Bishop

=== Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican churches ===

{{further|Bishops in the Catholic Church}}

[[File:Mitre (plain).svg|thumb|right|upright=0.45|A [[mitre]] is used as a symbol of the bishop's ministry in Western Christianity.]]
[[File:Template-Bishop.svg|thumb|right|upright=0.45|One form for the [[coat of arms]] of a Catholic bishop]]

Bishops form the leadership in the [[Catholic Church]], the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], the [[Oriental Orthodox Churches]], certain Lutheran churches, the [[Anglican Communion]], the [[Independent Catholic Churches|Independent Catholic churches]], the [[Continuing Anglican movement|Independent Anglican churches]], and certain other, smaller, denominations.

The traditional role of a bishop is as pastor of a [[diocese]] (also called a bishopric, [[synod]], [[eparchy]] or see), and so to serve as a "diocesan bishop", or "eparch" as it is called in many Eastern Christian churches. Dioceses vary considerably in size, geographically and population-wise. Some dioceses around the [[Mediterranean Sea]] which were Christianised early are rather compact, whereas dioceses in areas of rapid modern growth in Christian commitment—as in some parts of [[Sub-Saharan Africa]], [[South America]] and the [[Far East]]—are much larger and more populous.
[[File:Mitra5.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Mitre worn by an Eastern bishop with [[icon]]s of Christ, the [[Theotokos]] (Mary, Mother of God) and [[John the Baptist|Forerunner]] (John the Baptist)]]

As well as traditional diocesan bishops, many churches have a well-developed structure of church leadership that involves a number of layers of authority and responsibility.

{{glossary}}
{{term|[[Archbishop]]}}
{{defn|An archbishop is the bishop of an [[archdiocese]]. This is usually a prestigious diocese with an important place in local church history. In the Catholic Church, the title is purely honorific and carries no extra jurisdiction, though most archbishops are also metropolitan bishops, as above, and are always awarded a [[pallium]]. In most provinces of the Anglican Communion, however, an archbishop has metropolitical and primatial power.}}

{{term|Area bishop}}
{{defn|Some Anglican suffragans are given the responsibility for a geographical area within the diocese (for example, the [[Bishop of Stepney]] is an ''area bishop'' within the [[Diocese of London]]).}}

{{term|[[Assistant bishop]]}}
{{defn|Honorary assistant bishop, assisting bishop, or bishop emeritus: these titles are usually applied to retired bishops who are given a general licence to minister as episcopal pastors under a diocesan's oversight. The titles, in this meaning, are not used by the Catholic Church.}}

{{term|Auxiliary bishop}}
{{defn|An auxiliary bishop is a full-time assistant to a diocesan bishop (the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox equivalent of an Anglican suffragan bishop). An auxiliary bishop is a titular bishop, and he is to be appointed as a [[vicar general]] or at least as an [[episcopal vicar]] of the diocese in which he serves.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P1F.HTM | title=Canon 406 | work=Code of Canon Law | year=1983 | access-date=2009-06-15 | publisher=The [[Holy See]] }}</ref>}}

{{term|[[Catholicos]]}}
{{defn|Catholicoi are the heads of some of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Rite Catholic sui iuris churches (notably the Armenian), roughly similar to a Patriarch.}}

{{term|Chorbishop}}
{{defn|A chorbishop is an official of a diocese in some Eastern Christian churches. Chorbishops are not generally ordained bishops – they are not given the sacrament of Holy Orders in that degree – but function as assistants to the diocesan bishop with certain honorary privileges.}}

{{term|[[Coadjutor bishop]]}}
{{defn|A coadjutor bishop is an auxiliary bishop who is given almost equal authority in a diocese with the diocesan bishop, and the automatic right to succeed the incumbent diocesan bishop. The appointment of coadjutors is often seen as a means of providing for continuity of church leadership.}}

{{term|General bishop}}
{{defn|A title and role in some churches, not associated with a diocese. In the Coptic Orthodox Church the episcopal ranks from highest to lowest are metropolitan archbishops, metropolitan bishops, diocesan bishops, bishops exarchs of the throne, suffragan bishops, auxiliary bishops, general bishops, and finally chorbishops. Bishops of the same category rank according to date of consecration.}}

