METROPOLITAN (

See also:

• LAT

Lat. metropolitanus, Gr. µnrpoiroXtrns)  , in the Christian church, the title of a bishop who has the over-sight over bishops of subordinate sees . In the Western church the metropolitan is practically the same as the archbishop (q.v.); in the Eastern church he ranks above the archbishop, but below the patriarch (q.v.) . Metropolitans first appear in the East in the 4th century as presiding over a province (provincia or irapXla), and their see is fixed in the principal town (o rporats) of the province, which remains the normal custom both in East and West . In Africa, however, the metropolitan jurisdiction was exercised by the senior bishop (primas, primae sedis episcopus, senex) for the time being, a custom which prevailed for a time also in Spain . Thus, too, in the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Protestant Episcopal Church of America there are no metropolitans, the primas being the senior bishop .