Metropolitan bishop

In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), is held by the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis.

Originally, the term referred to the bishop of the chief city of a historical Roman province, whose authority in relation to the other bishops of the province was recognized by the First Council of Nicaea (AD 325). The bishop of the provincial capital, the metropolitan, enjoyed certain rights over other bishops in the province, later called "suffragan bishops".

The term metropolitan may refer in a similar sense to the bishop of the chief episcopal see (the "metropolitan see") of an ecclesiastical province. The head of such a metropolitan see has the rank of archbishop and is therefore called the metropolitan archbishop of the ecclesiastical province. Metropolitan (arch)bishops preside over synods of the bishops of their ecclesiastical province, and canon law and tradition grant them special privileges.

In some churches, such as the Church of Greece, a metropolis is a rank granted to all episcopal sees. Their bishops are all called metropolitans, the title of archbishop being reserved for the primate.

As Christianity expanded in the Roman Empire, larger concentrations of believers were to be found in urban environs. The Bishop of such cities came to hold a pre-eminence of honour in the province of which his diocese was the capital, with some eventually gaining a primacy even over other provinces with their own primus inter pares. By the middle of the 3rd century Carthage had become the leading see in Roman North Africa. The Council of Nicea codified this arrangement into canon law in accordance with the growing standardisation of ecclesiastical diocesan structure along the lines of secular Roman blueprints. It also gave the first documented use of the term "Metropolitan" in reference to such bishops as had the presidency over a province. Meanwhile, Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch had grown in ecclesiastical prominence such that by the early 4th century they had long-recognised jurisdiction over more than one province of bishops each. Alexandria had attained primacy over Roman Egypt, Roman Libya, and Pentapolis. The Bishop of Rome had Primatial authority over provinces within 100 miles of the city. By virtue of their authority over multiple provinces, the sees of Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch were by this time already exercising "supra-metropolitan" reach that would later be extended and become known as Patriarchates. After Nicaea the designation of Metropolitan applied to such sees as Caesarea and Carthage, which by the late 4th century had a recognised primacy over multiple provinces of Syria Palaestina and the wider Maghreb, respectively. With the Imperial Capital having moved to Byzantium in 330, the renamed city of Constantinople became increasingly important in church affairs of the Greek East. The See of Constantinople was granted Archepiscopal status prior to a council held in the city in 381. Coinciding with the city's use as the Imperial residence, the See of Milan was elevated to Metropolitan/Archepiscopal status by the time of the presidency of Ambrose (374–397) and temporarily exercised primacy over Northern Italy (the Diocesis Italia annonaria, which included territory across the Alps to the Danube). All provinces of Italy were under the broader Primatial oversight of the Archbishop of Rome at least by the end of the 4th century.

In the Latin Church, an ecclesiastical province, composed of several neighbouring dioceses, is headed by a metropolitan, the archbishop of the diocese designated by the Pope. The other bishops are known as suffragan bishops.

The metropolitan's powers over the dioceses of his province, other than his own diocese, are normally limited to:

The metropolitan also has the liturgical privilege of celebrating sacred functions throughout the province, as if he were a bishop in his own diocese, provided only that, if he celebrates in a cathedral church, the diocesan bishop has been informed beforehand.