The 3 Tier Hierarchy Of The Roman Catholic Church:
Pope, Bishop, Priests
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Learn from the Bible Blueprint, how the church was organized by the apostles!
Click to ViewFind a local congregation of the New Testament church that is organized exactly as the Bible says
Click to View30-606 AD: The gradual historical Development of the Papal and Patriarchal Systems of Centralized Church Government away from the organization found in the Bible.

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Roman Catholic Organization today:

1 Pope
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2946 Bishops/Dioceses (Mother churches over parishes)
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219,583 Priests/Parishes (Local churches)

Learn the Truth:

Click to ViewThe office of Elders, pastors and bishops

Click to View The New Testament Church has no world headquarters!

Introduction: Catholic hierarchy graphically illustrated:

Click to ViewThere are a total of at least 30 Roman Catholic denominations in the world. There are 22 different liturgies within the Roman Catholic church (which we have graciously counted as 1) and between 8 - 66 independent schisms.

  1. Notice there are only three levels of control: World head, Diocese head, Local church.
  2. All dots on graphic below are local churches with differing levels of authority.
  3. The one Blue dot (where the Pope preaches every Sunday) is the local church of St. John Lateran Basilica that is the only local church in the world to have all three levels of authority: World head, diocese head, Local parish
  4. The black dots are local churches (always called "Cathedrals" which is Latin for "chair,") that have bishops as their preacher every Sunday. There are 2946 of these Cathedrals (local churches) in the Catholic church presently. There is only one bishop for each of these "diocese head" mother churches (Cathedrals). Each Bishop is located at a simple local church (Cathedral) that controls other local churches (parishes) within its geographic territory. You will notice that even the local church of St. John Lateran Basilica (Rome diocese) is over other local churches in exactly the same way.
  5. The Red Dots are local churches headed by mere priests. There are 219,583 of these local churches in the Catholic church presently. A group of these local churches bound together under the headship of a single diocese Bishop.
  6. To find out how many actual local churches there are in the Catholic church today you must add the number of Parishes (219,583) and the number of Diocese churches (2946) plus St. John Lateran Basilica (1). So the math is: 219,583 + 2946 + 1 = 222,530. That means that a Roman catholic can attend any one of 222,530 local churches in the world. But every Roman Catholic could chose to attend a Parish where a priest preaches every Sunday or where a Bishop preaches every Sunday or where the Pope preaches every Sunday.
  7. In this way, you can see that the Roman Catholic church is simple groupings of local churches with three different levels of authority.

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I. Common misconceptions regarding Catholic hierarchy:

Misconception

Actual Catholic Hierarchy

Pope
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Cardinals
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Archbishops
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Bishops
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Priests
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Catholics

Pope (1 head)
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Bishops
(2946 diocese, cathedrals)
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Priests
(219,583 parishes)
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Catholics
(1 Billion members)

Click to ViewThere are a total of at least 30 Roman Catholic denominations in the world. There are 22 different liturgies within the Roman Catholic church (which we have graciously counted as 1) and between 8 - 66 independent schisms.

II. Clarifying the confusion of Catholic terms:

A. The Pope (also called the Patriarch) The term Patriarch is obsolete in the Roman Catholic church and is derived from 325-606 AD when there were 3-5 "Mother churches" that equally ruled the world divided by their 5 territories. One of the official titles of the Bishop of Rome today, is "Patriarch of the west". This is because in 600 AD there were 4 Patriarchs of the east, (Antioch and Alexandria, Jerusalem and Constantinople) who eventually split off in 1054AD to become the Greek Orthodox church., and one "Patriarch of the West." (Rome)

The following terms are applied to the Pope:
Bishop of the city of Rome (head of the a local diocese in Rome)
Vicar of Jesus Christ
Successor of St. Peter
Pope (Universal bishop over all other bishops)
Prince of the Apostles
Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church
Patriarch of the West
Primate of Italy
Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province
Sovereign of the Vatican City State
Servant of the Servants of God
Priest of St. John Lateran Basilica (Parish priest)

