The New International Encyclopædia/Diocese

​DIOCESE (OF. diocise, diocese, Fr. diocèse, Lat. diœcesis, from Gk. διοίκησις, dioikēsis, administration, from διοικεῖν, dioikein, to keep house, from διά, dia, through + οἰκεῖν, oikein, to inhabit, from οἶκος, oikos, house, Lat. vicus, village, Skt. viś, house). In the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, a district committed to the pastoral care of a bishop. The term was used in the civil administration of the later Roman Empire, which Constantine divided into thirteen districts called dioceses, and these again into one hundred and twenty provinces, When the Church had perfected her episcopal organization and received the recognition of the State, she modeled her territorial divisions on those of the civil administration. This adaptation appears to have been completed by the end of the fourth century. There developed an exarch or patriarch in each of the great dioceses, and a metropolitan or primate in each province, the word παροικία, or parish, being applied to what we now call a diocese. At a later period the word diocese was transferred to the territory of a bishop’s jurisdiction, and the word patriarchate used for the ancient diocese. In the Eastern Churches the civil term eparchy is used to this day for a diocese. At the present time dioceses of the Catholic Church are erected by the Pope in consistory. Before the erection of a diocese, administrative districts not formally so constituted are styled prefectures apostolic and vicariates apostolic. Dioceses are created in the Church of England by act of Parliament. In the American Episcopal Church new dioceses are created by primary conventions of the clergy and laity of the district, and are then admitted into union with the general convention by vote of that body.