Ecclesiastical province


An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of several dioceses, one of them being the archdiocese, headed by a metropolitan bishop or archbishop who has ecclesiastical jurisdiction over all other bishops of the province.
In the Greco-Roman world, ecclesia was used to refer to a lawful assembly, or a called legislative body. As early as Pythagoras, the word took on the additional meaning of a community with shared beliefs. This is the meaning taken in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, and later adopted by the Christian community to refer to the assembly of believers.
In the history of Western world adopted by the Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire, Christian ecclesiastical provinces were named by analogy with the secular Roman province as well as certain extraterritorial formations of western world in early medieval times. The administrative seat of each province is an episcopal see. In hierarchical Christian churches that have dioceses, a province is a collection of those dioceses.
Over the years certain provinces adopted the status of metropolis and have a certain degree of self-rule. A bishop of such province is called the metropolitan bishop or metropolitan. The Catholic Church, the Orthodox Churches and the Anglican Communion all have provinces. These provinces are led by a metropolitan archbishop.

Early history

Ecclesiastical provinces first corresponded to the civil provinces of the Roman Empire. From the second half of the 2nd century, the bishops of these provinces 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 or metropolis of the province, 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 3rd century the bishop of the provincial metropolis came gradually to occupy a certain superior position, and received the name of metropolitan.
At the First Council of Nicaea 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 4th century, 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 4th 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 5th 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 Carolingian period they were reorganized, and have retained their place ever since.

Provincial church organisation

Catholic Church

In general

In the Catholic Church, a province consists of a metropolitan archdiocese and one or more suffragan dioceses headed by diocesan bishops. The archbishop of the metropolitan see is the metropolitan of the province. The delimitation of church provinces in the Latin Church is reserved to the Holy See.
However, there have always been dioceses which are exempt from the authority of a metropolitan archdiocese, and are directly subject to the Holy See, such as the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Strasbourg. There are also some archdioceses that are not metropolitan sees, such as the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which is similarly exempt, and some that are suffragan to another archdiocese; their archbishops do not receive the pallium.
The authority of a Latin Church metropolitan over the other sees within his province is now very limited. During a vacancy in a suffragan diocese, the metropolitan names a temporary diocesan administrator if the College of Consultors of the diocese fails to elect one within the prescribed period. A metropolitan generally presides at the installation and consecration of new bishops in the province, and the tribunal of the metropolitan see generally serves as the first court of appeal regarding canonical matters of provincial diocesan tribunals. The metropolitan's insignia is the pallium. The article in the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1911 on metropolitan shows that the metropolitan then had scarcely any power more than now.
In the Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarchal or major archiepiscopal Churches may also be divided into ecclesial provinces, each headed by a metropolitan. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has several, two of them in the United States and Canada. Some other Eastern Catholic Churches of a lower category and generally less populous, are known as metropolitanates. They are headed by a single metropolitan, the hierarch of a fixed episcopal see, As head of an autonomous Church, his name is mentioned in the liturgy of that Church immediately after that of the Pope and, in suffragan eparchies, ahead of that of the local hierarch.

