Bishop

BISHOP, in certain branches of the Christian Church, an ecclesiastic consecrated or set apart to perform certain spiritual functions and to exercise oversight over the lower clergy (priests or presbyters, deacons, etc.) . The title is derived from the Greek Er-taKo7ros, Latin episcopus, meaning "overseer." In the Catholic Church bishops take rank at the head of the sacerdotal hierarchy and have certain spiritual powers peculiar to their office, but opin ion has long been divided as to whether they constitute a separate order or form merely a higher degree of the order of priests.

Roman Catholic.

In the Roman Catholic Church the bishop belongs to the highest order of the hierarchy and, in this respect, is the peer even of the pope, who addresses him as "venerable brother." By the decree of the Council of Trent he must be 30 years of age, of legitimate birth, and of approved learning and virtue. The method of his selection varies in different countries. In some countries, as formerly in France under the Concordat, the head of the state has the right of nomination. In others the bishop is elected by the cathedral chapter (as in Wurttemberg), or by the clergy of the diocese (as in Ireland) . In others, as in Great Britain, the United States of America, and Belgium, the pope selects one out of a list submitted by the chapter. In all cases the nomination or election is subject to confirmation by the Holy See. Before this is granted the candidate is submitted to a double examination as to his fitness, first by a papal delegate at his place of residence and afterwards by the Roman Congregation of Cardinals assigned for this purpose. In the event of both pro cesses proving satisfactory, the bishop-elect is confirmed, pre conized, and allowed to exercise the rights of jurisdiction in his see. He cannot, however, exercise the functions proper to the episcopal order until his consecration. The bishop is consecrated, after taking the oath of fidelity to the Holy See and subscribing the profession of faith, by a bishop appointed by the pope for the purpose, assisted by at least two other bishops or prelates, the main features of the act being the laying on of hands, the anoint ing with oil, and the delivery of the pastoral staff and other symbols of the office. Besides the full functions of the presbyterate, or priesthood, bishops have the sole right (1) to confer holy orders, (2) to administer confirmation, (3) to prepare the holy oil, or chrism, (4) to consecrate sacred places or utensils (churches, churchyards, altars, etc.), (5) to give the benediction to abbots and abbesses, (6) to anoint kings.

The powers, belonging to their order, are in general claimed by all bishops, whether Oriental or Anglican, belonging to churches which have retained the Catholic tradition in this respect. In the matter of their rights of jurisdic tion, however, Roman Catholic bishops differ from others in their peculiar responsibility to the Holy See. Some of their pow ers of legislation and administra tion they possess in virtue of their position as diocesan bishops, others they enjoy under special faculties granted by the Holy See ; but all bishops are bound, by an oath taken at the time of their consecration, to go to Rome at fixed intervals to report on the state of their dioceses. The Roman bishop ranks immediately after the cardinals. In England he is styled "right reverend" and addressed as "my lord bishop." The insignia (pontificalia or pontificals) of the Roman Catholic bishop are (1) a ring with a jewel, symbolizing fidelity to the Church, (2) the pastoral staff, (3) the pectoral cross, (4) the vestments, consisting of the caligae (stockings and sandals), the tunicle, and purple gloves, (5) the mitre, (6) the throne (cathedra) on the gospel side of the choir in the cathedral church.

Anglican.—The spiritual function and character of the Angli can bishops, allowing for doctrinal changes effected at the Refor mation, are similar to those of the Roman. They alone can ad minister the rite of confirmation, ordain priests and deacons, and exercise a certain dispensing power. In the established Church of England the appointment of bishops is vested effectively in the crown, though the old form of election by the cathedral chapter is retained. They must be learned presbyters at least 3o years of age, born in lawful wedlock, and of good life and behaviour. The mode of appointment is regulated by 25 Henry VIII. C. 20, re enacted in I. Elizabeth c. I. (Act of Supremacy, . On a va cancy occurring, the dean and chapter notify the king thereof in chancery and pray leave to make election. A licence under the Great Seal to proceed to the election of a bishop, known as the conge d'elire, together with a letter missive containing the name of the king's nominee, is thereupon sent to the dean and chapter, who are bound under the penalties of Praemunire to proceed with in 12 days to the election of the person named in it. In the event of their refusing obedience or neglecting to elect, the bishop may be appointed by letters patent under the Great Seal without the form of election. Upon the election being reported to the crown, a mandate issues from the crown to the archbishop and metropoli tan requesting him and commanding him to confirm the election and to invest and consecrate the bishop-elect. Thereupon the archbishop issues a commission to his vicar-general to examine formally the process of the election of the bishop, to supply by his authority all defects in matters of form, and to administer to the bishop-elect the oaths of allegiance, of supremacy, and of canonical obedience (see CONFIRMATION OF BISHOPS). In the disestablished and daughter Churches the election is by the synod of the Church, as in Ireland, or by a diocesan convention, as in the United States of America.

