METROPOLITAN

A metropolitan is the chief prelate in an ecclesiastical territory that usually coincided with a civil province.

The metropolitan ranks just below a patriarch and just above an archbishop, except in the contemporary Greek Orthodox Church, where since the 1850s the archbishop ranks above the metropolitan. The term derives from the Greek word for the capital of a province where the head of the episcopate resides. The first evidence of its use to designate a Churchman's rank was in the Council of Nicaea (325 c.e.) decision, which declared (canon 4; cf. canon 6) the right of the metropolitan to confirm episcopal appointments within his jurisdiction.

A metropolitan was first appointed to head the Rus Church in 992. Subsequent metropolitans of Kiev and All Rus resided in Kiev until 1299 when Metropolitan Maxim (1283–1305) moved his residence to Vladimir-on-the-Klyazma. His successor, Peter (1308–1326), began residing unofficially in Moscow. The next metropolitan, Feognost (1328–1353), made the move to Moscow official. A rival metropolitan was proposed by the grand duke of Lithuania, Olgerd, in 1354, and from then until the 1680s there was a metropolitan residing in western Rus with a rival claim to heading the metropoly of Kiev and all Rus.

Until 1441, the metropolitans of Rus were appointed in Constantinople. From 1448 until 1589, the grand prince or tsar appointed the metropolitan of Moscow and all Rus following nomination by the council of bishops. When the metropolitan of Moscow and all Rus was raised to the status of patriarch in 1589, the existing archbishops—those of Novgorod, Rostov, Kazan, and Sarai—were elevated to metropolitans. The Council of 1667 elevated four other archbishops—those of Astrakhan, Ryazan, Tobolsk, and Belgorod—to metropolitan status. After the abolition of the patriarchate in 1721 by Peter I, no metropolitans were appointed until the reign of Elizabeth, when metropolitans were appointed for Kiev (1747) and Moscow (1757). Under Catherine II, a third metropolitan—for St. Petersburg—was appointed (1783). In 1917, the patriarchate of Moscow was reestablished and various new metropolitanates created so that by the 1980s there were twelve metropolitans in the area encompassed by the Soviet Union.

See also: patriarchate; russian orthodox church

bibliography

Ellis, Jane. (1986). The Russian Orthodox Church: A Contemporary History. London: Croom Helm.

Fennell, John. (1995). History of the Russian Church to 1448. London: Longman.

Preobrazhensky, Alexander, ed. (1998). The Russian Orthodox Church: Tenth to Twentieth Centuries. Moscow: Progress.

Donald Ostrowski

met·ro·pol·i·tan / ˌmetrəˈpälitn/ • adj. 1. of, relating to, or denoting a metropolis, often inclusive of its surrounding areas: the Boston metropolitan area.2. of, relating to, or denoting the parent state of a colony or dependency: metropolitan Spain.3. Christian Church of, relating to, or denoting a metropolitan or his see: a metropolitan bishop.• n. 1. Christian Church a bishop having authority over the bishops of a province, in particular (in many Orthodox Churches) one ranking above archbishop and below patriarch.2. an inhabitant of a metropolis: the sophisticated metropolitan.DERIVATIVES: met·ro·pol·i·tan·ate / -ˈpälitnˌāt / n. (in sense 1 of the noun).met·ro·pol·i·tan·ism / -ˌpälətnˌizəm/ n.

Metropolitan ★★★ 1990 (PG-13)

The Izod set comes of age on Park Avenue during Christmas break. Tom Townsend (Clements), a member of the middle class, finds himself drawn into a circle of self-proclaimed urban haute bourgeoisie types. They're embarrassingly short on male escorts for the holiday season's parties so he stands in and gets an inside look at life with the brat pack. Intelligently written and carefully made, it transcends the flirting-with-adulthood genre. 98m/C VHS, DVD . Carolyn Farina, Edward Clements, Taylor Nichols, Christopher Eigeman, Allison Rutledge-Parisi, Dylan Hundley, Isabel Gillies, Bryan Leder, Will Kempe, Elizabeth Thompson; D: Whit Stillman; W: Whit Stillman; C: John Thomas; M: Mark Suozzo. Ind. Spirit ‘91: First Feature; N.Y. Film Critics ‘90: Director (Stillman).

Metropolitan. Christian bishop of a province, who presides over all the other bishops in the province.

metropolitan in the Christian Church, a bishop having authority over the bishops of a province, in particular (in many Orthodox Churches) one ranking above archbishop and below patriarch.