Ecclesiastical government, ecclesiastical hierarchy, or ecclesiocracy may refer to: *

Theocracy Theocracy is a form of autocracy or oligarchy in which one or more deity, deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries, with executive and legislative power, who manage the government's ...

, a form of religious State government * Hierocracy (medieval), papal temporal supremacy over the State *

Ecclesiastical polity Ecclesiastical polity is the government of a church. There are local (Church (congregation), congregational) forms of organization as well as Christian denomination, denominational. A church's polity may describe its Minister (Christianity), ...

, the government of a Christian denomination **

Hierarchy of the Catholic Church The hierarchy of the Catholic Church consists of its bishops, priests, and deacons. In the ecclesiological sense of the term, "hierarchy" strictly means the "holy ordering" of the church, the Body of Christ, so to respect the diversity of gif ...

Ecclesiastical jurisdiction Ecclesiastical jurisdiction is jurisdiction by Clergy, church leaders over other church leaders and over the laity. Overview Jurisdiction is a word borrowed from the legal system which has acquired a wide extension in theology, wherein, for examp ...

, jurisdiction by church leaders over other church leaders and over the laity *

Consistory (Protestantism) In Protestant usage, a consistory designates certain ruling bodies in various churches.''Encyclopedia of Protestantism'', J. Gordon Melton (ed.), New York: Facts On File, c2005, p. 162. The meaning and the scope of functions varies strongly, also ...

Consistory (Judaism) A Jewish consistory (or in French; see conventional meanings: wikt:consistory, consistory in Wiktionary) was a body governing the Jews, Jewish congregations of a province or of a country; also the district administered by the consistory. Napoleon ...

Papal consistory In the Catholic Church, a consistory is a formal meeting of the College of Cardinals called by the pope. There are two kinds of consistories, extraordinary and ordinary. An "extraordinary" consistory is held to allow the pope to consult with the ...

See also