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:''This article is about ecclesiastical dioceses. For the administrative unit in the Roman Empire, see Roman diocese.''

In some Christian churches, the 'diocese' is an administrative territorial unit administrated by a bishop, hence also referred to as a '''bishopric''' or Episcopal Area (as in United Methodism) or ''episcopal see'', though more often the term ''episcopal see'' means the office held by the bishop. The diocese is the key unit of authority in the form of church governance known as episcopal polity. In the Roman Catholic Church, an important diocese is called an 'archdiocese' (usually due to size, historical significance, or both), which is governed by an Archbishop, who may in the Catholic hierarchy either be exempt from or have Metropolitan authority over the other ('suffragan') dioceses within a wider jurisdiction called ecclesiastical province. As of 2003, there are approximately 569 Roman Catholic archdioceses and 2014 dioceses.
The Orthodox Church calls its dioceses 'Metropolises'.
The Church of England continued and developed this diocesan structure after the Reformation. This continued throughout the Anglican Communion.
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated in a larger unit, the diocese. (Latin ''dioecesis'', from the Greek term διοίκησις meaning "administration").
The Catholic Church adopted the Roman diocesan structure of authority during the 5th and 6th centuries, as each bishop fully assumed the role of the former Roman ''praefectus''. This transfer of authority from secular officials to ecclesiastical leaders was facilitated by the Christian practice of establishing areas of ecclesiastical administration that coincided with those of the Roman civil administration. In modern times, many an ancient diocese, though later divided among several dioceses, has preserved the boundaries of a long-vanished Roman administrative division. See also: Bishops and civil government.

Contents

Christian hierarchy

Other denominations

See also

Sources and external links

Christian hierarchy

Modern Christian usage of 'diocese' tends to refer to the sphere of a bishop's jurisdiction. This became commonplace during the self-conscious "classicizing" structural evolution of the Carolingian empire in the 9th century, but this usage had itself been evolving from the much earlier ''parochia'' ("parish"), dating from the increasingly formalised Christian authority structure in the 4th century (see ''EB'' 1911).

Other denominations

In the United Methodist Church, a bishop is given oversight over a geographical area called an Episcopal Area. Each Episcopal Area contains one or more Annual Conference, which is how the churches and clergy under the bishop's supervision are organized. Thus, the use of the term "diocese" referring to geography is the most equivalent in the U.M. Church, whereas each Annual Conference is part of one Episcopal Area (though that Area may contain more than one Conference).
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints uses the term ward, rather than parish, to refer to the jurisdiction of the bishop and his counselors. However, the ward is not equal in size to a Catholic diocese; rather, a stake is.

See also

★ List of Anglican Church of Canada dioceses

★ List of Church of England dioceses

★ List of Church of Ireland dioceses

★ Dioceses of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America

★ List of the dioceses of the Orthodox Church in America

★ List of Roman Catholic archdioceses

★ List of Roman Catholic dioceses

★ Eparchy, a term in Eastern Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and the Assyrian Church of the East

★ Stake, a term in Mormonism

★ List of Bishops

★ Particular Church

★ Ecclesiastical Latin

★ Catholic Church in Great Britain

★ How the Church of England is organised

Sources and external links

★ Definition from 1911 Britannica

★ Complete list of Catholic dioceses worldwide by Giga-Catholic Information

★ Virtually complete list of current and historical Catholic dioceses worldwide

★ Another such list, in English and Norwegian

★ notitia dignitatum

★ List of current Anglican/Episcopalian dioceses

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