Provincial boundary lines

The borders of provinces have often been inspired, or even determined, by historical or present political borders; the same is often true of diocesan borders within a province. The following are some examples:
Historical development of ecclesiastical provinces in the Eastern Orthodox Church was influenced by strong tendencies of internal administrative centralization. Since the First Ecumenical Council, the Archbishop of Alexandria was given supreme jurisdiction over all provinces of Egypt. Similar authority was also granted to Archbishop of Antioch regarding jurisdiction over provinces of Orient. Since the Fourth Ecumenical Council, Patriarch of Constantinople was given the right to consecrate metropolitan bishops in all regions that were placed under his supreme jurisdiction. In time, previous administrative autonomy of original ecclesiastical provinces was gradually and systematically reduced in favor of patriarchal centralization. Ancient practice of annual councils of provincial bishops, headed by their local metropolitans, was also abandoned in favor of centralized councils, headed by patriarchs and attended by metropolitan bishops.
The creation of new autonomous and autocephalous jurisdictions was also marked by tendencies of internal centralization. The newly created Archbishopric of Ohrid was structured as a single ecclesiastical province, headed by an archbishop who had jurisdiction over all of his suffragan bishops. In 1219, autocephalous Serbian Orthodox Church was also organized as one ecclesiastical province, headed by archbishop with direct jurisdiction over all Serbian bishops. By the end of Middle Ages, each autocephalous and autonomous church in Eastern Orthodoxy was functioning as a single, internally integrated ecclesiastical province, headed by local patriarch or archbishop.
Only in modern times, some Eastern Orthodox Churches have revived the ancient practice by creating internal ecclesiastical provinces on the middle level of church administration. In the Romanian Orthodox Church there are six regional metropolitanates, headed by local metropolitans who preside over regional synods of local bishops, and have special duties and privileges. For example, the Metropolitan of Oltenia has regional jurisdiction over four local dioceses. On the other hand, a majority of Eastern Orthodox Churches remain and function as highly centralized church bodies, each of them functioning as a single ecclesiastical province.

Protestantism

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 while others include only parts of a nation. Some, such as the Church of the Province of West Africa, have the word "province" in their names. These member churches are known as "provinces of the Anglican Communion," and are headed by a primate, who is usually also styled archbishop, but may have an alternative title such as primus, presiding bishop, or moderator.
The word is also used to refer to a grouping of dioceses within a member church, commonly known as a metropolitical province, metropolitan province, or internal province. The Church of England is divided into two such provinces: Canterbury and York. The Anglican Church of Australia has five provinces: New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia, and an extraprovincial diocese. The Anglican Church of Canada has four: British Columbia and Yukon, Canada, Ontario, and Rupert's Land. The Church of Ireland has two: Armagh and Dublin. The Episcopal Church in the United States of America numbers, rather than names, its nine provinces. In all cases apart from ECUSA each metropolitan or internal province is headed by a metropolitan bishop with the title archbishop.

