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 Question 580

I was reading again and got very confused with all the titles we have in our church can you please explain to me in Layman's terms  Patriarch, Metropolitan, Archbishop, Bishop    

 

Answer to Question 580

All four titles are equal as far as the priesthood is concerned, in other words all four are hierarchs of the church at the level of Bishop of which there is no higher. The added titles like Patriarch, Metropolitan and Archbishop are more rank and administrative positions. A Patriarch is the highest ranking bishop and he is in charge of an area which goes beyond the boundaries of his country. For example the Patriarch of Constantinople was at one time the head Bishop for the territories of Asia Minor (now Turkey) Greece, Bulgaria, and many other countries. Today Greece and Bulgaria have been given Independence so territorially the patriarch of Constantinople doesn't have a country, but he is the Head Bishop for most Orthodox Churches in the Diaspora, like Britain, America and Australia.

 

Next in rank is an Archbishop. He is the head bishop of an independent country like Cyprus and Greece. He is not subject to any orders of a patriarch, but only to the decisions of the Synod of Bishops of his Country. 

 

A metropolitan is the head bishop of a city. Again he is independent and is not subject to orders from the Archbishop of the country, but only to the decisions of the Synod of bishops. A bishop who is not any of the above title is usually given a title of a area within the city, but he has no administrative authority other than any authority given him by the metropolitan of that city.

 

All bishops in the Orthodox church are equal, but there is a rank of honour which is respected when there is a meeting off bishops. Without trying to confuse matters worse, in Cyprus the Archbishop of Cyprus is ranked as first and is the chairman in any meeting. Next in line is the Metropolitan of Paphos, then Kitiou (Larnaca), then Kyrenia, Limassol, Morphou, Konstantias and Ammochostou, Kykkos and Tylliria, Tamasoy and Oreinis, Trymithountos and then the bishops who are not Metropolitans.