An auxiliary bishop is a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions.

Roman Catholicism

In the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, auxiliary bishops exist in both the

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

and in the Eastern Catholic Churches. The particular duties of an auxiliary bishop are given by the diocesan bishop and can vary widely depending on the auxiliary bishop, the ordinary, and the needs of the diocese. In a larger archdiocese, they might be assigned to serve a portion of the archdiocese (sometimes called deaneries, regions, or vicariates) or to serve a particular population such as immigrants or those of a particular heritage or language. Canon law recommends that the diocesan bishop appoint an auxiliary bishop as vicar general of the diocese. In May 2017, Gregorio Rosa Chávez was one of the first Roman Catholic auxiliary bishops to be appointed as cardinal. At that time, he was auxiliary bishop of José Luis Escobar Alas, the Archbishop of San Salvador (who was not elevated).

Eastern Orthodoxy

In Eastern Orthodox Churches, auxiliary bishops are also called ''vicarian bishops'' or simply ''vicar bishops''. In the

Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...

, the office of auxiliary (vicar) bishop is entrusted to titular bishops, who are assigned with assisting diocesan bishops in various aspects of diocesan administration. The Greek word '' protosyncellus'' defines an auxiliary bishop who has been elevated to the dignity of vicarian of another titular bishop, and who is assigned to assist and act on behalf of his episcopal authority over the jurisdiction of the

episcopal see An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...

. For example, Teodosije Šibalić (titular bishop of Lipljan) was appointed auxiliary bishop to the Eparchy of Raška and Prizren in 2004.

References

External links

USCCB – Appointing Bishops

{{Authority control Bishops by type Catholic ecclesiastical titles Episcopacy in the Catholic Church Episcopacy in Eastern Orthodoxy