archbishop

In the Christian church, a bishop of superior rank who has authority over other bishops in his jurisdiction and often over an ecclesiastical province. The office exists in the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican churches.

History The title seems to have been first used in the early church at Alexandria in the time of St Athanasius (4th century AD). In the Eastern Orthodox Church the title is variously used. Archbishops in the medieval West were not allowed to assume authority independently of the papacy, since they were compelled to receive the pallium (symbolic vestment) from Rome. In the Roman Catholic Church the right to wear the pallium is granted only to those archbishops who have metropolitan jurisdiction, since there are a number who have merely titular archbishoprics.