Archdeacon.

Archdeacon. An ecclesiastical dignitary whose jurisdiction is immediately subordinate to that of the bishop. The archdeacon originally was simply the chief of the deacons, who were the attendants and assistants of the bishop in church affairs. His duties consisted in attending the bishop at the altar and at ordinations, assisting him in managing the revenues of the church, and directing the deacons in their duties. From being thus mere assistants, archdeacons in the 5th century began to share the bishop's powers, and step by step attained to an authority in many respects distinct from that of the bishop, and claimed a jurisdiction proper to themselves, and the right to appoint their own subordinates. Several synods protested against the innovation, and in the 13th century their powers were limited by the establishment of episcopal courts. Their dignity and influence is now very much reduced in the Catholic Church. There was formerly one archdeacon for each diocese in England, but the act following the report of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1836, has made two the minimum number, and in some dioceses there are four. No person can be appointed an archdeacon till he has been six years complete in priest's orders. The duty of parochial visitation has long been regarded as belonging specially to this office, and it was by its exercise mainly that the archdeacons attained to the dignity of ordinary instead of delegated jurisdiction. Even in performing this function, however, and in holding general synods or visitations, ordering repairs of churches, and the like, the archdeacon is properly to be regarded as being what the canon law called him, 'the bishop's eye.' The archdeacon is ex officio a member of Convocation (q.v.), and in his court hears from the churchwardens any representations of public scandal. The judge of the archdeacon's court, when he does not preside, is called 'the official.' There is an appeal to the Court of the Bishop, or in the case of an archdeacon of an archbishopric, to the Court of Arches. See DEACON, DEAN, PRIEST.