Clergy and religious life
The Orthodox hierarchy
The Eastern Orthodox Church is a communion of self-governing, or autocephalous, churches – between fourteen and seventeen, depending on which are recognised – that share one faith and one sacramental life. Each is led by a Holy Synod of its bishops under a primate, who may be a patriarch, an archbishop or a metropolitan. The Romanian Orthodox Church, for example, has been a patriarchate since 1925. Authority is conciliar: major questions are settled by bishops meeting in synod, not by a single head. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople holds a primacy of honour, first among equals, without jurisdiction over the other churches. Within each church there are three major orders: bishop, priest (presbyter) and deacon. Priests and deacons may be married if they married before ordination, while bishops are celibate and in practice drawn from monastics. Monks and nuns are not an order of clergy, but monasticism shapes the whole Church, and many monks are also ordained.
See also: The Catholic hierarchy →See also: The Anglican hierarchy →See also: Protestant ministry →
- Bishops
- Priests
- Deacons
- Minor orders
- Monastics
Orders and states of life
Bishops
Bishops stand in apostolic succession and hold the fullness of the priesthood. All bishops are sacramentally equal; titles such as patriarch, metropolitan and archbishop describe office and seniority, not a higher ordination. A bishop is consecrated by at least two or three bishops, is always celibate, and in practice is chosen from among monks or widowed clergy who have taken monastic vows.
Priests
Priests, or presbyters, celebrate the Divine Liturgy and the other sacraments, except ordination, under the authority of their bishop. Most parish priests in the Orthodox world are married. Honorary ranks such as archpriest or archimandrite recognise service and seniority but involve no further ordination; the bishop confers them with a short rite of blessing during a service.
Deacons
Deacons assist the bishop and priest in the liturgy, lead the litanies, read the Gospel and help with the distribution of Communion. They cannot celebrate a sacrament on their own. Many deacons later become priests, but the diaconate is also a lifelong vocation in its own right. Senior married deacons may be raised to protodeacon, and a deacon who is a monk is called a hierodeacon.
Minor orders
The minor orders of reader and subdeacon are conferred by a bishop through tonsure and cheirothesia, a blessing with the laying on of hands, rather than the cheirotonia of the major orders, which takes place at the altar during the Liturgy. Readers and subdeacons serve in the services, and the orders are a step towards the diaconate, though many readers remain readers for life.
Monastics
Monks and nuns live under vows of obedience, chastity and poverty in monasteries and sketes. Monasticism is a way of life, not an order of clergy, and it has its own stages: rassophore, stavrophore (small schema) and great schema. A monk may also be ordained deacon or priest, and the bishops of the Church are drawn from the monastic ranks.
Bishops
Patriarch
Patriarh (Romanian) / Патриарх (Russian) / Πατριάρχης (Greek)
Addressed as His Beatitude (Romanian: Preafericirea Sa); the Ecumenical Patriarch is styled His All-Holiness
A patriarch is the primate of an autocephalous church of patriarchal rank, such as Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Moscow, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria or Georgia. Sacramentally he is a bishop like any other, but he convenes and presides over the Holy Synod and represents his church to others. He is elected for life by an electoral body or synod of his own church and enthroned in his cathedral. In Romania the patriarch is also Archbishop of Bucharest and Metropolitan of Muntenia and Dobrudja. Like every Orthodox bishop, he is celibate and a monk.
What the figure wears
- Sakkos sacos
A knee-length gold tunic with wide sleeves, woven with a pattern of crosses and joined at the sides with small bells. Derived from Byzantine imperial dress, it is worn by bishops at the Liturgy.
- Great omophorion omofor
A broad white band embroidered with red crosses, laid around the neck and shoulders and falling front and back. It recalls the lost sheep carried by the Good Shepherd.
- Epigonation
A stiff, diamond-shaped panel of embroidered cloth hanging at the right hip from a ribbon, representing the spiritual sword, the word of God.