Notice that the Pope actually holds three positions in the Catholic church: 1. Priest who preaches at the pulpit of St. John Lateran Basilica on a day to day basis just like any other parish priest. 2. Bishop of the Diocese of the city of Rome. 3. Pope: head of the universal church. Think of the Catholic church as a collection of local churches. Take the Pope for example. He holds all three positions of power in the Catholic church, which are separate offices:

  1. Parish Priest at St. John Lateran Basilica: The Pope is the regular preacher for a church called, St. John Lateran Basilica. It is a simple local church where pew dwelling common Catholics come to hear their Parish priest, (Pope) preach.
  2. Bishop of diocese where at St. John Lateran Basilica is the "Mother church". The Pope is more than just a parish priest, he is also the Bishop of Rome meaning that St. John Lateran Basilica is also a mother church that oversees diocese. This means the local parish of St. John Lateran Basilica is over a limited number of other local churches that are within its local geographic area called a diocese. As the Bishop of Rome, he is equal to every other bishop in the Catholic church.
  3. Universal Bishop: Pope. The Pope is also the "Ruler of the Bishops".

B. The Bishops (also called Archbishop = Major-Archbishop) There are 2946 "Mother churches" (and diocese) in the Catholic church today. The local church where a Bishop resides is always called a Cathedral, which is Latin for "chair". A Cathedral therefore means that a specific local church is where the Bishop's official chair is centered from over other local parishes. The Cathedral is the Bishop's home church. Each of these Mother churches (Cathedrals) are assigned a geographic territory which is called a diocese. There is only one Bishop per diocese, although he may be assisted by other bishops who rank below him as servants. So from a power organization, there is one Bishop for each of the 2946 diocese. There is no difference in rank and power between a Bishop and an Archbishop. An archbishop is merely a bishop who controls a larger than average territory or is located in a city of political importance, like a capital city of a state, province or nation. An Archbishop has no power over other bishops outside his own diocese. The term Major-Archbishop is just a variation of Archbishop. In power terms, there is only one man who can "fire" a bishop: the Pope, who appointed him in the first place.

Notice that the Pope is nothing more than an exalted Pulpit preacher of a local church. He actually holds three positions in the Catholic church: 1. Priest (pulpit preacher) at St. John Lateran Basilica on a day to day basis just like any other parish priest. 2. Bishop of the Diocese of the city of Rome. 3. Pope: head of the universal church.

All Bishops hold two positions of power in the Catholic church, which are separate offices.

  1. Parish Priest wherever their local church is in the world: The Pope is the regular preacher for a church called, St. John Lateran Basilica. It is a simple local church where pew dwelling common Catholics come to hear their Parish priest.
  2. Bishop of diocese where his local church is in the world. He preaches for a "Mother church" that is over other local churches in his area. All Bishops are more than just a parish priests, they are also Bishop of a church that is the head of diocese within which are several other local churches he rules over. As the Bishop of Rome, he is equal to every other bishop in the Catholic church including the Pope, who is also a mere bishop of a local diocese.

C. The Priests: They are also called, Reverend, Pastor, Priest, Father. There is one Priest for each of the 219,583 Parishes (local churches) in the Catholic church. Each Parish has is own geographic territory and boundary lines between local churches are well defined. The Priest, is in charge of a single parish that is over common Catholics. The priest answers only to two men, his Bishop and the Pope. A bishop from one diocese has no power or control over a Priest from a different diocese. In power terms, there are only two men who can "fire" a priest: the Pope or the bishop who appointed him.

D. Three levels: As you can see, the Pope holds three separate offices, Bishops hold two separate offices and Priests hold one office.

 

Head of Bishops

Head of Diocese

Head of Parish

Pope

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Bishops

 

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Priests

 

 

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III. Arch-Bishops are not over Bishops. Arch-Diocese are not over Diocese!

