ARCHPRIEST

ARCHPRIEST, Archipresbyter, a priest, established in some dioceses, with a pre-eminence over the rest.

See PRIEST.

Anciently, the archpriest was the first person after thebishop, and even acted as his vicar, in his absence, as toall spiritual concerns. In the sixth century, there wereseveral archpriests in the same diocese; from which time they were called deans. See DEAN.

In the ninth century, they distinguished two kinds of cures or parishes; the smaller, governed by simple priests,and the baptismal churches, by archpresbyters, who, beside the immediate concern of the cure, had the inspection of the other inferior priests, and gave an account thereof to the bishop, who governed the chief or cathedralchurch in person. See Bishop, Parish, Cathedral,etc. There are archpresbyters still subsisting in the GreekChurch; vested with most of the functions and privileges of chorepiscopi, or rural deans. See CHOREPISCOPUS and RURAL DEAN.

ARCHPRIEST