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Glossary of Church Terms
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lished. There was a brief period, from 1984 to 1991, when the Vatican ambas-
sador to the United States was called the
pro-nuncio
because he was not the
dean of the world’s ambassadors to the United States (a position that under a
Vienna convention is automatically given to the Vatican ambassador in many
countries but in other countries is given to the senior foreign ambassador,
wherever he is from). In 1991 the Vatican quit using
pro-nuncio
as the title
for its ambassadors who were not deans of the ambassadorial corps and began
calling all papal representatives with full rank of ambassador
nuncio
.
archbishop.
The title given automatically to bishops who govern archdioceses.
It is also given to certain other high-ranking church officials, notably Vatican
ambassadors (apostolic nuncios: see that entry), the secretaries of Vatican con-
gregations and the presidents of pontifical councils.
Adj.
archepiscopal
.
archdiocese.
The chief diocese of an ecclesiastical province (see
province
and
metropolitan
). It is governed by an archbishop.
Adj
.
archdiocesan
. See
dio-
cese
and
archeparchy
.
archeparchy.
The chief diocese of an Eastern Catholic ecclesiastical prov-
ince. In most contexts it can be called an
archdiocese
, but if some legal dis-
tinction between Eastern and Latin Catholic jurisdictions is important,
it may be necessary to introduce the term. The head of an archeparchy is
called an
archeparch
,
but in most contexts he can be called an
archbishop
.
There are only two Catholic archeparchies in the United States: the Byzantine
Catholic Archdiocese of Pittsburgh and the Ukrainian Catholic Archdiocese of
Philadelphia. See
eparchy
.
auxiliary bishop.
A bishop assigned to a Catholic diocese or archdiocese
to assist its residential bishop. Whether in a diocese or archdiocese, his title
is
bishop
.
bishop.
The highest order of ordained ministry in Catholic teaching. Most
bishops are diocesan bishops, the chief priests in their respective dioceses.
But some (auxiliary bishops) are the top assistants to their diocesan bishops,
and some priests are made bishops because of special posts they hold in the
church, such as certain Vatican jobs. Diocesan bishops and their auxiliaries
are responsible for the pastoral care of their dioceses. In some cases diocesan
bishops are assigned a coadjutor bishop, who is like an auxiliary except that
he automatically becomes the diocesan bishop when his predecessor resigns