- Mitre mitră
A rounded, onion-shaped crown of gold fabric set with jewels and enamelled icons of Christ, the Mother of God and saints, with a small standing cross on top.
- Two panagias and a cross engolpioane
Two oval medallions with icons of Christ and the Mother of God, worn on chains together with a jewelled pectoral cross. The set of three marks the primate of a church.
- Patriarchal staff cârjă
A tall staff whose head is formed by two serpents facing a small cross, recalling the bronze serpent of Moses and the shepherd’s authority over the flock.
- Outside services
- A white rason (Romanian *rasă*) and white cassock (*reverendă*), black only in the first week of Lent and Holy Week, with the engolpia and staff, and, as the distinctive mark of the Romanian patriarch, a white veiled *camilafcă* bearing a cross. The Russian patriarch instead wears a rounded white *koukoulion*.
- Insignia
- Two engolpia and a pectoral cross, the patriarchal staff, a processional mantle (*mandyas*), and the dikirion and trikirion candlesticks with which he blesses the people.
Bishops
Metropolitan / Archbishop
Mitropolit / Arhiepiscop (Romanian) / Митрополит / Архиепископ (Russian) / Μητροπολίτης / Αρχιεπίσκοπος (Greek)
Addressed as His Eminence (Romanian: Înaltpreasfinția Sa)
Both titles denote senior bishops, and their order differs between traditions. In Russian and Romanian usage a metropolitan heads a metropolis, a group of dioceses whose bishops form a regional synod, while archbishop is a title for important sees or an honour for senior bishops. In Greek usage the order is often reversed: the primate of Greece is Archbishop of Athens, and most diocesan bishops are styled metropolitans. Neither title is a separate ordination; holders are bishops elected or promoted by the Holy Synod.
What the figure wears
- Mantle мантия
A floor-length blue pleated cape fastened at the neck and at the hem, the Russian metropolitan’s colour, worn in church outside the Liturgy.
- Rivers источники
Horizontal stripes of red and white ribbon running around the mantle, called rivers or streams, for the teaching that flows from the bishop to the world.
- Pomata скрижали
Four rectangular tablets of red cloth sewn at the corners of the mantle, two at the neck and two at the hem, often bearing icons or the hierarch’s monogram.
- White klobuk клобук
A white cylindrical hat covered with a white veil falling over the shoulders and back, with a small jewelled cross on the front, the mark of a Russian metropolitan.
- Two panagias панагии
Two oval icons of Christ and the Mother of God on chains on the breast; in Russian practice the right to a second panagia is given to senior hierarchs.
- Pastoral staff посох
A tall staff whose head has two curved arms or serpent heads beneath a cross, with a cloth (sulok) tied below the handle, as is Russian custom.
- Outside services
- Day to day, a black podryasnik and rason with the white klobuk and panagia. Russian archbishops wear a black klobuk with a jewelled cross; in Romania metropolitans and archbishops wear a black veiled *camilafcă* with a small cross, bishops a plain one, and only the patriarch's is white. At the Liturgy the mantle is set aside for the sakkos and omophorion.
- Insignia
- Two panagias, pastoral staff, white klobuk with jewelled cross, a blue mantle with rivers and pomata, and at the Liturgy the sakkos, omophorion, mitre, dikirion and trikirion.
Bishops
Bishop
Episcop (Romanian) / Епископ (Russian) / Επίσκοπος (Greek)
Addressed as His Grace (Romanian: Preasfinția Sa)
A bishop governs a diocese, or eparchy, ordains its clergy, consecrates churches and the antimensia placed on their altars, and is the focus of unity for the local church. He is elected by the Holy Synod of his autocephalous church and consecrated during the Divine Liturgy by at least two or three bishops. He must be unmarried or widowed and receive monastic tonsure if he is not already a monk. An auxiliary or vicar bishop assists a diocesan bishop and usually bears the name of a historic town.
