''Catholic-Hierarchy.org'' is an online
database of
bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...
s and
diocese
In 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 provinces were administratively associat ...
s of the
Roman Catholic Church and
Eastern Catholic Churches. The website is not officially sanctioned by the Church. It is run as a private project by David M. Cheney in
Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...
.
[Katholisch Deutsch: "Sie sammeln das Wissen der Weltkirche" Von Felix Neumann]
08.08.2017
Origin and contents
In the 1990s, David M. Cheney created a simple internet website that documented the Roman Catholic bishops in his home state of Texas—many of whom did not have webpages.
In 2002, after moving to the Midwest, he officially created the present website catholic-hierarchy.org and expanded to cover the United States and eventually the world.
The database contains geographical, organizational and address information on each Catholic diocese in the world, including
Eastern Catholic Churches in
full communion
Full communion is a communion or relationship of full agreement among different Christian denominations that share certain essential principles of Christian theology. Views vary among denominations on exactly what constitutes full communion, but ...
with the
Holy See, such as the
Maronite Catholic Church and the
Syro-Malabar Church.
It also gives biographical information on current and previous bishops of each diocese, such as dates of birth,
ordinations and (when applicable) death.
Status
The
Zenit News Agency states that the webpage provides a "silent, unique service to the Church".
Sources
Among the printed sources used are the
Holy See publications:
Annuario Pontificio,
Acta Apostolicae Sedis and
Acta Sanctae Sedis. Historical studies by authors whose surnames range from Andrade to Zúñíga are also utilized.
References
Further reading
*
External links
*{{Official website, https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org
2002 in Christianity
Catholic websites
Episcopacy in the Catholic Church