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In the Roman Empire, a diocese was a city district or part of a province. In the Roman Catholic and some Protestant churches, a diocese is an administrative territorial unit governed by a bishop, sometimes also referred to as a bishopric or episcopal see (more often the term episcopal see means the office held by the bishop). An important diocese is called an archdiocese, usually due to size or historical significance. As of 2003, there are about 569 Roman Catholic archdioceses and 2014 dioceses in the world.1 Roman Empire
By the time of Diocletian it was a large administrative unit constituted by up to sixteen provinces. The Empire was separated into twelve (or later, fifteen) dioceses. Each diocese was governed by a praetor vicarius who was subjected to the praefectus .
Between the 4th and 6th centuries, Rome became more and more Christian. At the same time, the older administrative structure began to crumble. The senatorial aristocracy, especially in the provinces, remained a source of local authority. By this time, however, that authority was often vested in the spiritual office of bishop. It is therefore of little surprise that, as the Catholic and later the Eastern Orthodox churches began to define their administrative structure, they relied on the older Roman terminology to describe administrative units and hierarchy.
2 See also
- Particular churchIn Catholic theology and canon law, a particular church is any of the individual constituent ecclesial communities in full communion with the Church of Rome: "The phrase 'particular church which is first of all the diocese (or eparchy), refers to a commun
- EparchyIn the Roman Empire, an eparchy was one of the political subdivisions of the Empire. Some specifics are needed here. In Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and Eastern-rite Catholicism, an eparchy is the jurisdiction of a bishop, corresponding to what, a term in Eastern-Rite Catholicism, Eastern OrthodoxyEastern Orthodox Christianity (Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox) is the modern name primarily applied to the Christian church that claims to be the original historical church started by Christ Jesus and his Apostles 2000 years ago. They claim unbroken apo, and Oriental OrthodoxyThe term Oriental Orthodoxy refers to the churches of Eastern Christian traditions that keeps the faith of only the first three ecumenical councils of the undivided Church the councils of Nicea, Constantinople and Ephesus. The Oriental Orthodox churches r
- Ecclesiastical Latin
- Catholic Church in Great BritainThe Catholic Church in Great Britain is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome. The Roman Catholic Church is the world's largest Christian Church, and its largest religious grouping. There are a
- List of the Roman Catholic dioceses of Ireland
- Roman Catholicism in the United States
- List of Church of England dioceses
- List of Church of Ireland dioceses
- Partenia, a cyber-diocese
- List of Bishops
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