What the figure wears
- Sakkos σάκκος
A knee-length tunic of deep red brocade with wide sleeves, joined at the sides with small bells, worn over the inner vestments at the Liturgy.
- Omophorion ωμοφόριον
A broad band with crosses around the shoulders, falling front and back, the bishop’s defining vestment as shepherd who carries the lost sheep.
- Mitre μίτρα
A domed gold crown set with icons and topped by a small cross, modelled on Byzantine imperial headgear and recalling the kingship of Christ.
- Panagia εγκόλπιον
A single oval medallion with an icon of the Mother of God hung on the breast from a chain; the personal sign of a bishop.
- Dikirion δικήριον
A candlestick holding two crossed candles, held in the left hand to bless the people; it stands for the two natures of Christ.
- Trikirion τρικήριον
A candlestick holding three candles, held in the right hand together with the dikirion to bless the people; it stands for the Holy Trinity.
- Outside services
- In Greek usage a black outer rason (*exorasson*) and a black *kalimavkion* with a veil (*epanokalimavkion*), with the engolpion on the chest; on formal occasions a red or purple mantle and a staff.
- Insignia
- Panagia, often with a pectoral cross, the pastoral staff (*pateritsa*), a red or purple mantle with gold stripes, and the dikirion and trikirion.
Priests
Archimandrite
Arhimandrit (Romanian) / Архимандрит (Russian) / Αρχιμανδρίτης (Greek)
Addressed as The Very Reverend Father (Greek: *Panosiologiotatos*)
An archimandrite is a senior monastic priest. The title once meant the head of a large monastery or group of monasteries; today it is the highest honorary rank for hieromonks, given by a bishop to abbots, seminary rectors, cathedral clergy and diocesan officials. In Greek churches many celibate priests in parishes or administration are archimandrites. In Romanian usage it follows the ranks of hieromonk (ieromonah) and protosyncellus (protosinghel). Bishops are often chosen from archimandrites, but the rank is not episcopal: an archimandrite cannot ordain.
What the figure wears
- Klobuk клобук
A black cylindrical kamilavka covered with a black veil that falls over the shoulders and back, the headgear of monastic clergy.
- Mantle мантия
A floor-length black pleated monastic cape fastened at the neck and the hem; an archimandrite’s mantle has tablets but no bishop’s stripes.
- Pomata скрижали
Four rectangular tablets of red or green cloth at the corners of the mantle, said to signify the Old and New Testaments and the four Gospels.
- Jewelled pectoral cross наперсный крест
A gold cross set with stones on a chain over the mantle, an insignia of the rank and of priestly witness.
- Prayer rope чётки
A rope of black wool knots held in the hand, used to count the Jesus Prayer; a reminder that he remains a monk.
- Outside services
- Daily, a black podryasnik and rason with the pectoral cross and veiled klobuk. At the Liturgy, Russian archimandrites wear the phelonion, palitsa and a mitre similar to a bishop's; Greek archimandrites usually serve bareheaded.
- Insignia
- Pectoral cross, mitre in Slavic use, a monastic mantle with tablets (*pomata*), and a staff where the archimandrite is an abbot.
Priests
Archpriest / Protopresbyter
Iconom stavrofor (Romanian) / Протоиерей, протопресвитер (Russian) / Πρωτοπρεσβύτερος (Greek)
Addressed as The Very Reverend Father
Archpriest and protopresbyter are honorary ranks for senior priests who are not monks, the counterpart of archimandrite for the married clergy. The bishop confers them in recognition of service, sometimes with a deanery or cathedral post. In Romanian usage a parish priest may be raised in turn to sachelar, iconom and iconom stavrofor, the cross-bearing steward, who wears a pectoral cross. The protopop is a different function: the priest who heads a deanery. In Russian usage protopresbyter is the highest and rarest award.
