Ecclesiastical Province
An
ecclesiastical province is a large jurisdiction of religious government, so named by analogy with a temporal
province, existing in certain hierarchical
Christian churches, especially in the
Roman Catholic Church and in the
Anglican Communion.
Early History
Ecclesiastical provinces first assumed a fixed form in the Eastern Roman Empire. The more important centres (e.g. Antioch for Syria, Ephesus for the Province of Asia, Alexandria for Egypt, Rome for Italy), whence Christian missionaries issued to preach the Gospel, were regarded as the
mother-churches (hence the Greek term
metropolitan) of the newly-founded Christian communities. From the second half of the second century, the bishops of the territories within the same natural geographical boundaries were accustomed to assemble on important occasions for common counsel in synods. From the end of that century the summons to attend these increasingly important synods was usually issued by the bishop of the capital of the state province (
eparchy), who also presided over the assembly, especially in the East. Important communications were also forwarded to the bishop of the provincial capital to be brought to the notice of the other bishops. Thus in the East during the third century the bishop of the provincial metropolis came gradually to occupy a certain superior position, and received the name of metropolitan.
At the
Council of Nicæa (325) this position of the metropolitan was taken for granted, and was made the basis for conceding to him definite rights over the other bishops and dioceses of the state province. In Eastern canon law since the fourth century (cf. also the Synod of Antioch of 341, can. ix), it was a principle that every civil province was likewise a church province under the supreme direction of the metropolitan, i.e. of the bishop of the provincial capital.
This division into ecclesiastical provinces did not develop so early in the Western Empire. In North Africa the first metropolitan appears during the fourth century, the Bishop of Carthage being recognized as primate of the dioceses of Northern Africa; metropolitans of the separate provinces gradually appear, although the boundaries of these provinces did not coincide with the divisions of the empire. A similar development was witnessed in Spain, Gaul, and Italy. The migration of the nations, however, prevented an equally stable formation of ecclesiastical provinces in the Christian West as in the East. It was only after the fifth century that such gradually developed mostly in accordance with the ancient divisions of the Roman Empire. In Italy alone, on account of the central ecclesiastical position of Rome, this development was slower. However, at the end of Antiquity the existence of church provinces as the basis of ecclesiastical administration was fairly universal in the West. In the Carlovingian period they were reorganized, and have retained their place ever since.
Roman Catholic Church
In the
Roman Catholic Church, a province consists of a
metropolitan archdiocese and a number of other
particular churches, usually
dioceses, known as
suffragan sees. The
archbishop of the metropolitan see is the
Metropolitan of the province. The delimitation of church provinces is since the Middle Ages a right reserved to the Pope.
By contrast there have always been, and are to-day, individual dioceses which do not belong to any province, but are
exempt, i.e. directly subject to the Holy See. In April 2006, there are 527 metropolitan sees, not counting a few who are given a more exclusive name because of the higher status of their Archbishop: 4
Major archdioceses and 9
Patriarchates, nor the
Papacy (which recently abandoned the title of Patriarch of the West for its see of Rome).
The authority of the Metropolitan over the suffragan sees is very limited (for example, during a
vacancy, a Metropolitan can name a
temporary Administrator if the College of
Consultors of the diocese fails to elect one within a set time and the
Pope has not named an
apostolic administrator). Thus, the Metropolitan is not an
ordinary with respect to the ecclesiastical province, only within his own archdiocese.
The borders of provinces have often been inspired, or even determined, by historical and/or present political borders; the same is often true of diocesan borders within a province. In the
United States, Roman Catholic ecclesiastical provinces typically follow state lines, with less populous states being typically grouped into provinces and more populous states being a province by themselves.
California and
Texas are the only states with multiple provinces, with each state having two metropolitan archdioceses. Most countries are constituted a province or divided into several, except those with a small population and/or quite small numbers of Roman Catholics; thus when a nation that was part of another province achieves independence, it is likely within a few years to have at least one see raised to Metropolitan rank.
Anglican Communion
Member churches of the
Anglican Communion are often referred to as
provinces. Some provinces are coterminous with the boundaries of political states, some include multiple nations, some include only parts of a nation. Some, such as the
Church of the Province of Southern Africa, have the word "province" in their names. A list of all member churches of the Anglican Communion is available at the main
Anglican Communion article. These member churches are known as "provinces of the Anglican Communion," and are headed by a
primate, who may also be referred to as a
primus,
presiding bishop, or
moderator.
The word "province" is also used to refer to groupings of
dioceses within a member church. The
Church of England is divided into two provinces:
Canterbury and
York. The
Anglican Church of Australia has five provinces: New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia. The
Anglican Church of Canada has four:
British Columbia and the Yukon,
Canada,
Ontario, and
Rupert's Land. The
Church of Ireland has two:
Armagh and
Dublin. The
Church of Nigeria and the
Episcopal Church in the United States of America both number, rather than name, their provinces. Nigeria has three and ECUSA has nine.
The term
province, or occasionally
religious province, also refers to a geographical and administrative subdivision in a number of (non-)monastic religious orders or congregations. This is true of most, though not all, religious communities founded after the year 1000, A.D.
A province of a religious community is typically headed by a
provincial superior (see there), e.g. the
abbot of a historical pivotal mother convent, who functions juridically somewhat like the metropolitan archbishop of a (arch)diocese but restricted to the regular clergy of his denomination. The title differs by each congregational tradition, e.g.
archabbot,
prior general. The borders of such juridsdictions are determined independently of the diocesan structure, and so often differ from the abovementioned 'secular' ecclesiastical provinces, usually far larger in most parts of the word, sometimes even smaller in a congregation's heartland, while many are absent from large parts of the world.
*
List of Metropolitan Archdioceses, including all Catholic ecclesiastical provinces Giga-Catholic Information
