Dean (Christianity)
A dean, in an
History
Latin decanus in the Roman military was the head of a group of ten soldiers within a centuria, and by the 5th century it was the head of a group of ten monks. It came to refer to various civil functionaries in the later Roman Empire.[1]
Based on the monastic use, it came to mean the head of a
Based on that use,
Latin decanus should not be confused with Greek diákonos (διάκονος),[2] from which the word deacon derives, which describes a supportive role.
Officials
In the
In the universities that grew out of the cathedral and monastery schools, a university dean came to be an official with various administrative duties.
The Chief Priest of a Catholic Cathedral is a dean.
Catholic Church
The title "dean" is conferred upon a pastor of a parish who serves as a senior figure, though usually without specific jurisdictional authority, over a section of a diocese.
In recent years, the Catholic Church in England and Wales has introduced the custom of designating cathedral deans, formerly known as cathedral administrators. However, the term differs slightly from the Anglican usage as Catholic deans do not necessarily preside over the cathedral chapter (this function belonging to the office of Provost) and are not necessarily required even to be a member of the chapter. More commonly, in places throughout the world where a cathedral chapter has not been erected (as for instance, in the United States, where there are no chapters at all), the term rector is used for the priest who serves as chief administrator of a cathedral church, as it is in other religious communities.
Another important use of the term within the Catholic Church is in the office of the Dean of the College of Cardinals, who serves as senior member of that body.[citation needed] The current Dean is Giovanni Battista Cardinal Re, approved on 18 January 2020.
Anglican Communion
Cathedrals
In the Church of England and elsewhere in the Anglican Communion, the dean is the chief resident cleric of a cathedral or other collegiate church and the head of the chapter of canons. If the cathedral or collegiate church has its own parish, the dean is usually also rector of the parish. However, in the Church of Ireland the roles are often separated, and most cathedrals in the Church of England do not have associated parishes. In the Church in Wales, however, most cathedrals are parish churches, and their deans are now also vicars of their parishes. In some parts of the Communion (particularly in the Scottish Episcopal Church and, formerly in some cathedrals in England), the senior resident cleric in a cathedral is a provost. Each diocese of the Scottish Episcopal Church has a dean of the diocese: this is a cleric who, rather than heading the cathedral staff, assists the bishop in the administration of the diocese. In this way, a Scottish Episcopal dean is similar to an archdeacon in the other member churches of the Communion (a post that does not exist in the Scottish church). In the Anglican Church of Canada, the roles of senior cleric of the cathedral are combined in one person who is referred to as "Rector of Cathedral and Dean of Diocese". Thus, Peter Elliott was Rector of Christ Church Cathedral and Dean of New Westminster.
The style The
Some important deans include the deans of
Rural or area deaneries
In many parts of the Anglican Communion,
Other uses
The head of an Anglican theological college or seminary may also be called a dean (in common with its use in education).
Lutheran Church
Within the Lutheran tradition, particularly in the Nordic and Baltic tradition of evangelical episcopal Lutheranism, senior clergy bear the title 'Dean'. Each diocese usually has a cathedral Dean, in charge of the cathedral church, and a series of area deans to supervise the clergy in a given geographical area. In the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, there are also deans in charge of leading the administrative work and personnel of the Chapters.[5]
United Methodism
See also
- Archpriest
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. VII (9th ed.). 1878. pp. 13–14. .
References
- ^ a b Oxford English Dictionary s.v.
- ^ "deacon". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.). Bartleby. 2000. Archived from the original on 25 January 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2008.
- ^ "Dean". Catholic Encyclopedia. Retrieved 17 February 2007.
- ^ "Q & A with The Very Reverend June Osborne, Dean of Salisbury Cathedral". Salisbury Journal. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
- ^ See for example the structure of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia here.