Evangelical State Church in Prussia

The Evangelical State Church in Prussia, formed in 1821, had ecclesiastical provinces as administrative subsections mostly following the boundaries of those political Provinces of Prussia which formed part of the state before 1866, with some border changes after 1920 following WWI territorial cessions.
NameCongregations comprised were located inSeatLeading bodies and personsStatus as eccl. provinceSuccessor organisation
Ecclesiastical Province of Brandenburg
Kirchenprovinz Brandenburg
Ecclesiastical Province of the March of Brandenburg
Kirchenprovinz Mark Brandenburg
Province of Brandenburg and
Berlin
Berlin,
Züllichau
provincial synod,
consistory,
1829–1933: general superintendents for Berlin inner city, Berlin suburbia, Kurmark and Lusatia and New March
1933–1935: provincial bishops of Berlin and of Brandenburg, provosts of Kurmark and of New March-Lower Lusatia
1821–1948Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg
Regional Synodal Federation of the Free City of Danzig
Landessynodalverband der Freien Stadt Danzig
Free City of DanzigDanzigregional synod, consistory,
1922-1933: general supintendent
1933–1940: provincial bishop of Danzig
1922–1940Ecclesiastical Region of Danzig-West Prussia
Ecclesiastical Region of Danzig-West Prussia
Kirchengebiet Danzig-Westpreußen
Reichsgau Danzig-West PrussiaDanzigno synod, consistory,
bishop of Danzig
1940–1945de facto dissolved by flight, murder and expulsion of parishioners
'
Kirchenprovinz Ostpreußen
Province of East Prussia
plus West Prussia governorate in 1922
minus Memel Territory in 1925
plus Memel Territory March 1939
minus West Prussia governorate in 1940
Königsberg in Prussiaprovincial synod, consistory,
1886–1933: general superintendent, 1933–1945: provincial bishop and general superintendent for Memel
1886–1945de facto dissolved by flight, murder and expulsion of parishioners
Regional Synodal Federation of the Memel Territory
Landessynodalverband Memelgebiet
Klaipėda RegionMemelregional synod, consistory,
general superintendent
1925–1939Ecclesiastical Province of East Prussia
'
Unierte Evangelische Kirche in Polnisch Oberschlesien Ewangelicki Kościół Unijny na polskim Górnym Śląsku
East Upper SilesiaKatowiceregional synod, regional ecclesiastical council,
church president
1923–1937church body continued without status as ecclesiastical province till 1939, then merged in the Ecclesiastical Province of Silesia
Ecclesiastical Province of Pomerania
Kirchenprovinz Pommern
Province of PomeraniaStettin,
Greifswald
provincial synod, consistory,
1883–1933: general superintendents, 1933–1945: provincial bishop
1821–1950Pomeranian Evangelical Church
Ecclesiastical Province of Posen
Kirchenprovinz Posen
Province of PosenPosenprovincial synod, consistory,
general superintendent
1821–1920Ecclesiastical Province of Posen-West Prussia,
Ecclesiastical Province of Posen-West Prussia
Kirchenprovinz Posen-Westpreußen
Province of the Frontier March of Posen-West PrussiaSchneidemühlprovincial synod, consistory,
1923–1933: general superintendent, 1933–1939: provost
1921–1939Ecclesiastical Province of Pomerania
Ecclesiastical Province of Prussia
Kirchenprovinz Preußen
Province of PrussiaKönigsberg in Prussiaprovincial synod, consistory,
general superintendent
1821–1886Ecclesiastical Province of East Prussia, Ecclesiastical Province of West Prussia
Ecclesiastical Province of the Rhineland
Kirchenprovinz Rheinland
Rhine Province, western parts of the Saar Protectorate, Hohenzollern Province Coblence, Düsseldorf provincial synod, consistory,
general superintendents
1821–1947Evangelical Church in the Rhineland
Ecclesiastical Province of Saxony
Kirchenprovinz Sachsen
Province of SaxonyMagdeburgprovincial synod, 4 consistories in Magdeburg, Roßla, Stolberg at the Harz and Wernigerode,
1815–1933: 3 general superintendents, 1933–1950: provincial bishops
1821–1950Evangelical Church of the Ecclesiastical Province of Saxony
Ecclesiastical Province of Silesia
Kirchenprovinz Schlesien
Province of Silesia
Province of Lower Silesia and Province of Upper Silesia
Breslau,
Görlitz
provincial synod, consistory,
1829–1933: 2 general superintendents, 1933–2003: bishop
1821–1947Evangelical Church of Silesia
Ecclesiastical Province of Westphalia
Kirchenprovinz Westfalen
Province of WestphaliaMünster in Westphaliaprovincial synod, consistory,
general superintendent
1821–1945Evangelical Church of Westphalia
Ecclesiastical Province of West Prussia
Kirchenprovinz Westpreußen
Province of West PrussiaDanzigprovincial synod, consistory,
1883–1920: general superintendent
1886–1921Regional Synodal Federation of the Free City of Danzig, Ecclesiastical Province of East Prussia, Ecclesiastical Province of Posen-West Prussia,

Religious institutes

The term province, or occasionally religious province, also refers to a geographical and administrative subdivision in a number of orders and congregations. This is true of most, though not all, religious communities founded after the year AD 1000, as well as the Augustinians, who date from earlier.
A province of a religious institute is typically headed by a provincial superior. The title differs by each institute's tradition.
The borders of a religious institute's provinces are determined independently of any diocesan structure, and so the borders often differ from the 'secular', or diocesan, ecclesiastical provinces. The orders' provinces are usually far larger than a diocese, a secular province, or even a country, though sometimes they are smaller in an institute's :wikt:heartland|heartland.
Most monastic orders are not organized by provinces. In general, they organise their administration through autonomous houses, in some cases grouped in larger families. For example, each Benedictine abbey is an independent foundation, but will often choose to group themselves into congregations based on historical connections.