{{term|[[Major archbishop]]}}
{{defn|Major archbishops are the heads of some of the Eastern Catholic Churches. Their authority within their ''sui juris'' church is equal to that of a patriarch, but they receive fewer ceremonial honors.}}

{{term|[[Metropolitan bishop]]}}
{{defn|A metropolitan bishop is an archbishop in charge of an [[ecclesiastical province]], or group of dioceses, and in addition to having immediate jurisdiction over his own archdiocese, also exercises some oversight over the other dioceses within that province. Sometimes a metropolitan may also be the head of an autocephalous, ''sui iuris'', or [[autonomous area|autonomous]] church when the number of adherents of that tradition are small. In the [[Latin Church]], metropolitans are always archbishops; in many Eastern churches, the title is "metropolitan", with some of these churches using "archbishop" as a separate office.}}

{{term|[[Patriarch]]}}
{{defn|Patriarchs are the bishops who head certain ancient [[autocephalous]] or [[sui iuris]] churches, which are a collection of metropolitan sees or [[province]]s. After the First Ecumenical Council at Nicea, the church structure was patterned after the administrative divisions of the Roman Empire wherein a metropolitan or bishop of a metropolis came to be the ecclesiastical head of a civil capital of a province or a metropolis. Whereas, the bishop of the larger administrative district, diocese, came to be called an exarch. In a few cases, a bishop came to preside over a number of dioceses, i.e., Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria. At the Fourth Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon in 451, Constantinople was given jurisdiction over three dioceses for the reason that the city was "the residence of the emperor and senate". Additionally, Jerusalem was recognized at the Council of Chalcedon as one of the major sees. In 692, the Quinisext Council formally recognized and ranked the sees of the Pentarchy in order of preeminence, at that time Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. In the Catholic Church, Patriarchs sometimes call their leaders ''Catholicos''; the Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Egypt, is called ''Pope'', meaning 'Father'. While most patriarchs in the [[Eastern Catholic Churches]] have jurisdiction over a [[particular church]] ''[[sui iuris]]'', all Latin Church patriarchs, except for the Pope, have only honorary titles. In 2006, [[Pope Benedict XVI]] gave up the title of [[Patriarch of the West]]. The first recorded use of the title by a Roman Pope was by [[Pope Theodore I|Theodore I]] in 620. However, early church documents, such as those of the [[First Council of Nicaea]] (325) had always listed the Pope of Rome first among the [[Pentarchy (Christianity)|Ancient Patriarchs]] (first three, and later five: Rome, Constantinople, [[Patriarch of Alexandria|Alexandria]], [[Patriarch of Antioch|Antioch]] and [[Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem|Jerusalem]]—collectively referred to as the ''Pentarchy''). Later, the heads of various national churches became Patriarchs, but they are ranked below the Pentarchy.}}

{{term|Pīhopa|Te Pīhopa}}
{{defn|The [[Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia]] uses — even in English language usage — this [[Māori language]] term for its tikanga Māori bishops.}}

{{term|[[Primate (bishop)|Primate]]}}
{{defn|A primate is usually the bishop of the oldest church of a [[nation]]. Sometimes this carries jurisdiction over metropolitan bishops, but usually it is purely honorific. The primate of the [[Scottish Episcopal Church]] is chosen from among the diocesan bishops, and, while retaining diocesan responsibility, is called ''Primus''.}}

{{term|[[Presiding bishop]] or president bishop}}
{{defn|These titles are often used for the head of a national Anglican church, but the title is not usually associated with a particular episcopal see like the title of a primate.}}

{{term|[[Suffragan bishop]]}}
{{defn|A suffragan bishop is a bishop subordinate to a metropolitan. In the Catholic Church this term is applied to all non-metropolitan bishops (that is, diocesan bishops of dioceses within a metropolitan's province, and [[auxiliary bishop]]s). In the Anglican Communion, the term applies to a bishop who is a full-time assistant to a diocesan bishop: the [[Bishop of Warwick]] is suffragan to the [[Bishop of Coventry]] (the diocesan), though both live in [[Coventry]].}}

