Eparchy

For other uses, seeEparchy (disambiguation).

Eparchy(Greek:ἐπαρχίαeparchía"overlordship" ) is anecclesiasticalunit inEastern Christianitythat is equivalent to adioceseinWestern Christianity.An eparchy is governed by aneparch,who is abishop.Depending on the administrative structure of a specific Eastern Church, an eparchy can belong to anecclesiastical province(usually ametropolis), but it can also be exempt. Each eparchy is divided intoparishes,in the same manner as a diocese in Western Churches. Historical development of eparchies in various Eastern Churches was marked by local distinctions that can be observed in modern ecclesiastical practices of theEastern Orthodox Church,Oriental Orthodox ChurchesandEastern Catholic Churches.

Terminology

TheEnglishwordeparchyis ananglicizedterm that comes from the originalGreekword (Koinē Greek:ἐπαρχία,romanized:eparchía,lit. 'overlordship',Byzantine Greekpronunciation:[e.parˈçi.a]).It is anabstract noun,formed with anintensiveprefix(ἐπι-,epi-,lit. 'over-'+ἄρχειν,árchein,lit. 'to be ruler'). It is commonlyLatinizedaseparchia.The term can be loosely translated as the rule over something (literally: an overlordship). The term had various meanings and multiple uses throughout history, mainly in politics and administration, starting from theHellenistic period,and continuing throughout theRoman era.

In theGreco-Roman world,it was used as a Greek equivalent for theLatintermprovincia,denotingprovince,the main administrative unit of theRoman Empire.Thesame usewas employed in the earlyByzantine Empireuntil major administrative reforms that were undertaken between the 7th and 9th centuries, abolishing the old provincial system. In modern times, the term was also employed within administrative systems of some countries, likeGreeceandCyprus.

Since it was commonly used as the main Greek designation for an administrative province of the Roman Empire, the termeparchyconsequently gained an additional use among Greek-speakingChristians,denotingecclesiasticalstructures on the provincial level of Church administration, withinEastern Christianity.Such terminological borrowing resulted from the final consolidation of the provincial (metropolitan) system in the 4th century. TheFirst Ecumenical Council(325) confirmed (Canon IV)that all bishops of each civil province should be grouped in oneecclesiastical province,headed by ametropolitan(bishop of the provincial capital). Since civil provinces were called eparchies in Greek, the same term was used to define ecclesiastical provinces. Such use became customary, and metropolitan provinces came to be known aseparchies.

Eastern Orthodox Church

Eparchies of theRussian Orthodox Church

Eparchies of theSerbian Orthodox Church

Throughout the late antiquity and the early medieval period, withinEastern Orthodoxterminology, the termeparchyremained a common designation for a metropolitan provincei.e.metropolis(Greek:μητρόπολις,Latin:metropolis).

During the later medieval period, terminology started to shift, particularly within thePatriarchate of Constantinople.The process oftitle-inflationthat was affectingByzantine bureaucracy and aristocracyalso gained momentum in ecclesiastical circles. In order to promote centralization, patriarchal authorities started to multiply the numbers of metropolitans by elevating local bishops to honorary metropolitan ranks without giving them any real metropolitan powers, and making them directly appointed and thus more dependent on Constantinople. As a consequence, the use of the wordeparchywas expanded to include not only proper metropolitan provinces, but also the newly created honorary metropolitan sees that were no real provinces, and thus no different then simple bishoprics except in honorary titles and ranks. In spite of that, such honorary metropolitan sees also came to be calledeparchies.This process was systematically promoted, thus resulting in a major terminological shift.

Eparchies of theBulgarian Orthodox Church

Eparchies of theGeorgian Orthodox Church

Since the fragmentation of the original metropolitan provinces into several titular metropolises that were also referred to aseparchies,the Patriarchate of Constantinople became more centralized, and such structure has remained up to the present day.Similar ecclesiastical terminology is also employed by otherautocephalousandautonomouschurches withinEastern Orthodox community.In those who are non-Greek, termeparchyis used in local variants, and also has various equivalents in local languages.

Eparchies of the main Eastern Orthodox churches:

• Eparchies of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
• Eparchies of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria
• Eparchies of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antiochia
• Eparchies of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem
• Eparchies of the Russian Orthodox Church
• Eparchies of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine
• Eparchies of the Serbian Orthodox Church
• Eparchies of the Romanian Orthodox Church
• Eparchies of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church
• Eparchies of the Georgian Orthodox Church
• Eparchies of the Cypriot Orthodox Church
• Eparchies of the Orthodox Church of Greece
• Eparchies of the Polish Orthodox Church
• Eparchies of the Albanian Orthodox Church
• Eparchies of the Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church

Eastern Catholic Churches

In theEastern Catholic Churches,eparchy is equivalent to adioceseof theLatin Church,and itsbishopcan be called an eparch (equivalent to a diocesan of the Latin Church). At the same time, archeparchy is equivalent to anarchdioceseof the Latin Church and its bishop can be called an archeparch (equivalent to anarchbishopof the Roman Rite).

Individual eparchies of some Eastern Catholic Churches may be suffragan to Latin Church metropolitans. For example, theGreek Catholic Eparchy of Križevciis suffragan to theRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Zagreb.Also, some minor Eastern Catholic churches have Latin prelates. For example, theMacedonian Greek Catholic Churchis organized as a singleEparchy of Strumica-Skopje,whose present ordinary is the Roman Catholic bishop of Skopje.

See also

• Eparchy (Roman province)
• Eparchy (Byzantine province)
• Eparchy (modern Greece)
• Eparchy (modern Cyprus)

Sources

• Cross, Frank L.; Livingstone, Elizabeth A., eds. (2005) [1957].The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church(3rd rev. ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-280290-3.
• Kiminas, Demetrius (2009).The Ecumenical Patriarchate: A History of Its Metropolitanates with Annotated Hierarch Catalogs.Wildside Press LLC.ISBN9781434458766.
• Mason, Hugh J. (1974).Greek Terms for Roman Institutions: A Lexicon and Analysis.Toronto: Hakkert.ISBN9780888660138.
• Meyendorff, John(1989).Imperial unity and Christian divisions: The Church 450-680 A.D.Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press.ISBN9780881410563.
• Nedungatt, George,ed. (2002).A Guide to the Eastern Code: A Commentary on the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches.Rome: Oriental Institute Press.ISBN9788872103364.
• Ohme, Heinz (2012)."Sources of the Greek Canon Law to the Quinisext Council (691/2): Councils and Church Fathers".The History of Byzantine and Eastern Canon Law to 1500.Washington: CUA Press. pp. 24–114.ISBN9780813216799.
• Ostrogorsky, George(1956).History of the Byzantine State.Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
• Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010) [1998].Oxford Dictionary of English(3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-957112-3.
• Vitale, Marco (2012).Eparchie und Koinon in Kleinasien von der ausgehenden Republik bis ins 3. Jh. n. Chr.Bonn: Dr. Rudolf Habelt Verlag.ISBN9783774937390.
• Vitale, Marco (2016)."Priest—Eparchy-arch—Speaker of the Ethnos: The Areas of Responsibility of the Highest Officials of the Eastern Provincial Imperial Cult".Mnemosyne.69(1): 82–111.doi:10.1163/1568525X-12341727.

External links

• The dictionary definition ofeparchyat Wiktionary
• Catholic Encyclopedia (1909): Adrian Fortescue: Eparchy
• Map with all Dioceses of the Eastern Churches