Archbishop

a bishop of the highest rank. In the early days of Christianity, the pastors of the various churches were called bishops. After a time the bishops of the large cities, surrounded as they were by many smaller churches, were called archbishops by way of distinction. The bishop of Alexandria was one of the first, if not the first, to claim the title. The Roman Catholic church is the only one that has archbishops in this country. There are fourteen, namely, those of Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dubuque, Milwaukee, New Orleans, New York, Portland, Philadelphia, St. Louis, St. Paul, San Francisco, and Santa F'e. The arch-bishopric of Baltimore is the oldest and the ranking see. The Church of England has four archbishops, those of Canterbury, York, Armagh, and Dublin.