{{term|[[Supreme bishop]]}}
{{defn|The [[obispo maximo]], or supreme bishop, of the [[Philippine Independent Church]] is elected by the General Assembly of the church. He is the chief executive officer of the church. He also holds an important pastoral role, being the spiritual head and chief pastor of the church. He has precedence of honor and prominence of position among, and recognized to have primacy, over other bishops.}}

{{term|[[Titular bishop]]}}
{{defn|A titular bishop is a bishop without a diocese. Rather, the bishop is head of a [[titular see]], which is usually an ancient city that used to have a bishop, but, for some reason or other, does not have one now. Titular bishops often serve as auxiliary bishops. In the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate]], bishops of modern dioceses are often given a titular see alongside their modern one (for example, the archbishop of [[Thyateira]] {{em|and}} [[Great Britain]]).}}
{{glossary end}}

==== Duties ====

[[File:Confirmation VanderWeyden.png|thumb|upright|A bishop administering Confirmation. [[Rogier van der Weyden]], ''[[Seven Sacraments Altarpiece|The Seven Sacraments]]'', 15th century. In the Latin Church of the Catholic Church the administration of [[Confirmation]] is normally reserved to the local bishop.]]
[[File:Henning Toft Bro1 (bispevielse).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Church of Denmark|Danish Lutheran]] [[bishops]] wearing a [[cope]] over [[cassock]], [[surplice]], [[ruff (clothing)|ruff]] and [[pectoral cross]]]]
In [[Catholicism]], [[Eastern Orthodoxy]], [[Oriental Orthodoxy]], [[High Church Lutheranism]], and [[Anglicanism]], only a bishop can ordain other bishops, priests, and deacons.<ref name="COS2022">{{cite web |title=Ministry and Ministries |url=https://www.svenskakyrkan.se/ministry-and-ministries |publisher=[[Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden]] |access-date=4 February 2022 |language=English}}</ref>

In the Eastern liturgical tradition, a priest can celebrate the [[Divine Liturgy]] only with the blessing of a bishop. In Byzantine usage, an [[antimins|antimension]] signed by the bishop is kept on the altar partly as a reminder of whose altar it is and under whose [[omophorion]] the priest at a local parish is serving. In Syriac Church usage, a consecrated wooden block called a [[thabilitho]] is kept for the same reasons.

The bishop is the ordinary minister of the [[Sacraments of the Catholic Church|sacrament]] of confirmation in the Latin Church, and in the [[Old Catholic]] communion only a bishop may administer this sacrament. In the [[Lutheran]] and [[Anglican]] churches, the bishop normatively administers the rite of confirmation, although in those denominations that do not have an episcopal polity, confirmation is administered by the priest.<ref name="Wordsworth1911">{{cite book |last1=Wordsworth |first1=John |title=The National Church of Sweden |date=1911 |publisher=A. R. Mowbray & Company Limited |isbn=978-0-8401-2821-8 |page=168 |language=English |quote=This same archbishop compiled a code of the statues of his diocese, from which we may learn much as to the administration of the sacraments customary in Sweden. The three forms just named were to be taught to children by their parents and god-parents. Children of seven years old and upwards were to be confirmed by the bishop fasting—the implication that if they were confirmed at an earlier age they need not fast. No one was to be confirmed more than once, and parents were frequently to remind their children by whom and where they were confirmed. Bishops might change names in confirmation, and no one is to be admitted to minor orders without confirmation.}}</ref> However, in the [[Byzantine Rite|Byzantine]] and other Eastern rites, whether Eastern or Oriental Orthodox or [[Eastern Catholic]], [[chrismation]] is done immediately after [[baptism]], and thus the priest is the one who confirms, using chrism blessed by a bishop.<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P3U.HTM Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1313] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927014929/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P3U.HTM |date=27 September 2011 }}</ref>

==== Ordination of Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican bishops ====

Bishops in all of these communions are [[Holy Orders|ordained]] by other bishops through the laying on of hands. 
Ordination of a bishop, and thus continuation of apostolic succession, takes place through a ritual centred on the [[imposition of hands]] and [[prayer]].

Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, Old Catholic and some Lutheran bishops claim to be part of the continuous sequence of ordained bishops since the days of the apostles referred to as apostolic succession.

