Bishop

Definition: In the medieval Catholic Church, a bishop was the chief pastor of a diocese; that is, an area containing more than one congregation. The bishop was an ordained priest who served as pastor of one congregation and oversaw the administration of any others in his district. Any church that served as the primary office of a bishop was considered his seat, or cathedra, and was therefore known as a cathedral.

Like any priest, a bishop baptized, performed weddings, gave last rites, settled disputes, and heard confession and absolved. In addition, bishops controlled church finances, ordained priests, assigned clergy to their posts, and dealt with any number of matters pertaining to Church business. An archbishop was a bishop who oversaw several dioceses besides his own.

Some Christian churches, including the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox, maintain that bishops are the successors of the Apostles; this is known as apostolic succession. In the years following the collapse of the western Roman Empire, bishops often stepped in to fill the void secular leaders left behind in unstable areas and depleted cities. The bishop of Rome, considered the successor to St. Peter, grew in prestige and influence over the first few centuries of the Middle Ages and became known as the Father, or Papa, or Pope.

Bishops were supposed to be selected and assigned by the pope, but when the papacy was still finding its feet, secular leaders were allowed to appoint bishops and archbishops, and invest them with their signs of office. However, this gave laymen a certain amount of influence over the clergy, and when the papacy tried to put a stop to it, the Investiture Controversy began.

The office or rank of a bishop is known as a bishopric.