What is Diocese?
A '''diocese''' is an area of land under the charge of a [[bishop]]. He looks after the [[religious]] needs of the [[Christian]]s who live within the diocese's jurisdiction. The bishop organises the work of the [[Church]] in the area, and is responsible for all the ministers (priests) in his area. Another word for diocese is '''see''', or even 'episcopal see'. The diocese is the key geographical unit of religious authority in the church. [[Archbishop]]s have an '''archdiocese'''. Inside each diocese are a number of [[parish]]es. Each parish is the area supervised by a local [[priest]], and is part of the diocese. == History == As the Western [[Roman Empire]] fell during the 5th and 6th centuries the bishops of the Church took over many of the administrative roles of the former [[Roman prefect]]s. The areas of ecclesiastical administration always coincided with those of the Roman civil administration. A thousand years later, the [[Ottoman Empire]] conquered the Eastern Roman, or [[Byzantine Empire]]. The eastern bishops then continued as the Roman civil structure was stripped away. Many an ancient diocese, though later divided among several dioceses, preserved the boundaries of a long-vanished Roman [[administrative division]]. ==Related pages== * [[Archbishop ad personam]] * [[Auxiliary bishop]] ==Other websites== {{Commonscat-inline|Dioceses}} [[Category:Christian terminology]] [[Category:Church organization]]