Cathedral chapter

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Cathedral chapter

In accordance with canon law

Canon law

Canon law is internal ecclesiastical law governing the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church churches, and the Anglicanism of churches....
, a cathedral chapter is a body of clerics (chapter

Chapter (religion)

Chapter designates certain corporate ecclesiology bodies in the Catholic Church, Anglicanism and Nordic Lutheranism churches.The word is said to be derived from the Chapter of the rule book: it is a custom under the Rule of Saint Benedict that monks gather daily for a meeting to discuss monastery business, hear a sermon or lecture, or rec...
) formed to advise a bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordination or consecration member of the Clergy#Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight....
and, in the case of a vacancy in the bishop’s seat, to govern the diocese

Diocese

In many rites of the Roman Catholic Church and in Anglicanism, a diocese is an administrative territorial unit administered by a bishop. It is also referred to as a bishopric or Episcopal Area or episcopal see, though strictly the term episcopal see refers to the domain of ecclesiastical authority officially held by the bi...
in his stead. These councils are made up of canons

Canon (priest)

A canon is a priest who is a member of certain bodies of the Christianity clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule .Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergyhouse or, later, in one of the houses within the precinct or close of a cathedral and ordering his life according to the orders or rules of the church....
and dignitaries; their creation is the purview of the pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church and head of state of Vatican City. The current pope is Pope Benedict XVI, who was elected April 19, 2005 in Papal conclave, 2005....
. They can be "numbered," in which case they are provided with a fixed prebend

Prebendary

A prebendary is a post connected to an Anglicanism or Roman Catholic Church cathedral or collegiate church and is a type of canon . Prebendaries have a role in the administration of the cathedral....
, or "unnumbered," in which case the bishop indicates the number of canons according to the rents.

Originally, it referred to a section of a monastic rule that was read out daily during the assembly of a group of canons or other clergy attached to a cathedra

Cathedra

A cathedra is the chair or throne of a bishop. It is a symbol of the bishop's teaching authority in the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, and has in some sense remained such in the Anglican Communion and in Lutheran church es....
l or collegiate church

Collegiate church

In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canon ; a non-monastic, or secular clergy community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a Dean or Provost ....
.