Архидиаконы

Archdeacons are the chief or first of the deacons, who early on achieved an important administrative position, which received special development in the West, where they, as the closest assistants to bishops, were first called diconi episcopi. In the 9th century in France, and somewhat later in Germany, when the division of dioceses took place, each bishop had several archdeacons (as deans) under his authority. With the development of chapters, the power of archdeacons increased even more, so that there were even cases of clashes between the archdeacon and the bishop. Originally the archdeacon was only the assistant or representative of the bishop in matters of episcopal jurisdiction; but at the beginning of the thirteenth century it was called judex ordinaris, and threatened to seize the entire jurisdiction of the episcopal power. He had the right to make tours of churches, test candidates for ordination, appoint and replace archpriests, and so on. During the 13th century, many Western councils (Tours 1239, Liege 1287, Mainz 1310, etc.) tried to limit the power of archdeacons in favor of bishops, and from here very complex questions about competence arose every now and then. Only the Council of Trent finally settled this dispute. Archdeacons lost the right to review churches, jurisdiction in judicial and marriage matters, etc., and gradually their position lost its meaning or took on other forms. In the Roman Curia, the archdeacon became a cardinal-kammerlengo, just as the presbyter became a cardinal-vicar, but in Germany this position disappeared completely, and the affairs belonging to it were transferred to the vicar general. In the Anglican Church there are 71 archdeacons, who are appointed by bishops, and act as a kind of vicar of the bishop, with the right to attend church, prohibition from clergy, excommunication, etc. In our country, archdeacons have been preserved only in large monasteries, but, deprived of any jurisdiction, they differ from deacons only in their honorary title and the way they wear a longer orarion during divine services.