" is also used to refer to the bishops alone.[6] The term "pope" was still used loosely until the sixth century, being at times assumed by other bishops.[7] The term "hierarchy" became popular only in the sixth century, due to the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius.[8]
As of 31 December 2020, the Catholic Church consisted of 2,903 dioceses or equivalent jurisdictions,[9] each overseen by a bishop. Dioceses are divided into individual communities called parishes, each staffed by one or more priests, deacons, or lay ecclesial ministers.[10] Ordinarily, care of a parish is entrusted to a priest, though there are exceptions. Approximately 19.3% of all parishes do not have a resident pastor, and 1,948 parishes worldwide are entrusted to a deacon or lay ecclesial minister.[11]
All clergy, including deacons, priests, and bishops, may preach, teach, baptize, witness marriages, and conduct funeral liturgies.[12] Only priests and bishops can celebrate the sacraments of the Eucharist (though others may be ministers of Holy Communion),[13] Penance (Reconciliation, Confession), Confirmation (priests may administer this sacrament with prior ecclesiastical approval), and Anointing of the Sick.[14][15] Only bishops can administer the sacrament of Holy Orders, by which men are ordained as bishops, priests or deacons.[16][17]
Bishop
The bishops, who possess the fullness of orders, and therefore the fullness of both priesthood and diaconate, are as a body (the College of Bishops) considered the successors of the Apostles[18][19] and are "constituted Pastors in the Church, to be the teachers of doctrine, the priests of sacred worship and the ministers of governance"[20] and "represent the Church."[21] In 2012, there were 5,133 Catholic bishops;[22] at the end of 2021, there were 5,340 Catholic bishops. The Pope himself is a bishop (the bishop of Rome) and traditionally uses the title "Venerable Brother" when writing formally to another bishop.
The typical role of a bishop is to provide pastoral governance for a diocese.[19] Bishops who fulfill this function are known as diocesan ordinaries, because they have what canon law calls ordinary (i.e. not delegated) authority for a diocese. These bishops may be known as hierarchs in the Eastern Catholic Churches. Other bishops may be appointed to assist ordinaries (auxiliary bishops and coadjutor bishops) or to carry out a function in a broader field of service to the church, such as appointments as papal nuncios or as officials in the Roman Curia.
Bishops of a country or region may form an episcopal conference and meet periodically to discuss current problems. Decisions in certain fields, notably liturgy, fall within the exclusive competence of these conferences. The decisions of the conferences are binding on the individual bishops only if agreed to by at least two-thirds of the membership and confirmed by the Holy See.
Bishops are normally ordained to the episcopate by at least three other bishops,[20] though for validity only one is needed[23] and a mandatum from the Holy See is required.[24] Ordination to the episcopate is considered the completion of the sacrament of Holy Orders; even when a bishop retires from his active service, he remains a bishop, since the ontological effect of Holy Orders is permanent. On the other hand, titles such as archbishop or patriarch imply no ontological alteration, and existing bishops who rise to those offices do not require further ordination.
Sacramentally, all bishops are equal. According to jurisdiction, office, and privileges, however, various ranks are distinguished, as indicated below. All bishops are "vicars of Christ".[25]
Pope (Bishop of Rome)
The pope is the bishop of Rome. He is also, by virtue of that office:
Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Patriarch of the Latin Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the Vatican City State, Servant of the servants of God.[26]
Offices and titles
"Pope" is a pronominal honorific, not an office or a title, meaning "Father" (the common honorific for all clergy). The honorific "pope" was from the early 3rd century used for any bishop in the West, and is known in Greek as far back as Homer's Odyssey (6:57). In the East, "pope" is still a common form of address for clergy in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church, and is the style of the bishop of Alexandria. Pope Marcellinus (died 304) is the first Bishop of Rome shown in sources to have had the title "pope" used of him. From the 6th century, the imperial chancery of Constantinople normally reserved this designation for the Bishop of Rome. From the early 6th century, it began to be confined in the West to the Bishop of Rome, a practice that was firmly in place by the 11th century, when Pope Gregory VII declared it reserved for the Bishop of Rome.[citation needed]
As bishop of the Church of Rome, he is successor to the co-patrons of that local church, Saint Peter and Saint Paul.[27] As such, the Church of Rome, and its bishop, has always had a prominence in the Catholic communion and at least to some degree primacy among his peers, the other bishops,[28] as Peter had a certain primacy among his peers, the other apostles.[29] The exact nature of that primacy is one of the most significant ecumenical issues of the age, and has developed as a doctrine throughout the entire history of the Catholic Church.[30]
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, quoting the Second Vatican Council's document Lumen gentium, states: "The pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter's successor, 'is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful.'"[31] Communion with the bishop of Rome has become such a significant identifier of Catholic identity that at times the Catholic Church has been known in its entirety as "Roman Catholic," though this is inaccurate in Catholic theology (ecclesiology).[32]
Three other of the pope's offices stem directly from his office as bishop of the Church of Rome. As the Latin Church owes its identity and development to its origins in the liturgical, juridical, and theological patrimony of Rome, the bishop of Rome is de facto the patriarch of the Latin Church. According to Pope Benedict XVI, there has been much 'confusion' between the pope's primacy as patriarch of the western church and his primacy as first patriarch among equals, that this "failure to distinguish" between the roles and responsibilities of these two distinct positions leads in time to the "extreme centralization of the Catholic Church" and the schism between East and West.[33]
As the first local Church of Italy, the bishop of Rome is the Primate of Italy and is empowered to appoint the president of the Italian Bishops' Conference.