In Scandinavia and the Baltic region, [[Lutheran]] churches participating in the [[Porvoo Communion]] (those of Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, and Lithuania), as well as many non-Porvoo membership Lutheran churches (including those of Kenya, Latvia, and Russia), as well as the confessional [[Communion of Nordic Lutheran Dioceses]], believe that they ordain their bishops in the apostolic succession in lines stemming from the original apostles.<ref name="König2010">{{cite book|last=König|first=Andrea|title=Mission, Dialog und friedliche Koexistenz: Zusammenleben in einer multireligiösen und säkularen Gesellschaft : Situation, Initiativen und Perspektiven für die Zukunft|year=2010|publisher=Peter Lang|isbn=9783631609453|page=205|quote=Having said that, Lutheran bishops in Sweden or Finland, which retained apostolic succession, or other parts of the world, such as Africa or Asia, which gained it from Scandinavia, could easily be engaged to do something similar in Australia, as has been done in the United States, without reliance on Anglicans.}}</ref><ref name="Obare">{{cite web |author1=[[Walter Obare]] |title=Choose Life! |url=https://media.ctsfw.edu/Item/GetFullText/498 |publisher=[[Concordia Theological Seminary]] |language=English}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Mark A. Granquist |author2=Jonathan Strom |author3=Mary Jane Haemig |author4=Robert Kolb |author5=Mark C. Mattes |title=Dictionary of Luther and the Lutheran Traditions |date=2017 |publisher=Baker Academic |isbn=978-1-4934-1023-1 |language=English}}</ref> ''The New Westminster Dictionary of Church History'' states that "In Sweden the apostolic succession was preserved because the Catholic bishops were allowed to stay in office, but they had to approve changes in the ceremonies."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Benedetto|first1=Robert |last2=Duke|first2=James O. |title=The New Westminster Dictionary of Church History: The Early, Medieval, and Reformation Eras |date=13 August 2008 |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |isbn=978-0664224165 |page=594 |url=http://www.abebooks.com/book-search/isbn/0664224164/page-1/ |quote=In Sweden the apostolic succession was preserved because the Catholic bishops were allowed to stay in office, but they had to approve changes in the ceremonies.}}</ref>

===== Peculiar to the Catholic Church =====
While traditional teaching maintains that any bishop with apostolic succession can validly perform the ordination of another bishop, some churches require two or three bishops participate, either to ensure sacramental validity or to conform with church law. [[Catholic]] doctrine holds that one bishop can validly ordain another (priest) as a bishop. Though a minimum of three bishops participating is desirable (there are usually several more) in order to demonstrate collegiality, canonically only one bishop is necessary. The practice of only one bishop ordaining was normal in countries where the church was persecuted under [[Communist]] rule.

The title of archbishop or metropolitan may be granted to a senior bishop, usually one who is in charge of a large ecclesiastical jurisdiction. He may, or may not, have provincial oversight of suffragan bishops and may possibly have auxiliary bishops assisting him.

Apart from the ordination, which is always done by other bishops, there are different methods as to the actual selection of a candidate for ordination as bishop. In the Catholic Church the [[Congregation for Bishops]] generally oversees the selection of new bishops with the approval of the pope. The papal nuncio usually solicits names from the bishops of a country, consults with priests and leading members of a laity, and then selects three to be forwarded to the [[Holy See]]. In Europe, some cathedral chapters have duties to elect bishops. The Eastern Catholic churches generally elect their own bishops. Most Eastern Orthodox churches allow varying amounts of formalised laity or [[lower clergy]] influence on the choice of bishops. This also applies in those Eastern churches which are in union with the pope, though it is required that he give assent.

