ARCHPRIEST. — This term is commonly used to designate the priest who has ordinary pastoral care of souls; technically, it means the parish priest who holds a parish in title, which is sometimes also a rural vicariate; more frequently, it Chapter (v.), generally joined to the office of pastoral care of souls in cathedral or collegiate Chapters.
The term may also signify the office of a cardinal who is properly called cardinal a., inasmuch as he presides over and governs the clergy of one of the patriarchal basilicas of Rome (S. Giovanni, S. Pietro, S. Maria Maggiore). For the historical aspect V. PRESBITERIO.