METROPOLITAN. – He is the bishop who presides over the ecclesiastical province and has under him other bishops, called “suffragans” (from the suffrage to which they have a right in the provincial council). The title of “archbishop” belongs to him, but not exclusively, since it is also granted as an honorary title to bishops immediately subject to the Holy See and without suffragans, or to titular bishops.
In the early centuries, the city that was the mother or principal city of the province (ἐπαρχία), in which the Christian religion had first been preached—sometimes even by the Apostles themselves—and from which it had spread to other centres, was called a metropolis (μητρόπολις). For this reason, and also because of the influence of the Roman provincial organization, the bishop of the metropolis came to exercise a certain jurisdiction over the provincial bishops (ἐπαρχία), who from the 8th century were also called “suffragans.” In Africa, however, and perhaps also in Spain, the metropolitan dignity was not attached to the principal see, but was attributed to the bishop who was the senior by ordination. In the East, the Council of Nicaea in 325 already presupposes the existence of the metropolitan organization; in the West, it was gradually established during the 4th and 5th centuries. In the early Middle Ages, the rights and duties of metropolitans were very extensive: they presided over the provincial council, intervened in all extraordinary matters of their provinces, received appeals against the sentences and decrees of suffragans, confirmed and consecrated them, judged and deposed them. Since, however, their jurisdiction was of human right, it could gradually be restricted both by the strengthening of the dignity and independence of suffragan bishops and, above all, by the interventions of the Roman pontiffs, who, concerned by abuses, revoked the powers acquired. This occurred, especially in the West, even in the period preceding the authentic collections of the Decretals, also under the influence of Pseudo-Isidore, a determined opponent of metropolitan power. In the law of the Decretals, however, the metropolitans retained not a few prerogatives, which were later subject to further limitations. The Council of Trent reformed the entire discipline, which was substantially incorporated into the Code of Canon Law.
In current canon law, the metropolitan dignity is always united to a determined episcopal see approved by the pope (can. 272). Within his own diocese, the metropolitan has the same rights and duties as any other bishop (can. 273); in the dioceses of the suffragans, he has only those enumerated in the Code of Canon Law or expressly granted to him. In particular, with regard to administrative jurisdiction, the metropolitan must convoke and preside over the provincial council every twenty years (can. 283-84); he may oversee the observance of the faith and ecclesiastical discipline throughout the province and inform the pope of abuses (can. 274 n. 4); he may institute candidates to benefices presented by patrons if the competent suffragan has failed to do so within the legal term, unless prevented by a just cause (can. 274 n. 1); he may appoint the capitular vicar in suffragan dioceses if the competent cathedral chapter has failed to do so within eight days of receiving notice of the vacancy of the episcopal see (can. 274 n. 3 and 432 §§ 1 and 2); he may visit suffragan dioceses, with prior approval of the cause by the Holy See, if the suffragans themselves have neglected to do so; during the visitation, he may preach, hear confessions, absolve—even from reserved cases—inquire into the life and honesty of the clergy, denounce to the competent religious orders, for punishment, clerics noted for infamy, punish with just penalties, not excluding censures, notorious crimes and offences committed against him or persons of his household (can. 274 n. 5); finally, if a suffragan incurs excommunication, suspension, or interdict, the metropolitan must immediately refer the matter to the Holy See for action (can. 429 § 5). With regard to judicial power, the metropolitan’s tribunal is the court of second instance for all cases decided in first instance by a suffragan (can. 274 n. 7 and 1594 § 1), except in Italy and other countries, where matrimonial causes are reserved to regional tribunals even in first instance; the metropolitan’s tribunal is also the court of first instance for causes concerning the rights or temporal goods of the suffragan or his episcopal table or his diocesan curia, unless the suffragan prefers to entrust them to his own tribunal (can. 274 n. 8 and 1572 § 2). The metropolitan also enjoys certain prerogatives throughout his province: he may grant indulgences of 200 days (S. Penit. Ap. 20 July 1942); he takes precedence over suffragans even in their own dioceses; he may celebrate pontifical functions in all churches, even exempt ones, notifying the ordinary if the church is a cathedral; he may bless the people and process with the cross raised (can. 274 n. 2 and 6).
Outside his province, the metropolitan may exercise certain rights over bishops, prelates, and abbots *nullius*, immediately subject to the Holy See, who have chosen him, once and for all, to participate in their provincial council (can. 285).
The metropolitan has the right to the pallium, the symbol of archiepiscopal authority, and must request it from the Supreme Pontiff within three months of consecration or promotion in consistory, if already consecrated (can. 275). Acts of metropolitan jurisdiction or of episcopal order in which the use of the pallium is prescribed by liturgical laws are illicit if performed before the imposition of the pallium itself (can. 276). Finally, with regard to precedence, metropolitans, like other archbishops, follow primates and precede bishops (can. 280).