Chorepiscopi
CHOREPISCOPI
(bishops of the country.) In the ancient church, when the dioceses became enlarged by the conversions of pagans in the country, and villages at a great distance from the city church, the bishops appointed themselves certain assistants, whom they called Chorepiscopi, because by their office they were bishops of the country. There have been great disputes among the learned concerning this order, some thinking that they were mere presbyters; others that there were two sorts, some that had received episcopal ordination, and some that were presbyters only; others think that they were all bishops.
Fuente: Theological Dictionary
Chorepiscopi
(Greek Chorepiskopoi = rural bishops.)
A name originally given in the Eastern Church to bishops whose jurisdiction was confined to rural districts. The earliest chorepiscopus of whom we have any knowledge was Zoticus, whom Eusebius designates as bishop of the village Cumana in Phrygia in the latter half of the second century. In the beginning the chorepiscopi seem to have exercised all episcopal functions in their rural districts, but from the second half of the third century they were subject to the city bishops. The thirteenth canon of the Synod of Ancyra (314) and the tenth canon of the Synod of Antioch (341) forbade them to ordain deacons or priests without the written permission of the bishop; the sixth canon of the Synod of Sardica (343) decreed that no chorepiscopus should be consecrated where a priest would suffice; and the fifty-seventh canon of the Synod of Laodicea (380) prescribed that the chorepiscopi should be replaced by periodeutai, i.e., priests who have no fixed residence and act as organs of the city bishops. Thus the chorepiscopi in the Eastern Church gradually disappeared. The Second Council of Nicaea (787) is the last to make mention of them. Among the Nestorians they existed till the thirteenth century, and they still exist among the Maronites and Jacobites. In the Western Church they are of rare occurrence before the seventh century, and, as a rule, have no fixed territory or see, being mere assistants of the bishops. Their ever-increasing influence during the Carlovingian period led to repeated synodical legislations against them (Synods of Paris in 829, Aachen in 836, Meaux in 845), so that despite such able defenders of their cause as Rabanus Maurus (“De chorepiscopis”, in P.L., CX., 1195-1206) they gradually disappeared in the tenth and eleventh centuries, and were replaced by the archdeacons.
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BERGERE, Etude historique sur les choreveques (Paris, 1905); GILLMANN, Das Institut der Chorbischofe im Orient (Munich, 1903); PARISOT, Les choreveques in Revue de l’Orient chretien, VI (Paris, 1901), 157-171, 419-443; GRISAR in Civilta Cattolica (Rome, 15 Oct., 1904; 25 Jan., 1905; 18 March, 1905); LECLERCQ, La legislation conciliaire relative aux choreveques in his tr. of HEFELE, Conciliengeschichte, III (Paris, 1908), 1197-1237; WEIZACKER, Der Kampf gegen den Chorepiscopat des frankischen Reichs (Tubingen, 1859).
MICHAEL OTT Transcribed by Herman F. Holbrook Omnes sancti Pontifices et Confessores, orate pro nobis.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XVI (Index Volume)Copyright © 1914 by The Encyclopedia Press, Inc.Online Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, March 1, 1914. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Chorepiscopi
(, country bishops), an order of ministers of ancient origin. Some (e.g. Rhabanus Maurus) derive the name from the fact that the bishop was chosen ex choro sacerdotum; others from cor episcopi (heart of the bishop), as their function was to assist the city bishop in rural districts, or villages remote from his residence. The most simple and likely derivation is from , country. Some writers hold that they were only presbyters, but it appears certain (see the full discussion in Bingham) that they discharged episcopal functions. They acted, however, in a subordinate capacity, and possessed limited powers, being subject to a city-bishop, and acting as his colleagues or vicars. They held a different rank, but possessed a similar office; they were authorized to give letters of peace and testimonials; to superintend the affairs of the Church in their district; to appoint ecclesiastical officers, readers, subdeacons, and exorcists; and to ordain presbyters and deacons, but not without the permission and co- operation of the superior or city-bishop. They possessed the privilege of attending councils in their own right, and not merely as substitutes or representatives of the bishop. The canons of the Council of Nicmea, A.D. 325, were subscribed by nine chorepiscopi, attached to dioceses of which the bishops also were present. These officers were at first confined to the Eastern Church; in the Western they began to be known about the fifth century. They were never numerous in Spain and Italy, but, abounded in Africa and Germany. In the Western Church, Pope Nicholas I (A.D. 864) ordained that they should abstain from all episcopal functions (Mansi, Conc. 15:389); and Leo VII issued a similar rescript about A.D. 937 (Mansi, 18:378); but, according to some writers, they continued in France till the twelfth, and in Ireland till the thirteenth. They were succeeded by archdeacons, rural deans, and vicarsgeneral. In the East the order was abolished, for the same reason, by the Council of Laodicea, about A.D. 365, which decreed (canon 57) that itinerant presbyters, , should visit the country villages for the future, in lieu of resident chorepiscopi; but the order continued until the tenth century. The necessity of suffragan bishops greatly increased after the cessation of the chorepiscopi. Bingham, Orig. Eccls. bk 2, ch. 14, 12; Mosheim, Historical Commentaries, 1:175 (and references there); Siegel, Alterthmer, 1:387 sq.