ARCHBISHOP (Gr. QPXCE7rLQK07r0S) in the Christian church, the title of a bishop of superior rank, implying usually jurisdiction over other bishops, but no superiority of order over them. The functions of the archbishop, as at present exercised, developed out of those of the metropolitan (q.v.) ; though the title of archbishop when it first appeared, implied no metro politan jurisdiction. Nor are the terms interchangeable now; for not all metropolitans are archbishops, nor all archbishops metropolitans. The title seems to have been introduced first in the East, in the 4th century, as an honorary distinction implying no superiority of jurisdiction. Its first recorded use is by Atha nasius, bishop of Alexandria, who applied it to his predecessor Alexander as a mark of respect. In the next century its use seems to have been more common; for several archbishops are stated to have been present at the council of Chalcedon in 451.
In the Western Church the title was hardly known before the 7th century, and did not become common until the Carolingian emperors revived the right of the metropolitans to summon provincial synods. The metropolitans now commonly assumed the title of archbishop to mark their pre-eminence over the other bishops; at the same time the obligation imposed upon them, mainly at the instance of St. Boniface, to receive the pallium (q.v.) from Rome, marked the defeat of their claim to exercise metropolitan jurisdiction independently of the Pope.
At the present day, the title of archbishop is retained in the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox and other Churches of the East, the Anglican Church, and certain branches of the Lutheran (Evangelical) Church.
Roman Catholic Church.—In the Roman Catholic Church the powers of the archbishop are considerably less extensive than they were in the middle ages, their rights having been greatly curtailed by the, council of Trent. The confirmation and consecration of bishops (see BISHOP) is now reserved to the Holy See. The disciplinary powers once exercised by the arch bishop can scarcely be said to survive. The right to hold a visitation of a suffragan's diocese or to issue censures against him was made by the council of Trent dependent upon the con sent of the provincial synod after cause shown, and the only two powers left to the archbishop in this respect are to watch over the diocesan seminaries and to compel the residence of the bishop in his diocese.
Besides archbishops who are metropolitans there are in the Roman Catholic Church others who have no metropolitan juris diction; e.g., certain archbishops of Italian sees who have no bishops under them. Archbishops rank immediately after patri archs and have the same precedence as primates. The right to wear the pallium is confined to those archbishops who are not merely titular. The special ensign of the archbishop's office is the cross, crux erecta or gestatoria, carried before him on solemn occasions (see CROSS).
Eastern Churchr---In the Orthodox and other churches of the East the title of archbishop is of far more common occurrence than in the West, and is less consistently associated with metro politan functions.
Lutheran Church.—In the Protestant churches of conti nental Europe the title of archbishop has fallen into almost complete disuse. It is, however, still borne by the Lutheran bishop of Uppsala, who is metropolitan of Sweden, and by the Lutheran bishop of Abo in Finland.
Church of England.—In the Church of England and its sister and daughter churches the position of the archbishop is defined by the mediaeval canon law as confirmed or modified by statute since the Reformation.
The ecclesiastical government of the Church of England is divided between two archbishops—the Archbishop of Canter bury, who is "primate of all England" and metropolitan of the province of Canterbury, and the Archbishop of York, who is "primate of England" and metropolitan of the province of York. The jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury as primate of all England extends in certain matters into the province of York. He exercised the jurisdiction of legatus natus of the Pope throughout all England before the Reformation, and since that event he has been empowered, by 25 Hen. VIII. c. a I, to exercise certain powers of dispensation in cases formerly sued for in the court of Rome. Under this statute the archbishop continues to grant special licences to marry, which are valid in both provinces; he appoints notaries public, who may practise in both provinces; and he grants dispensations to clerics to hold more than one benefice, subject to certain restrictions which have been imposed by later statutes. The archbishop also continues to grant degrees in the faculties of theology, music and law, which are known as Lambeth degrees.
The Archbishop of Canterbury exercises the twofold jurisdic tion of a metropolitan and a diocesan bishop. As metropolitan he is the guardian of the spiritualities of every vacant see within the province, he presents to all benefices which fall vacant during the vacancy of the see, and through his special commissary exer cises the ordinary jurisdiction of a bishop within the vacant diocese. He exercises also an appellate jurisdiction over each bishop, which, in cases of licensed curates, he exercises personally under the pluralities act 1838 ; but his ordinary appellate juris diction is exercised by the judge of the Arches court (see ARCHES, COURT or). The vicar-general exercises jurisdiction in matters of ordinary marriage licences and of institutions to benefices. The master of the faculties regulates the appointment of notaries public, and all dispensations which fall under 25 Hen. VIII. c. a1.
A right very rarely exercised by the Archbishop of Canterbury, but one of great importance, is that of the visitation and depriva tion of inferior bishops (see LINCOLN JUDGMENT).
It is the privilege of the Archbishop of Canterbury to crown the Kings and Queens of England. He is entitled to consecrate all the bishops within his province. He takes precedence im mediately after Princes of the blood royal and over every peer of Parliament, including the lord chancellor.
The Archbishop of York has immediate spiritual jurisdiction as metropolitan in the case of all vacant sees within the province of York, analogous to that which is exercised by the Archbishop of Canterbury within the province of Canterbury. He has also an appellate jurisdiction of an analogous character, which he exercises through his provincial court, whilst his diocesan juris diction is exercised through his consistorial court, the judges of both courts being nominated by the archbishop. It is the priv ilege of the Archbishop of York to crown the Queen Consort and to be her perpetual chaplain. The Archbishop of York takes precedence over all subjects of the Crown not of royal blood, but after the lord high chancellor of England (see further, ENG LAND, CHURCH OF).
The Church of Ireland had at the time of the act of union four archbishops, who took their titles from Armagh, Dublin, Cashel and Tuam. By acts of 1833 and 1834, the metropolitans of Cashel and of Tuam were reduced to the status of diocesan bishops. The two archbishops of Armagh and Dublin are main tained in the disestablished church of Ireland.
The title archbishop has been used in certain of the colonial churches; e.g., Australia, South Africa, Canada, and the West Indies, since 1893, when it was assumed by the metropolitans of Canada and Rupert's Land (see ANGLICAN COMMUNION). Arch bishops have the title of His (or Your) Grace and Most Reverend Father in God.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. See Hinschius, System des katholischen KirchenBibliography. See Hinschius, System des katholischen Kirchen- rechts (1869), also article "Erzbischof," in Hauck, Realencyklopddie (1898) ; Phillimore, The Ecclesiastical Law of the Church of England, and authorities there cited.