Protodeacon

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Protodeacon

Protodeacon derives from the Greek

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
proto- meaning 'first' and diakonos, meaning 'deacon'. The word in English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
may refer to various clergymen, depending upon the usage of the particular church in question.

Eastern Orthodox Church
Protodeacon is an honorific rank given to certain married deacon

Deacon

Deacon is a role in the Christianity that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions....
s in Eastern Christian churches. In the Russian Orthodox Church

Russian Orthodox Church

The Russian Orthodox Church ; or The Moscow Patriarchate , also known as the Orthodox Christian Church of Russia, is a body of Christianity who constitute an Autocephaly Eastern Orthodox Church under the jurisdiction of the List of Metropolitans and Patriarchs of Moscow, in full communion with the other Eastern Orthodox Churches....
it is an honorary title given to married deacons, as a mark of which, the clergyman is entitled to wear a burgundy

Burgundy (color)

Burgundy is a shade of purple red associated with the Burgundy wine of the same name, which in turn is named after the Burgundy region of France....
-colored skufia

Skufia

A skufia is an item of clerical clothing worn by Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches monastics or awarded to clergy as a mark of honor ....
.

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Encyclopedia

Protodeacon derives from the Greek

Greek language

English language

Eastern Orthodox Church

Protodeacon is an honorific rank given to certain married deacon

Deacon

Russian Orthodox Church

Burgundy (color)

Burgundy is a shade of purple red associated with the Burgundy wine of the same name, which in turn is named after the Burgundy region of France....
-colored skufia

Skufia

A skufia is an item of clerical clothing worn by Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches monastics or awarded to clergy as a mark of honor ....
. The equivalent rank for Hierodeacon

Hierodeacon

A Hierodeacon , sometimes translated "deacon-monk", in Eastern Orthodox Church is a monk who has been ordination a Deacon#Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholicism....
s—i.e., monastic

Monk

A Monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, the unconditioning of mind and body in favor of the realization of one's true nature, and does so living either alone or with any number of like-minded people, whilst always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose....
deacons—is Archdeacon

Archdeacon

A position of archdeacon is a senior position in Anglicanism, Syrian Malabar Nasrani, and in some other Christian denominations, above that of most clergy and below a bishop....
. The senior deacon of a 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...
or principal church

Sobor

In Eastern Orthodox Churches that use a Slavic language , along with the Romanian Orthodox Church, a sobor is a Wiktionary of bishops together with other clergy and laity delegates representing the church as a whole in matters of importance....
may be awarded the title of protodeacon. In the Greek usage, the chief deacon who is attached to the person of a bishop is called an archdeacon. In the Slavic usage a protodeacon or archdeacon wears a distinctive orarion

Orarion

The Orarion is the distinguishing vestment of the deacon in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches. It is a narrow stole, usually four to five inches wide and about ten feet long, made of brocade with seven Christian Cross embroidery or appliqu?d along its length....
(deacon's stole).

The title of protodeacon is an award, not a distinctive order of ministry

Holy Orders

Historically, the word "order" designated an established civil body or corporation with a hierarchy, and :wikt:ordinatio meant legal incorporation into an ordo....
; so while a man may be ordained a deacon, he is said to be 'elevated' to the rank of protodeacon. This elevation may be awarded only by the deacon's own ruling bishop. The rite

Ritual

A ritual is a set of repeated actions, often thought to have symbolic value, the performance of which is usually prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community by religious or political laws because of the perceived efficacy of those actions....
of elevation is identical for both a protodeacon and an archdeacon, and is normally done during the Little Entrance of the Divine Liturgy

Divine Liturgy

The Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine church tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholic Churches....
.

A protodeacon has precedence

Precedence

Precedence is a simple ordering, based on either importance or sequence; it may refer to one of the following:* Message precedence of military communications traffic...
when serving with other deacons, regardless of the date of his own ordination to the deaconate. If several protodeacons serve at the same time, their order of precedence is determined by the date of their elevation.

In the Archieratikon (Slavonic: Chinovnik), the liturgical book

Liturgical book

A liturgical book is a book published by the authority of a Christian Clergy, that contains the text and directions for the liturgy of its official religious services....
containing the services as celebrated by 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....
, the term Protodeacon is used to refer to the senior-ranking deacon who is serving, regardless of whether or not he has actually had that rank bestowed upon him.

Roman Catholic Church

In the Holy Roman Church

Holy Roman Church

The term Holy Roman Church refers strictly to the Church of Rome, the Diocese of Rome, the Holy See or the Apostolic See ? they are all one and the same in this context....
, the senior-ranking Cardinal Deacon (in order of appointment to the College of Cardinals

College of Cardinals

The Sacred College of Cardinals is the body of all Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. The College plays two roles in the church:*participating in Papal conclave when the Holy See is vacant, and...
) is the Cardinal

Cardinal (Catholicism)

A cardinal is a senior Ecclesiology official, usually a Bishop , of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope....
Protodeacon. He has the privilege of announcing a new Pope's election in the famous Habemus Papam
Habemus Papam

Habemus Papam is the announcement given in Latin by the Protodeacon upon the Papal conclave of a new pope.The announcement is given from the central balcony of St....
announcement given from the central loggia at the Basilica of Saint Peter. The current Cardinal Protodeacon is Agostino Cacciavillan.

External links

photos and description of Melkite Rite