Bishops and Arch-Bishops are the same power. Arch-Bishops are from larger cities, capital cities etc. Such a naming tradition of calling larger, politically powerful cities by seemly higher sounding titles, carries on the tradition that caused the Bishop of Rome (A large city that was the capital of Rome) to take the highest title of Pope! Small cities get Bishops, while BIG cities get ARCH-BISHOPS. Think of Bishops and Arch-Bishops as Minor and Major prophets of the Bible. Minor and Major prophets are equal in authority, Major prophets tend to be larger books, while Minor prophet tend to be smaller books. Same with Bishops and Arch-Bishops! "Major-Archbishops" are just Bishops from real super important cities with real super important sounding names that mean nothing more than Bishop. Diocese and Arch-Diocese are the same power. Arch-Diocese are from larger cities, capital cities etc. Diocese have Bishops, while Arch-Diocese have Arch-Bishops. Its all just for show and the terms are confusing and irrelevant.

IV. What about Cardinals?

Cardinals have no power in the Catholic church. They are not over Bishops or Priests. Cardinals are chosen by the Pope from the 2946 bishops to take on an additional title of Cardinal. The best way to think of a Cardinal, is a cabinet member in the British or Canadian Government. The prime minister is like the Pope with total control. But there are also hundreds of elected officials called "Members of Parliament". Each "Members of Parliament", corresponds to a Bishop and rules over a specific territory. From this pool of elected "Members of Parliament", the Prime minister chooses his "Cabinet" of about 15 men to fill positions like, "Defense Minister", "Trade Minister", "Environment Minister". These 15 cabinet members correspond to "Cardinals". Just as Cabinet members have no power over other "Back Benchers" (non-cabinet members) so too Cardinals have no power over other Bishops. So Cardinals are Bishops with additional privilege but do not rank over anyone outside their own diocese. Cardinals act as an advisory panel for the Pope and elect the new pope when the current one dies.

V. Various national sizes:
Remember, there are no national positions of power in the Catholic church, only Bishops within a country, who are equal to all other bishops in the world.

World

Canada

Toronto Canada

Hamilton Canada

Pope
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Pope
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Pope
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Pope
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2946 Bishops working within 2946 diocese territories
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72 Bishops working within 72 diocese territories
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1 Arch-Bishop working within 1 diocese territory

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1 Bishop working within 1 diocese territory

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219,583 priests working within 219,583 Parishes (local churches)

5716 priests working within 5716 Parishes (local churches)

223 priests working within 223 parishes (local churches)

121 priests working within 121 parishes (local churches)

VI. Example of various countries:

It is important to remember that the Catholic church has no organizational tie on national, provincial or state level. All Bishops the world over, are equal in power. Although all the bishops in one country form separate organizations, they are powerless, except by way of suggesting a policy that has the backing of all the bishops in a country. Notice that there is an equal number of Dioceses, Bishops and Cathedrals. That is because a Bishop is head of a single diocese and his one home church is called a Cathedral. Also notice that the number of Parishes and the number of Priests is the same. That is because there is one priest over each parish.

Area

Dioceses/Bishops/
Cathedrals

Parishes/Priests

World

2946

219,583

Italy

227

25,823

USA

194

19,309

France

98

19,835

Canada

72

4,958

Spain

68

22,679

Great Britain

32

3,168

Ireland

26

1,367

Palestine

2

74

Israel

2

36

 

VII. Catholic offices and positions that violate the Bible:

VIII. Catholic buildings and places: (from a Catholic publication)

Learn the truth:

Click to ViewLearn from the Bible Blueprint, how the church was organized by the apostles!
Click to ViewFind a local congregation of the New Testament church that is organized exactly as the Bible says
Click to View30-606 AD: The gradual historical Development of the Papal and Patriarchal Systems of Centralized Church Government away from the organization found in the Bible.

Click to ViewThere are a total of at least 30 Roman Catholic denominations in the world. There are 22 different liturgies within the Roman Catholic church (which we have graciously counted as 1) and between 8 - 66 independent schisms.

 

Steve Rudd

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