Corepiscopus

COREPISCOPUS. - The c., or country bishop (from χώρα = district, and ἐπίσκοπος = bishop), in ancient times governed in the East a rural ecclesiastical district, under the authority of the city bishop.

I. IN THE EAST

The first mention of the c. is made by can. 13 of the Council of Ancyra in Galatia (ca. 314), which forbids them to ordain priests and deacons, whether of the countryside or, still less, of the city, without the prior written authorization of the bishop. The Council of Neocaesarea in Pontus, held shortly afterward (between 314 and 325), and at which two c. of Cappadocia were present (cf. Mansi, II, 548), compares them to the seventy disciples of the Lord (can. 14).

The first ecumenical Council of Nicaea (325), at which no fewer than 14 c. also sat, wishing to give, in can. 8, a settlement to the Cathar bishops who wished to return to Catholic unity, recommends the Catholic bishop of the place to grant them either merely the honorary title of bishop or, better still, to find them a post as c., so that there may not be two bishops in one and the same city. The opposition to the c., which manifests itself already from the beginning of the 4th century, has its climax in the Council of Antioch in Syria, held in 341, or perhaps between 330 and 332. While granting the c., in can. 8, the ability to give "letters of peace" or commendatory letters, in can. 10 it sternly admonishes them to stay within the limits of their authority: appointed by the bishop of the city, they must not, under penalty of deposition, even though they have received episcopal ordination, ordain priests or deacons without the prior permission of the bishop, but they shall content themselves with appointing, in their district, lectors, subdeacons and exorcists. St. Basil would show himself even more severe: in a letter to his c. (LIV, ad Chorepiscopos: PG 32, 400-401), he threatens to reduce to the lay state any lesser minister whom they might have appointed without his consent. The final blow against the c. in the East was dealt by can. 57 of the Council of Laodicea (between 347 and 381), which, ignoring the c., prescribes that "periodeutae" be appointed in the districts, a kind of missionary priests directly dependent on the bishop. The decline of the c. began very soon. Already at the Council of Seleucia (410), can. 14 no longer admits more than a single c. per diocese. At the ecumenical Council of Ephesus (431), only two c. subscribe to the acts. At that of Chalcedon (451), the c. no longer sit except in the capacity of procurators of their bishops. Their number, which should normally be at least equal to that of the bishops, diminishes more and more each day. A last mention of them is found in can. 14 of the seventh ecumenical Council of Nicaea II (787), where there is still recognized for them, as also for the simple hegumens or abbots of monasteries, the right to ordain lectors, with the prior permission of the bishop. By now, the chorepiscopate is a mere honorary dignity, so much so that the famous 12th-century Byzantine canonist Theodore Balsamon finds it idle to speak further of an institution "completely obsolete" (In can. 13 Conc. Ancyr.: PG 137, 1160).

There was much discussion in ancient times as to whether the c. were true bishops. Day by day, however, writers tend more and more to recognize in them a true episcopal character. It may be said that in the East, throughout the entire period in which the institution was in force, the c. enjoyed a true episcopal power, though increasingly limited, in its exercise, by the interference of the bishop of the city.

II. IN THE WEST

The first traces of the c. are found around the middle of the 5th century (Council of Riez, in 439). These are, however, rare cases, expedients of an exceptional character that do not seem to have had any relation to the chorepiscopate of the 8th century.

Contrary to what happened in the East, the c. in the West is, from its very appearance, not a country bishop, but an auxiliary of the bishop who holds the title of the diocese. The first c. of this type are those whom St. Willibrord, bishop of Utrecht, and St. Boniface, c. 735-38, took on to assist them in their missionary work. In 747, Pope Zachary, in a letter to Pepin the Short (MGH, Epist., III, p. 481), mentions them and considers them true bishops, on the basis of the decisions of the Councils of Antioch and of Neocaesarea. The golden age of the c. of the West is the 9th century: they are numerous, they often govern dioceses by themselves, they attend councils with a deliberative vote. But already many assemblies attempt to limit their powers. Indeed, the validity of the ordinations performed by them begins to be called into question. Although Rabanus Maurus wrote a treatise, De chorepiscopis (MGH, Epist., V, pp. 431-39), to uphold their episcopal character, the councils, principally a Council of Meaux in 845, forbid them to confer Orders without the bishop's permission and threaten with canonical penalties the bishop who should dare to delegate his powers to his c. (MGH, Capitul., II, p. 409). A more violent, if not more honest, struggle against the c. is waged without respite by the Pseudo-Isidorian reformers (847-52), with the aim of restoring the prestige of bishops to honor and, still more, of depriving these of the occasion to entrust their powers to their c. so as to give themselves over to a life of great lords. By means of interpolations and forgeries it was asserted that the c. were simple priests. The false capitularies and the false decretals acted in the same sense. Nevertheless, Pope Nicholas I still maintained in 864, in a letter to Rodulf, archbishop of Bourges, that the c. are true bishops. But the thesis of the false decretals was to triumph. In the 10th century the c. are already rare. They still survive in Ireland until the 13th century. In certain dioceses, such as Trier and Cologne, the chorepiscopate remained for a long time yet an honorary title. The institution of the c. had a particular development in the diocese of Salzburg (v.). Geographically the chorepiscopate was limited in the West to Germany and the Frankish lands; less frequently, it is also found in England and Ireland. It seems to have remained unknown in Italy, Spain and North Africa.

III. IN THE EASTERN CATHOLIC CHURCHES

In those in which the chorepiscopate still exists, the chorepiscopi, whose functions tend to be identified with those of the vicar general rather than of the rural dean of the West, are no longer invested with the episcopal character. The Chaldeans preserve the ancient tradition of constituting only one chorepiscopus for each diocese, to whom they deny the power to ordain lectors and subdeacons. Among the Maronites, the chorepiscopi, ordained by the patriarch alone, or by his mandate, with the imposition of hands, have the power to confirm, to consecrate baptisteries and to dedicate churches and altars, as well as, with the prior permission of the patriarch, to confer even the minor orders. Among the Catholic Syrians, the chorepiscopus, the only one in the diocese, is the first dignity among the clergy. Among the Melkites, on the other hand, the chorepiscopate is at present the last of the honorary titles.

In the dissident Greek Churches, the rectors of certain large parishes and the deans of a group of parishes are honored with the title of chorepiscopus. In Russia, auxiliary bishops were called chorepiscopi. The Greek canonical collection of the two monks Agapios Leonardos and Nicodemos Agiorita, known under the title of Πηδάλιον (ed. Athens 1908, p. 140), observes maliciously that "today, the so-called chorepiscopi have a very lofty name, but nothing of power."

Acacio Coussa