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Episcopal See
 
 
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An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat (in Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
, sedes) of 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....
. This seat, which is also referred to the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral
Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop. It is a Religion building for worship, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Roman Catholic Church, Anglicanism, Orthodox Christian and some Lutheranism churches, which serves as a bishop's seat, and thus as the central church of a dioc...
. The seat is also called the bishop's throne, especially in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

The term is also used of the town or place where the cathedral is located, giving rise to expressions such as "the episcopal see of Gibraltar".

The bishop's seat is the earliest symbol of bishop's authority, and the word "see" is thus often applied to the area over which the bishop exercises authority.






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An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat (in Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
, sedes) of 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....
. This seat, which is also referred to the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral
Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop. It is a Religion building for worship, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Roman Catholic Church, Anglicanism, Orthodox Christian and some Lutheranism churches, which serves as a bishop's seat, and thus as the central church of a dioc...
. The seat is also called the bishop's throne, especially in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

The term is also used of the town or place where the cathedral is located, giving rise to expressions such as "the episcopal see of Gibraltar".

The bishop's seat is the earliest symbol of bishop's authority, and the word "see" is thus often applied to the area over which the bishop exercises authority. This usually corresponds to a 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...
, as in the expression "within the see of Ebbsfleet" and "built within the see of the bishop of Worcester". But it is sometimes given a wider significance, referring for instance to an area under patriarch
Patriarch

Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised Autocracy authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is called patriarchy....
al authority.

See also

  • Apostolic see
    Apostolic See

    An Apostolic See is any episcopal see whose foundation is attributed to one or more of the Twelve Apostles. Examples are the Churches in Thessalonica and Corinth and the many others founded by Paul the Apostle, such as the Maltese Church....
  • 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....
  • 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...
  • Holy See
    Holy See

    The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, commonly known as the Pope, and is the preeminent episcopal see of the Roman Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church....
  • See of St. Mark