Word of the Day: Eparchy

EPARCHY. In the Eastern Christian Churches the name for an ecclesiastical province. It is contrasted with an exarchate or civil diocese, of which it is a subdivision. Known already in the early fourth century, its official head is an eparch, sometimes called the metropolitan, who can veto the election of the bishops of the dioceses in his eparchy. (Etym. Greek eparchia, province; from eparchos, prefect.)

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I'm sorry, but I see a pattern of ignorance about the Eastern Churches emerging on the part of Father. His lack of knowledge on icons and the iconostasis was a tip off, but this is glaring.

An Eparchy is in no way an ecclesiastical Province and an Eparch is never called a Metropolitan.. An Eparchy is a Diocese and its Eparch is a Bishop. The Eparchy is part of an Archeparchy or Province, ruled by an Archeparch or Metropolitan, or in the West an Archbishop.

When I lived in Canada, I was subject to my Eparch, David (Motiuk) of Edmonton. He was subject to Lawrence (Huculak), Archeparch of the Metropolitan Archeparchy of Winnipeg. And we were all subject, under the Pope of Rome, to Sviatoslav (Shevchuk), Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Galicia, who should be the Patriarch of Kyiv, except that Rome is cravenly afraid to offend the Orthodox oppressors of the Church.