Three ranks are distinguished among the clergy of the Orthodox Church. Some are called deacons, others are priests, and still others are bishops. The church hierarchy was established in the Apostolic times and still maintains continuity from the closest disciples of Christ.
The bishop is the highest church hierarch. Otherwise, these people can be called "princes of the Church." The bishopric is the highest form of worship..
Only priests who have taken monastic vows can be a bishop. In this case, a person necessarily goes through all the degrees of the priesthood, starting from the lowest, such as deaconhood and priesthood. In the practice of the Orthodox Church, priests who have remained widows can also be bishops, but they still need to take monastic vows.
The bishop should be not simply and not only the spiritual father of all believers in a particular ecclesiastical region (diocese). The bishop (bishop) is also responsible as the chief administrative officer of the diocese. Each bishop is entrusted with the rule of a certain ecclesiastical region, all churches and monasteries of which are under the jurisdiction of the archpastor. In worldly terms, the bishop is the governor of the church area.
The ruling bishops (bishops) are the only ones who have the right to perform ordinations. It is they who ordain deacons and priests to the priesthood. And the bishops themselves are ordained only by the patriarch in collaboration with other archpastors.
There are several "titles" in the episcopate that can be "awarded" for certain services to the Church and the Fatherland, or for length of service. So, there are bishops, archbishops and metropolitans. In recent years, in connection with the increase in the number of dioceses and the division of the latter into smaller ecclesiastical regions, metropolises have appeared. The latter unite several dioceses in themselves. The metropolitan becomes the head of an entire metropolitanate.
The patriarch (head of the entire Church) is also a bishop. He is elected from among the worthy metropolitans.
