Archbishop


In Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated bishop. In the Catholic Church and others, this means that they lead a diocese of particular importance called an archdiocese, or in the Anglican Communion an Ecclestiastical Province, but this is not always the case. An archbishop is equivalent to a bishop in sacred matters but simply has a higher precedence or degree of prestige. Thus, when someone who is already a bishop becomes an archbishop, that person does not receive Holy Orders again or any other sacrament; however, when a person who is not a bishop at all becomes an archbishop, they will need to be ordained a bishop. The word comes from the Greek αρχι, which means "first" or "chief", and επισκοπος, which means "over-seer" or "supervisor".