What the figure wears
- Phelonion фелонь
A full, bell-shaped cape of burgundy and gold brocade, cut short at the front and long at the back, the priest’s chief Eucharistic vestment.
- Epitrachelion епитрахиль
A long embroidered stole worn around the neck and joined down the front, decorated with crosses and ending in a fringe near the hem.
- Jewelled pectoral cross крест с украшениями
A large gold cross set with stones, a higher Russian award; junior priests wear a plain silver cross and archpriests a gold one.
- Kamilavka камилавка
A cylindrical, flat-topped hat of violet velvet awarded to archpriests, worn in church and removed at the most solemn moments of the service.
- Outside services
- In Russian use a black or dark podryasnik and rason with the gold pectoral cross and violet kamilavka; in Romania a black cassock (*reverendă*) and rason with the stavrophore's cross and a black clerical hat.
- Insignia
- Gold pectoral cross (jewelled for higher awards), nabedrennik and palitsa, violet kamilavka, and for the highest awards a mitre.
Priests
Priest (presbyter)
Preot (Romanian) / Иерей, священник (Russian) / Ιερεύς, πρεσβύτερος (Greek)
Addressed as Reverend Father (Romanian: *Părinte*)
The priest leads a parish, celebrates the Divine Liturgy and the sacraments of baptism, chrismation, confession, marriage and anointing, and preaches and teaches. He is ordained by a bishop with the laying on of hands at the altar and serves under that bishop, whose authority is symbolised by the antimension the bishop signs. A man may marry before ordination as deacon but not after, and a widowed priest may not remarry and continue to serve. Monastic priests are called hieromonks.
What the figure wears
- Sticharion stihar
An ankle-length white tunic with narrow sleeves, worn as the first vestment; it recalls the garment of baptism.
- Epitrachelion epitrahil
A long embroidered stole worn around the neck and joined down the front, decorated with crosses; the essential sign of the priesthood.
- Epimanikia rucavițe
Embroidered cuffs laced over the sleeves of the sticharion, each with a small cross, keeping the sleeves clear during the Liturgy.
- Phelonion felon
A large bell-shaped cape of blue and gold brocade covering the back and shoulders, shorter at the front, with a cross on the back.
- Pectoral cross cruce pectorală
A gold cross on a chain. In Greek and Romanian practice it is usually an award, as for the iconom stavrofor; Russian priests receive one at ordination.
- Kamilavka camilafcă
A black cylindrical hat, in Greek and Romanian use often with a flat brim at the top, worn by priests in church.
- Hand cross and censer cruce, cădelniță
A small cross held to bless the faithful, and a metal censer on chains swung to offer incense before icons and people.
- Outside services
- A black cassock (Greek *anteri*, Romanian *reverendă*) with a wide-sleeved outer rason, and a black cylindrical hat in Greek and Romanian use. Russian priests also wear a silver pectoral cross.
- Insignia
- Pectoral cross where awarded (in Russian use, every priest's silver cross), a hand cross for blessing and the censer; married priests wear no further insignia.
Deacons
Protodeacon / Deacon
Diacon, protodiacon (Romanian) / Диакон, протодиакон (Russian) / Διάκονος, πρωτοδιάκονος (Greek)
Addressed as Father Deacon
The deacon serves beside the priest and bishop: he censes the church, leads the litanies, reads the Gospel and assists at Communion, but cannot celebrate a sacrament alone. He is ordained by a bishop during the Divine Liturgy, after the consecration of the gifts. Like priests, deacons may be married if they married before ordination. Protodeacon is an honorary rank for senior married deacons, often attached to a cathedral or bishop; archdeacon is the equivalent among monastic deacons, who are called hierodeacons.
What the figure wears
- Sticharion стихарь
An ankle-length tunic of red and gold brocade with wide sleeves, worn by the deacon as his outer garment, often with a cross on the back.
- Orarion орарь
A long narrow stole over the left shoulder, hanging front and back and embroidered with Holy, Holy, Holy; the deacon raises its end in his right hand to call the people to prayer.