The pope, in addition to being the [[Bishop of Rome]] and spiritual head of the Catholic Church, is also the Patriarch of the Latin Church. Each bishop within the Latin Church is answerable directly to the Pope and not any other bishop except to metropolitans in certain oversight instances. The pope previously used the title ''Patriarch of the West'', but this title was dropped from use in 2006,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0601225.htm |title=Catholic News Service |access-date=19 October 2008 |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20060308013147/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0601225.htm |archive-date=8 March 2006 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> a move which caused some concern within the Eastern Orthodox Communion as, to them, it implied wider papal jurisdiction.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0603382.htm |title=Catholic News Service |access-date=19 October 2008 |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20060613190031/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0603382.htm |archive-date=13 June 2006 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

===== Recognition of other churches' ordinations =====
The Catholic Church does recognise as valid (though illicit) ordinations done by breakaway Catholic, Old Catholic or Oriental bishops, and groups descended from them; it also regards as both valid and licit those ordinations done by bishops of the Eastern churches,{{efn|Section 16 of the Second Vatican Council's Decree on Ecumenism, [[Unitatis Redintegratio]] states: "To remove, then, all shadow of doubt, this holy Council solemnly declares that the Churches of the East, while remembering the necessary unity of the whole Church, have the power to govern themselves according to the disciplines proper to them, since these are better suited to the character of their faithful, and more for the good of their souls."}} so long as those receiving the ordination conform to other canonical requirements (for example, is an adult male) and an eastern orthodox rite of episcopal ordination, expressing the proper functions and sacramental status of a bishop, is used; this has given rise to the phenomenon of {{lang|la|[[episcopi vagantes]]}} (for example, clergy of the Independent Catholic groups which claim apostolic succession, though this claim is rejected by both Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy). With respect to Lutheranism, "the Catholic Church has never officially expressed its judgement on the validity of orders as they have been handed down by episcopal succession in these two national Lutheran churches" (the [[Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden]] and the [[Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland]]) though it does "question how the ecclesiastical break in the 16th century has affected the apostolicity of the churches of the Reformation and thus the apostolicity of their ministry".<ref>{{cite book|last=Sullivan|first=Francis Aloysius|title=From Apostles to Bishops: The Development of the Episcopacy in the Early Church |year=2001|publisher=Paulist Press|isbn=0809105349|page=4|quote=To my knowledge, the Catholic Church has never officially expressed its judgement on the validity of orders as they have been handed down by episcopal succession in these two national Lutheran churches.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sakasti.evl.fi/sakasti.nsf/0/DA1B501CC09E109FC22577AE002A3DD8/$FILE/Report%20Justification%20in%20the%20Life%20of%20the%20Church.pdf|title=Roman Catholic – Lutheran Dialogue Group for Sweden and Finland, ''Justification in the Life of the Church'', section 297, page 101}}{{Dead link|date=June 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Since [[Pope Leo XIII]] issued the bull {{lang|la|[[Apostolicae curae]]}} in 1896, the Catholic Church has insisted that Anglican orders are invalid because of the Reformed changes in the Anglican ordination rites of the 16th century and divergence in understanding of the theology of priesthood, episcopacy and Eucharist. However, since the 1930s, Utrecht Old Catholic bishops (recognised by the Holy See as validly ordained) have sometimes taken part in the ordination of Anglican bishops. According to the writer Timothy Dufort, by 1969, all Church of England bishops had acquired Old Catholic lines of apostolic succession recognised by the Holy See.<ref>Timothy Dufort, ''The Tablet'', 29 May 1982, pp. 536–538.</ref> This development has been used to argue that the strain of apostolic succession has been re-introduced into Anglicanism, at least within the Church of England.<ref>Dufort, Timothy (29 May 1982). ''The Tablet''. pp.&nbsp;536–538.</ref> However, other issues, such as the Anglican ordination of women, is at variance with Catholic understanding of Christian teaching, and have contributed to the reaffirmation of Catholic rejection of Anglican ordinations.<ref name="auto">Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, [http://www.ourladyswarriors.org/teach/ordisace2.htm ''Responsum ad Dubium Concerning the Teaching Contained in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis''], 25 October 1995; Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, [http://www.catholicculture.org/library/view.cfm?id=5189&repos=1&subrepos=&searchid=87187 Commentary, ''Concerning the Reply of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the Teaching Contained in the Apostolic Letter "Ordinatio Sacerdotalis"''], 25 October 1995.</ref><ref name="auto1">{{cite news |last=Handley |first=Paul |date=27 May 2003 |title=Churches' Goal Is Unity, Not Uniformity Spokesman for Vatican Declares |work=Church Times| page=2}}</ref><ref>[https://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories.cns/1003635.htm "In Britain, pope will focus on common Christian mission, official says"]{{dead link|date=January 2023|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, ''Catholic News Service'', 9 September 2010.</ref><ref>http://www.vaticannews.va, Sept 6, 2021. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171214093753/http://www.vaticannews.va/ |date=14 December 2017 }}</ref>