In the Church of England the consecration of a bishop is usually carried out by an archbishop, who is assisted by two or more bishops. The essential "form" of the consecration is in the simul taneous "laying on of hands" by the consecrating prelates. After this the new bishop, who has so far been vested only in a rochet (q.v.) retires and puts on the rest of the episcopal habit, viz., the chimere (q.v.) . After consecration the bishop is competent to exercise all the spiritual functions of his office; but a bishopric in the Established Church, being a barony, is under the guardianship of the crown during a vacancy, and has to be conferred afresh on each new holder. A bishop, then, cannot enter into the enjoyment of the temporalities of his see, including his rights of presentation to benefices, before doing homage to the king. This is done in the ancient feudal form, surviving elsewhere only in the conferring of the M.A. degree at Cambridge. The bishop kneels before the king, places his hands between his, and recites an oath of temporal allegiance ; he then kisses hands.

Besides the functions exercised in virtue of their order, bishops are also empowered by law to exercise a certain jurisdiction over all consecrated places and over all ordained persons. This juris diction they exercise for the most part through their consistorial courts, or through commissioners appointed under the Church Discipline Act of 184o. By the Clergy Discipline Act of 1892 it was decreed that the trial of clerks accused of unfitness to exercise the cure of souls should be before the consistory court with five assessors. Under the Public Worship Regulation Act of 1874, which gave to churchwardens and aggrieved parishioners the right to institute proceedings against the clergy for breaches of the law in the conduct of divine service, a discretionary right was reserved to the bishop to stay proceedings in accordance with their opinion of the case.

The bishops also exercise a certain jurisdiction over marriages, inasmuch as they have by the canons of the Church of England a power of dispensing with the proclamation of banns before mar riage. These dispensations are termed marriage licences, and their legal validity is recognized by the Marriage Act of 1823.

The bishops are still authorized by law to dedicate and set apart buildings for the solemnization of divine service and grounds for the performance of burials, according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England ; and such buildings and grounds, after they have been duly consecrated according to law, cannot be diverted to any secular purpose except under the authority of an act of parliament.

The bishops of England have aCo jurisdiction to examine clerks who may be presented to benefices within their respective dioceses, and they are bound in each case by the 95th canon of 1604 to in quire and inform themselves of the sufficiency of each clerk within 28 days, of ter which time, if they have not rejected him as in sufficiently qualified, they are bound to institute him or to license him, as the case may be, to the benefice, and thereupon to send their mandate to the archdeacon to induct him into the temporali ties of the benefice. (See BENEFICE.) As spiritual peers, bishops of the Church of England have (sub ject to the limitations stated below) seats in the House of Lords. The question whether a bishop of the Church of England, being a lord of parliament, could resign his seat in the Upper House was definitely settled in 1869 by the Bishops' Resignation Act. It provided that, on any bishop desiring to retire on account of age or incapacity, the sovereign should be empowered to declare the see void by an order in council, the retiring bishop or archbishop to be secured the use of the episcopal residence for life and a pension of one-third of the revenues of the see, or . 2,000, which ever sum should prove the larger.

In view of the increase of the episcopate and the objection to the consequent increase of the spiritual peers in the Upper House, it was enacted by the Bishoprics Act of 1878 that only the arch bishops and the bishops of London, Winchester and Durham should be always entitled to writs summoning them to the House of Lords. The rest of the 25 seats are filled up, as a vacancy occurs, according to seniority of consecration.

Bishops of the Church of England rank in order of precedency immediately above barons. They may marry, but their wives as such enjoy no title or precedence. Bishops are addressed as "Right Reverend" and have legally the style of "Lord," which, as in the case of Roman Catholic bishops in England, is extended to all, whether suffragans or holders of colonial bishoprics, by courtesy.