The Church of Rome is also the principal church of the Province of Rome, so the bishop of Rome is Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman province.
As a bishop, the pope is referred to as a Vicar of Christ. This title was common to all bishops from the fourth through twelfth centuries, reserved to the bishop of Rome from the twelfth through early twentieth centuries, and restored to all bishops at the Second Vatican Council.[34]
The pope resides in Vatican City, an independent state within the city of Rome, set up by the 1929 Lateran Pacts between the Holy See and Italy. As popes were sovereigns of the papal states (754–1870), so do they exercise absolute civil authority in the microstate of Vatican City since 1929.
Ambassadors are accredited not to the Vatican City State but to the Holy See, which was subject to international law even before the state was instituted. The body of officials that assist the Pope in governance of the church as a whole is known as the Roman curia. The term "Holy See" (i.e. of Rome) is generally used only of the Pope and the curia, because the Code of Canon Law, which concerns governance of the Latin Church as a whole and not internal affairs of the see (diocese) of Rome itself, necessarily uses the term in this technical sense.
Finally, the title "Servant of the servants of God" was an addition of Pope Gregory the Great, a reminder that in Christianity, leadership is always about service/ministry (diakonia).
The style of address for the bishop of Rome is "His Holiness".
Election
The present rules governing the election of a pope are found in the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis.[35] This deals with the powers, from the death of a pope to the announcement of his successor's election, of the cardinals and the departments of the Roman curia; with the funeral arrangements for the dead pope; and with the place, time and manner of voting of the meeting of the cardinal electors, a meeting known as a conclave. This word is derived from Latin com- (together) and clavis (key) and refers to the locking away of the participants from outside influences, a measure that was introduced first as a means instead of forcing them to reach a decision.
Like all bishops, the pope has the option of resigning, though unlike other bishops, it is not required. The best known cases are those of Pope Celestine V in 1294, Pope Gregory XII in 1415 and Pope Benedict XVI in 2013. Approximately 10% of all popes left or were removed from office before death.
Eastern patriarchs
The heads of some autonomous (in Latin, sui iuris) particular churches consisting of several local churches (dioceses) have the title of Patriarch.[36]
The pope, as patriarch of the Latin Church, is the head of the only sui iuris Church in the West, leading to the title Patriarch of the West. Eastern patriarchs are elected by the synod of bishops of their particular church.[37]
The patriarchs who head autonomous particular churches are:
- The Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria (Coptic Catholic Church)[38]
- The Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch (Melkite Greek Catholic Church)[39]
- The Maronite Patriarch of Antioch (Maronite Church)[40]
- The Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch (Syriac Catholic Church)[41]
- The Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Babylonia (Chaldean Catholic Church)[42]
- The Armenian Catholic Patriarch of Cilicia (Armenian Catholic Church)[43]
These have authority not only over the bishops of their particular church, including metropolitans, but also directly over all the faithful.[44] Eastern Catholic patriarchs have precedence over all other bishops, with the exceptions laid down by the Pope.[45] The honorary title prefixed to their names is "His Beatitude".
| Type | Church | Patriarchate | Patriarch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patriarchs of sui iuris Churches | Coptic | Alexandria | Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak |
| Greek-Melkite | Antioch | Patriarch Youssef Absi | |
| Maronite | Antioch | Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi | |
| Syriac | Antioch | Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan | |
| Armenian | Cilicia | Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian | |
| Chaldean | Baghdad | Cardinal Louis Raphaël I Sako |
Major archbishops
Other autonomous particular churches are headed by a major archbishop.[46] The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church uses the title Catholicos for their major archbishop.[47] With few exceptions, the authority of a major archbishop in his sui iuris church is equivalent to that of a patriarch in his church.[48] This less prestigious office[49] was established in 1963 for those Eastern Catholic Churches which have developed in size and stability to allow full self-governance if historical, ecumenical, or political conditions do not allow their elevation to a patriarchate.
At present, there are four major archbishops:
