Metropolitan bishop

In the hierarchy of Christian churches, the rank of metropolitan archbishop, abbreviated as metropolitan, designates the bishop of a metropolis, that is, the capital of an ancient Roman province, an ecclesiastical province, or a regional capital. / p>

In the Church of the West, there is not much difference between a metropolitan and a common archbishop; however, an archbishop who is not a metropolitan is called Archbishop ad personam. The metropolitan has authority over other bishops in other ecclesiastical provinces, called soothes suffragáneas, which are denominated suffragan bishops.

For Anglicanism, the metropolitan is generally the head of the national wing of the church.

In the Eastern Church the title is used in several ways. Hellenic churches classify metropolitans below archbishops, and local church primacies under the patriarchal rank are generally designated as archbishops. The case is the reverse for Orthodox churches, where metropolitans are ranked above archbishops and the title can be used for both Headquarters and any major city. In no case do the metropolitans have special authority over the ruling bishops in their own provinces.

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