The insignia of the Anglican bishop are the rochet and the chimere, and the episcopal throne on the gospel side of the chancel of the cathedral church. The use of the mitre, pastoral staff, and pectoral cross has, however, been very commonly, though not universally, revived ; and, in some cases, the interpretation put upon the "Ornaments rubric" by the modern "Anglo-Catholic" school has led to a more complete revival of the pre-Reformation vestments.

Orthodox Eastern.—In the Orthodox Church of the East and the various communions springing from it the spiritual powers conceived as residing in the bishop are the same as in the Western Church. Among his qualifications the most peculiar is that he must be unmarried, which, since the secular priests are com pelled to marry, entails his belonging to the "black clergy" or monks. The insignia of an oriental bishop, with considerable variation in form, are essentially the same as those of the Catholic West.

Subordinate Bishops.—Besides bishops presiding over defi nite sees, there have been from time immemorial in the Christian Church bishops holding their jurisdiction in subordination to the bishop of the diocese. Bishops in pariibus infidelium (in the parts of the infidels) were originally those who had been expelled from their sees by the pagans, and, while retaining their titles, were appointed to assist diocesan bishops in their work. In later times the custom arose of consecrating bishops for this purpose, or merely as an honorary distinction, with a title derived from some place once included within but then beyond the bounds of Christen dom. The custom is still followed, but the words in partibus infidelium have been dropped. Coadjutor bishops are appointed to assist the bishop of the diocese when incapacitated from fulfilling his functions alone. Coadjutors in the early church were appointed with a view to their succeeding to the see ; hut this, though common in practice, is no longer the rule. Suffragan bishops are those ap pointed to assist diocesan bishops in their pontifical functions. In the Roman Church the appointment of the suffragan rests with the pope, on the petition of the bishop. In the Church of England the status of suffragan bishops was regulated by the Act 26 Henry VIII. c. 14. Under this statute, which, after long remaining inoperative, was amended and again put into force by the Suffra gans' Nomination Act of 1888, every archbishop and bishop may name two spiritual persons for the crown to give to one of them the title, name, style, and dignity of a bishop of any one of 26 sees enumerated in the statute, as the crown may think convenient. The crown, having made choice of one of such persons, is em powered to present him by letters patent under the Great Seal to the metropolitan, requiring him to consecrate him.

Lutheran Churches.

The title of bishop survived the Refor mation in certain of the Lutheran churches of the Continent, in Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Transylvania; it was temporarily restored in Prussia in i 701 for the coronation of King Frederick I., again between 1816 and 184o by Frederick William III., and in Nassau in 1818. In these latter cases, however, the title bishop is equivalent to that of "superintendent," the form most generally employed. The Lutheran bishops, as a rule, do not possess or claim unbroken "apostolic succession"; those of Finland and Sweden are, however, an exception. The Lutheran bishops of Transylvania used to sit, with the Roman and Orthodox bishops, in the Hungarian Upper House. In some cases the secularization of episcopal principalities at the Reformation led to the survival of the title of bishop as a purely secular distinction. Thus the see of Osnabruck (Osnaburgh) was occupied, from the peace of Westphalia to 1802, alternately by a Catholic and Protestant prince. From 1762 to 1802 it was held by Frederick, duke of York, the last prince-bishop. Similarly, the bishopric of Schwerin sur vived as a Protestant prince-bishopric until 1648, when it was finally secularized and annexed to Mecklenburg, and the see of Liibeck was held by Protestant "bishops" from 153o till its annex ation to Oldenburg in 18o3.' In other Protestant communities, e.g., the Moravians and the Methodist Episcopal Church, the office and title of bishop have survived or been created. Their functions and status will be found described in the accounts of the several churches.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.-See Wetzer and Welte, Kirchenlexikon, s. "Bischof" Bibliography.-See Wetzer and Welte, Kirchenlexikon, s. "Bischof" and "Weihen"; Hinschius, Kirchenrecht, vol. ii.; Herzog-Hauck, Real encyklopildie, s. "Bischof" (the author rather arbitrarily classes Angli can with Lutheran bishops as not bishops in any proper sense at all) ; Phillimore's Ecclesiastical Law ; the articles ORDER, HOLY ; VESTMENTS ;