The Eastern Orthodox Churches do not accept the validity of any ordinations performed by the Independent Catholic groups, as Eastern Orthodoxy considers to be spurious any consecration outside the church as a whole. Eastern Orthodoxy considers apostolic succession to exist only within the Universal Church, and not through any authority held by individual bishops; thus, if a bishop ordains someone to serve outside the (Eastern Orthodox) Church, the ceremony is ineffectual, and no ordination has taken place regardless of the ritual used or the ordaining prelate's position within the Eastern Orthodox Churches.

[[File:Priestly ordination.jpg|thumb|left|The consecrated bishop is the only minister of Holy Orders. Photo of pre-Vatican II ceremony.]]

The position of the Catholic Church is slightly different. Whilst it does recognise the validity of the orders of certain groups which separated from communion with Holy See (for instance, the ordinations of the Old Catholics in communion with Utrecht, as well as the [[Polish National Catholic Church]] - which received its orders directly from Utrecht, and was until recently part of that communion), Catholicism does not recognise the orders of any group whose teaching is at variance with what they consider the core tenets of Christianity; this is the case even though the clergy of the Independent Catholic groups may use the proper ordination ritual. There are also other reasons why the Holy See does not recognise the validity of the orders of the Independent clergy:

* They hold that the continuing practice among many Independent clergy of one person receiving multiple ordinations in order to secure apostolic succession, betrays an incorrect and mechanistic theology of ordination.
* They hold that the practice within Independent groups of ordaining women (such as within certain member communities of the [[Anglican Communion]]) demonstrates an understanding of priesthood that they vindicate is totally unacceptable to the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches as they believe that the Universal Church does not possess such authority; thus, they uphold that any ceremonies performed by these women should be considered being sacramentally invalid.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto1"/>
* The theology of male clergy within the Independent movement is also suspect according to the Catholics, as they presumably approve of the ordination of females, and may have even undergone an (invalid) ordination ceremony conducted by a woman.

[[File:JeffertsSchori.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Katharine Jefferts Schori]], The 26th presiding bishop of the [[Episcopal Church (United States)]]]]

Whilst members of the [[Independent Catholic]] movement take seriously the issue of valid orders, it is highly significant that the relevant Vatican Congregations tend not to respond to petitions from Independent Catholic bishops and clergy who seek to be received into communion with the Holy See, hoping to continue in some sacramental role. In those instances where the pope does grant reconciliation, those deemed to be clerics within the Independent Old Catholic movement are invariably admitted as laity and not priests or bishops.

There is a mutual recognition of the validity of orders amongst Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Old Catholic, Oriental Orthodox and Assyrian Church of the East churches.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Roberson|first=Ronald|date=Spring 2010|title=The Dialogues of the Catholic Church with the Separated Eastern Churches|journal=U.S. Catholic Historian|volume=28|issue=2|pages=135–152|jstor=40731267|doi=10.1353/cht.0.0041|s2cid=161330476}}</ref>