- Outside services
- A black cassock and rason, like a priest but without a pectoral cross; in Russian use a protodeacon may wear the purple kamilavka in church.
- Insignia
- No pectoral cross or staff; the orarion and the censer are his characteristic signs, and he carries the Gospel book in procession.
Minor orders
Subdeacon and reader
Ipodiacon, citeț (Romanian) / Иподиакон, чтец (Russian) / Υποδιάκονος, αναγνώστης (Greek)
Addressed as Subdeacon or Reader, followed by the first name
Readers chant the Epistle and the psalms and help with the services; subdeacons serve the bishop, vesting him, holding the dikirion and trikirion and guarding the altar doors. Both are tonsured by a bishop outside the altar and belong to the lower clergy. A reader may still marry after tonsure, but marriage must take place before ordination as subdeacon, since subdeacons are bound by the same rule as deacons. Both roles are often a stage on the way to the diaconate.
What the figure wears
- Sticharion стихарь
An ankle-length tunic of white and gold brocade with wide sleeves; readers wear one only when blessed to serve in the altar.
- Crossed orarion орарь
Subdeacons gird the orarion around the waist, cross it over the back and chest in an X and bring the ends over the shoulders, likened to angels’ wings.
- Dikirion дикирий
The bishop’s two-branched candlestick, carried by a subdeacon and handed to the bishop when he blesses the people.
- Trikirion трикирий
The bishop’s three-branched candlestick, carried with the dikirion by subdeacons serving at a hierarchical Liturgy.
- Outside services
- A plain black cassock in church, often only during services; most readers and subdeacons wear ordinary clothes in daily life and no clerical headgear.
- Insignia
- No personal insignia; subdeacons carry the bishop's dikirion and trikirion, the liturgical fans (*ripidia*) and the bishop's staff during hierarchical services.
Monastics
Monk
Monah, rasofor, schimonah (Romanian) / Монах (Russian) / Μοναχός (Greek)
Addressed as Father; Brother for novices and many rassophores
An Orthodox monk lives in a monastery under an abbot (hegumen, Romanian stareț) and a rule of prayer, work and obedience. Monastic life has three stages. A rassophore receives the rason and veiled hat but makes no formal vows. A stavrophore, or monk of the small schema, takes vows of obedience, chastity and poverty and receives the mantle. The great schema, given to few, adds a stricter rule and the embroidered analavos. A monk ordained deacon or priest is a hierodeacon or hieromonk.
What the figure wears
- Rason ряса
A black outer robe with very wide sleeves, the first monastic garment, given at the rassophore tonsure and worn by all monks.
- Klobuk клобук
A black cylindrical hat (kamilavka) covered with a black veil falling over the shoulders and back, a sign of withdrawal from the world.
- Prayer rope чётки
A rope of black wool knots, often 33, 50 or 100, given at tonsure and used to count the Jesus Prayer.
- Outside services
- The black podryasnik with a leather belt, often with the rason over it, and a soft black cap (*skufia*) for work; the veiled klobuk is worn in church and on formal occasions.
- Insignia
- Prayer rope, monastic mantle and veiled klobuk; an abbot also has a pectoral cross and staff, and a great-schema monk the embroidered analavos and cowl.
Monastics
Nun
Monahie, maică, stareță (Romanian) / Монахиня, игумения (Russian) / Μοναχή, ηγουμένη (Greek)
Addressed as Mother (Romanian *Maica*); an abbess is Reverend Mother (Romanian *Maica Stareță*)
Orthodox nuns pass through the same stages and vows as monks – rassophore, small schema and great schema – and live in convents under an abbess (Greek hegoumeni, Romanian stareță). They are not ordained and are not clergy, but they keep the full cycle of services and often run workshops, schools and charitable work. An abbess is installed by the bishop, receives a pectoral cross and staff, and governs the community in spiritual and practical matters. Romania has some of the largest women’s monasteries in the Orthodox world, such as Agapia and Văratec.
