Ecclesiastical province

An ecclesiastical province is a unit of religious government existing in certain Christian churches. It consists of a metropolitan archdiocese and a number of other particular churches, usually dioceses, known as suffragan sees. The archbishop of the metropolitan see is the metropolitan of the province.

Related Topics:
Christian - Church - Archdiocese - Particular church - Diocese - Archbishop - Metropolitan

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In the Roman Catholic Church, the authority of the metropolitan over the suffragan sees is very limited (for example, during a vacancy, a Roman Catholic metropolitan can name a temporary administrator if the College of Consultors fail to elect one within a set time and the Pope has not named an apostolic administrator). Thus, the metropolitan is not an ordinary with respect to the ecclesiastical province. In the United States Roman Catholic ecclesiastical provinces typically follow state lines, with less populous states being typically grouped into provinces and more populous states being a province by themselves. California and Texas are the only states with multiple provinces, with each state having two metropolitan archdioceses.

Related Topics:
Roman Catholic Church - Pope - Ordinary - United States - California - Texas

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In the Anglican Communion, national churches are often by themselves considered a "province", whether or not their head bears the title of Archbishop; the Church of England divides England into two provinces under the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and uses the term suffragan bishop in the sense that the Roman Catholic Church uses "auxiliary bishop". The Anglican Church of Australia, the Anglican Church of Canada, the Church of Ireland, the Church of Nigeria and the Episcopal Church in the United States of America are all also divided into two or more provinces.

Related Topics:
Anglican Communion - Church of England - Auxiliary bishop - Anglican Church of Australia - Anglican Church of Canada - Church of Ireland - Church of Nigeria - Episcopal Church in the United States of America

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