Some provinces of the Anglican Communion have begun [[ordination of women|ordaining women]] as bishops in recent decades – for example, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Cuba. The first woman to be consecrated a bishop within Anglicanism was [[Barbara Harris (bishop)|Barbara Harris]], who was ordained in the United States in 1989. In 2006, Katharine Jefferts Schori, the Episcopal [[Episcopal Diocese of Nevada|Bishop of Nevada]], became the first woman to become the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church.
[[File:Mikael Agricola by Albert Edelfelt.jpg|thumb|[[Mikael Agricola]] (1510–1557), a [[Finns|Finnish]] [[Lutheran]] clergyman and the [[List of bishops of Turku|Bishop of Turku]]]]
In the [[Evangelical Lutheran Church in America]] (ELCA) and the [[Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada]] (ELCIC), the largest Lutheran Church bodies in the United States and Canada, respectively, and roughly based on the [[Nordic countries|Nordic]] Lutheran national churches (similar to that of the Church of England), bishops are elected by Synod Assemblies, consisting of both lay members and clergy, for a term of six years, which can be renewed, depending upon the local synod's "constitution" (which is mirrored on either the ELCA or ELCIC's national constitution). Since the implementation of concordats between the ELCA and the [[Episcopal Church of the United States]] and the ELCIC and the [[Anglican Church of Canada]], all bishops, including the presiding bishop (ELCA) or the national bishop (ELCIC), have been consecrated using the historic succession in line with bishops from the [[Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden]],<ref name="VelikoGros2005">{{cite book |last1=Veliko |first1=Lydia |last2=Gros |first2=Jeffrey |title=Growing Consensus II: Church Dialogues in the United States, 1992-2004 |date=2005 |publisher=USCCB Publishing |isbn=978-1-57455-557-8 |language=English |quote=In order to receive the historic episcopate, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America pledges that, following the adoption of this Concordat and in keeping with the collegiality and continuity of ordained ministry attested as early as canon 4 of the First Ecumenical Council (Nicea I, AD 325), at least three bishops already sharing in the sign of episcopal succession will be invited to participate in the installation of its next Presiding Bishop through prayer for the gift of the Holy Spirit and with the laying-on of hands. These participating bishops will be invited from churches of the Lutheran communion which share in the historic episcopate.}}</ref> with at least one Anglican bishop serving as co-consecrator.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.elca.org/ecumenical/fullcommunion/episcopal/ccmresources/text.html|title=A Lutheran Proposal for a Revision of the Concordat of Agreement |archive-date=2011-05-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514195302/http://www2.elca.org/ecumenical/fullcommunion/Episcopal/CCMresources/text.html|date=19 August 1999 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.elca.org/lutheranpartners/archives/histepi.html|last= Wright |first=J. Robert|title=The Historic Episcopate: An Episcopalian Viewpoint|work=Lutheran Partners|date=Spring 1999|volume= 15|issue=2|archive-date=2011-06-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604070238/http://www2.elca.org/lutheranpartners/archives/histepi.html }}</ref>

Since going into ecumenical communion with their respective Anglican body, bishops in the ELCA or the ELCIC not only approve the "rostering" of all ordained pastors, diaconal ministers, and associates in ministry, but they serve as the principal celebrant of all pastoral ordination and installation ceremonies, diaconal consecration ceremonies, as well as serving as the "chief pastor" of the local synod, upholding the teachings of [[Martin Luther]] as well as the documentations of the Ninety-Five Theses and the [[Augsburg Confession]]. Unlike their counterparts in the [[United Methodist Church]], ELCA and ELCIC synod bishops do not appoint pastors to local congregations (pastors, like their counterparts in the Episcopal Church, are called by local congregations). The presiding bishop of the ELCA and the national bishop of the ELCIC, the national bishops of their respective bodies, are elected for a single 6-year term and may be elected to an additional term.

Although ELCA agreed with the Episcopal Church to limit ordination to the bishop "ordinarily", ELCA pastor-''ordinators'' are given permission to perform the rites in "extraordinary" circumstance. In practice, "extraordinary" circumstance have included disagreeing with Episcopalian views of the episcopate, and as a result, ELCA pastors ordained by other pastors are not permitted to be deployed to Episcopal Churches (they can, however, serve in [[Presbyterian Church (USA)|Presbyterian Church USA]], United Methodist Church, [[Reformed Church in America]], and [[Moravian Church]] congregations, as the ELCA is in full communion with these denominations). The [[Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod]] (LCMS) and the [[Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod]] (WELS), the second and third largest Lutheran bodies in the United States and the two largest [[Confessional Lutheran]] bodies in North America, do not follow an episcopal form of governance, settling instead on a form of quasi-congregationalism patterned off what they believe to be the practice of the early church. The second largest of the three predecessor bodies of the ELCA, the [[American Lutheran Church]], was a congregationalist body, with national and synod presidents before they were re-titled as bishops (borrowing from the Lutheran churches in [[Germany]]) in the 1980s. With regard to ecclesial discipline and oversight, national and synod presidents typically function similarly to bishops in episcopal bodies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kencollins.com/explanations/why-12.htm|title=The Function of Bishops in the Ancient Church|work=kencollins.com}}</ref>