Suffragan bishop
A suffragan bishop is a type of
In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led by the suffragan is called a suffragan diocese.
In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictional in their role. Suffragan bishops may be charged by a metropolitan to oversee a suffragan diocese and may be assigned to areas which do not have a cathedral.
Catholic Church
In the Catholic Church, a suffragan is a bishop who heads a diocese. His suffragan diocese, however, is part of a larger ecclesiastical province, nominally led by a metropolitan archbishop. The distinction between metropolitans and suffragans is of limited practical importance. Both are diocesan bishops possessing ordinary jurisdiction over their individual sees. The metropolitan has few responsibilities over the suffragans in his province and no direct authority over the faithful outside of his own diocese. However he is competent to conduct pastoral visits and he can perform sacred functions, as if he were a bishop in his own diocese in all churches of the Metropolitan province, but he is first to inform the diocesan bishop if the church is the cathedral.[1][2]
Bishops who assist diocesan bishops are usually called auxiliary bishops. If the assisting bishop has special faculties (typically the right to succeed the diocesan bishop) he would be called a coadjutor bishop.[3] Since they are not in charge of a suffragan diocese, they are not referred to as "suffragan bishops".
Anglican Communion
In the
Suffragan bishops in the Anglican Communion are nearly identical in their role to auxiliary bishops in the Roman Catholic Church.
England
History
English diocesan bishops were commonly assisted by bishops who had been consecrated to sees which were
The concept of a suffragan bishop in the
Today
Area bishops
Some Church of England suffragan bishops are legally delegated responsibility by the diocesan bishop for a specific geographical area within the diocese. Such formal arrangements were piloted by the experimental London scheme in 1970.[7] For example, the Bishop of Colchester is an area bishop in the Diocese of Chelmsford. Such area schemes are presently found in the dioceses of:[8]
- London (since 1979): Two Cities (overseen by the diocesan), Edmonton, Kensington, Stepney, Willesden.
- Chelmsford (since 1983): Barking, Bradwell, Colchester.
- Oxford (since 1984): Oxford (overseen by the diocesan), Buckingham, Dorchester, Reading.
- Southwark (since 1991): Croydon, Kingston, Woolwich.
- Lichfield (since 1992): Shrewsbury, Stafford, Wolverhampton.
- Leeds (since 2014): Bradford, Huddersfield, Leeds (overseen by the Bishop of Kirkstall), Ripon, Wakefield.
Area schemes have previously existed in Worcester diocese (1993–2002; Worcester (overseen by the diocesan), Dudley),[9] Salisbury diocese (1981–2009; Ramsbury, Sherborne),[10] Lincoln diocese (2010[11] – 31 January 2013; Grantham, Grimsby)[12] and Chichester diocese (1984–2013; Chichester (overseen by the diocesan), Lewes, Horsham). Other suffragans have or have had informal responsibility for geographical areas (e.g. in Winchester,[13] Peterborough,[14] and York), but these are not referred to as area bishops.
Suffragan bishops
Only the small Dioceses
Provincial episcopal visitors
Suffragan bishops in the Church of England who have oversight of parishes and clergy that reject the ministry of priests who are women, usually across a whole province, are known as provincial episcopal visitors (PEVs) (or "flying bishops"). This concession was made in 1992 following the General Synod's vote to ordain women to the priesthood. The first PEV was John Gaisford, Bishop of Beverley, who was consecrated on 7 March 1994.
Wales
An early example of a suffragan can be seen in
Ireland
The Church of Ireland has no suffragan bishops, not even in the geographically large dioceses.
United States
Suffragan bishops are fairly common in larger dioceses of the
Coadjutor and assistant bishops are different episcopal offices than suffragan. A coadjutor is elected by a diocesan convention to become the diocesan bishop (also called "the ordinary") upon the ordinary's retirement. A suffragan is also elected by a convention, but does not automatically succeed the diocesan bishop. However a suffragan's office does continue in the diocese until he or she chooses to retire. An assistant bishop is appointed by the diocesan bishop, and his or her office ends when the ordinary who appointed her or him leaves office.
Canada
Some Anglican Church of Canada suffragan bishops are legally delegated responsibility by the diocesan bishop for a specific geographical area within the diocese.
- Toronto: York-Scarborough, York-Credit Valley, Trent-Durham, York-Simcoe.
Malaysia (Diocese of West Malaysia)
The Diocese of West Malaysia is divided into two "area dioceses", each with their own suffragan bishop.
Acting bishops
It is common for Anglican suffragan or assistant bishops to serve as acting bishop during a vacancy in the diocesan see (e.g., between the death or retirement of the bishop diocesan and their successor taking post). In order to achieve this, the metropolitan bishop commissions a suffragan/assistant (usually the full-time bishop senior by consecration) who becomes the episcopal commissary, but may be referred to by any number of phrases (since the commission is held from the metropolitan archbishop, she may be called archbishop's commissary; the most usual current term in the Church of England being Acting Bishop of Somewhere). In the Anglican Church of Australia, someone (not always a bishop) acting as diocesan bishop is the Administrator of the Diocese and a bishop so commissioned is called the Bishop Administrator.[17]
In 2013, between the retirement of
See also
- Assistant bishop – Bishop who assists the diocesan bishop or Ordinary
- Auxiliary bishop – Position in dioceses
- Chorbishop – Rank of Christian clergy
- Coadjutor bishop – Assistant of the diocesan bishop
References
- ^ "Metropolitan". The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 10. The Encyclopedia Press. 1911. pp. 244–45. Retrieved 2009-12-06.
- Code of Canon Law. Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 2009-12-06.
- Code of Canon Law. Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved 2009-12-06.
- ^ "3: Suffragan Bishops" (PDF). Church of England. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
- ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
- ^ Consecration details (version archived 17 November 2009) (Accessed 25 June 2016)
- ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 29 September 2020 – via UK Press Online archives.
- ^ "4: The Dioceses Commission, 1978–2002" (PDF). Church of England. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- ^ GS 1445: Report of the Dioceses Commission, Diocese of Worcester (Accessed 23 April 2014)
- ^ Salisbury Diocesan Synod minutes – 99th session, 7 November 2009 p. 3 (Accessed 23 April 2014)
- ^ Diocese of Lincoln Central Services Review – Report to the Bishop of Lincoln Archived 2014-08-28 at the Wayback Machine (Accessed 23 April 2014)
- ^ Diocese of Lincoln Central Services Review – Response from the Bishop of Lincoln Archived 2014-04-24 at the Wayback Machine (Accessed 23 April 2014)
- ^ Diocese of Winchester: Vacancy in See – Background to the Diocese, 2011[permanent dead link] (Accessed 23 April 2014)
- ^ Ministry in the Diocese of Peterborough Archived 2014-04-24 at the Wayback Machine (Accessed 23 April 2014)
- ^ "2: Bishops and Diocese in the Church of England" (PDF). Church of England. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
- ^ Brown, H. Miles (1976). A Century for Cornwall. Truro: Blackford
- ^ Diocese of Newcastle — Peter Stuart (Archived 12 October 2013; accessed 15 November 2016)
- ^ Diocese of Manchester – Bishop of Manchester has retired Archived 2015-11-17 at the Wayback Machine (Accessed 15 November 2016)
- ^ Diocese of Southwell & Nottingham – Richard Inwood takes temporary charge (Accessed 15 November 2016)