What the figure wears
- Habit подрясник
A black ankle-length inner robe (podryasnik) with narrow sleeves, belted at the waist, worn by all nuns at all times.
- Apostolnik апостольник
A black cloth head covering that frames the face and falls over the shoulders and chest; typical of Slavic nuns.
- Skufia скуфья
A soft, rounded black cap worn over the apostolnik for work and daily life, in place of the formal veiled klobuk.
- Prayer rope чётки
A knotted rope of black wool held in the hand, given at tonsure for the continual Jesus Prayer.
- Beeswax candle свеча
A slender candle of yellow beeswax, the kind lit before icons and held at services; nuns often make them in convent workshops.
- Outside services
- The black habit, apostolnik and skufia are daily dress; in church a nun of the small schema adds the mantle and veiled klobuk. Greek and Romanian nuns wear comparable black veils, differing locally in shape.
- Insignia
- Prayer rope and mantle; an abbess wears a pectoral cross and carries a staff, both given at her installation.
Questions people ask
Can Orthodox priests marry?
A married man can be ordained deacon or priest, and most Orthodox parish clergy are married with families. The order matters: marriage must come before ordination to the diaconate, and an ordained man cannot marry afterwards. If a priest's wife dies, he may not remarry and continue to serve; some widowed priests become monks. Bishops are the exception. Since the late seventh century they have been chosen only from unmarried or widowed clergy, and in practice from monastics.
What is the difference between an archimandrite and a bishop?
An archimandrite is a priest, a monk raised to the highest honorary rank of the presbyterate, often an abbot or a senior diocesan official. A bishop has received a further ordination, the episcopate, which gives him the authority to ordain clergy and govern a diocese. In Russian usage the two can look alike, since both may wear a mitre and pectoral cross, but only a bishop wears the sakkos and omophorion and holds a bishop's staff.
Is the Ecumenical Patriarch the Orthodox equivalent of the Pope?
No. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople holds a primacy of honour among the Orthodox churches and traditionally convenes pan-Orthodox gatherings, but he has no jurisdiction over other autocephalous churches. Each church, such as the Romanian or Russian, elects its own primate and governs itself through its own Holy Synod. Orthodox ecclesiology is conciliar: the highest authority belongs to councils of bishops, and doctrine is defined by ecumenical councils rather than by any single bishop.
Why are Orthodox bishops always monks?
The rule developed in the early Byzantine centuries. The Council in Trullo (692) required that a bishop's wife enter a monastery when he was consecrated, and over time bishops came to be chosen from the monasteries, which were seen as schools of prayer and discipline. Today a candidate must be unmarried or widowed and receive monastic tonsure if he is not already a monk. This is why bishops wear monastic dress, such as the veiled klobuk and mantle, outside services.
Are Orthodox nuns clergy?
No. Nuns, like monks who are not ordained, are monastics rather than clergy. They take lifelong vows, wear the monastic habit and keep a demanding cycle of prayer, but they do not receive holy orders. Historically the Church had ordained deaconesses, an order that fell out of use in the Byzantine period and is now discussed again in some churches. An abbess holds real authority over her convent, including its spiritual guidance, but it is pastoral, not sacramental.
Sources and further reading
- The Orthodox Church – Timothy (Kallistos) Ware (Penguin, new edition 2015)
- The Orthodox Church: An Introduction to its History, Doctrine, and Spiritual Culture – John Anthony McGuckin (Wiley-Blackwell, 2008)
- The Liturgical Dictionary of Eastern Christianity – Peter D. Day (Liturgical Press, 1993)
- Statutul pentru organizarea și funcționarea Bisericii Ortodoxe Române – Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church (Editura Institutului Biblic și de Misiune al Bisericii Ortodoxe Române, 2008)