Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/683

CLERGY 671 early period. A practice of living in com- munity, like the monks of the present day, ap- pears, from the narrative of St. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles, to have originated with the clergy of Jerusalem ; and though inter- rupted by persecution, it was not entirely aban- doned until the distinction was made between secular and regular clergy, when the former ceased to live in communities. It was intro- duced into various parts of Christendom, and is mentioned by Bede as having been enforced in England by St. Augustin, acting under the orders of Gregory the Great. As the church emerged from poverty, the influence of the clergy became more and more palpable. They were reverenced not only as spiritual guides and ministers of the sacraments, but as the depositaries of nearly all the learning of the age, so that by the 12th century the term cleri- cus became the common designation of every person of education. Civil rulers granted them numerous privileges and exemptions. No bishop could be compelled to appear before a secular court, no presbyter could be interrogated by the torture, no lay tribunal could take cogni- zance of ecclesiastical matters, nor were the clergy under the Roman empire subject to many of the taxes laid upon the people, or called upon to fill certain public offices. They obtained temporal jurisdiction not only over their own body, but over the laity, and in the German empire the sovereignty of many of the states was vested in them. They thus ac- quired in the process of time a preponderating influence in European politics, which, however much it may have been at times abused, was unquestionably the only barrier between popular rights and the encroachments of des- potic princes, just as in former generations their spiritual influence over the barbarian invaders had saved Europe from slavery. During the middle ages, when the clergy formed a vast, disciplined, and wealthy body, dispersed throughout the known world, each member recognizing his proper superior, and all bowing before the supremacy of the bishop of Rome, this power reached its meridian, though from the days of the first Christian em- perors to the most modern times the respec- tive boundaries of secular and ecclesiastical au- thority have been a subject of contention in nearly every country of the old world. The clergy were anciently subjected to many disci- plinary regulations, the chief of which are still in force in the Roman Catholic church, and some of them are observed among Protestant de- nominations. In the Roman Catholic church, the ecclesiastical body embraces a hierarchy, which claims to have been instituted by Christ himself, and of which the visible head is the pope. According to the creed of this church, the government of the faithful was committed to St. Peter as the chief of the apostles, from whose successors in the see of Rome all other bishops derive their power to rule. Besides orders of bishops, priests, deacons, and sub- 197 VOL. iv. 43 deacons, there are inferior officers who fulfil various functions connected with the sanctuary ; these are acolytes, lectors, exorcists, and os- tiaries, forming degrees by which candidates must ascend to the priesthood. Subdeacons are obliged to take a vow of perpetual celibacy, according to an ancient regulation founded upon a still older custom of the church. It is held that at the introduction of Christianity married men were permitted to take orders on condition of separating from their wives. In the Greek church there are six orders of cler- gy, namely : bishop, deacon, subdeacon, lector, cantor, and liturgist. Every secular priest is required to marry a virgin before ordination, but is not allowed to marry, a second time ; and should his wife die he ceases to exercise the functions of his office, and enters a monas- tic order. Both Greek and Roman clergy are divided into regular and secular, the former comprising members of religious orders, and the latter all other ecclesiastics. The monks of the first ages were not necessarily connected with the clerical state ; but subsequently monks were commonly ordained priests, though par- tially exempt from episcopal jurisdiction, while their abbots, even if not consecrated bishops, were clothed with episcopal authority, and wore episcopal insignia. The monks of the Greek church are under the same obligation of celibacy as their western brethren. The church of England recognizes three orders of clergymen, bishops, priests, and deacons, who are comprised in the two provinces of Can- terbury and York, each having its archbishop. Each bishopric is divided into archdeaconries, and each archdeaconry into parishes. The last are filled by incumbents who, when pos- sessing the entire tithes of the parish, are styled rectors ; when sharing them with lay patrons or cathedral chapters, are termed vicars ; and when receiving a stipend from the impropria- tors of the tithes, bear the title of perpetual curates. Many of the livings are in the gift of laymen. The bishoprics are in the gift of the crown, which nominates a person to be elected by the cathedral chapter, and con- firmed by the archbishop. The clergy meet by delegates in convocation at the beginning of every new parliament; though for a long period this practice was disused, the assem- blage being regularly dissolved by the arch- bishop before it could proceed to business. A clergyman is exempt from jury duty, from at- tendance at a court leet, from arrest in civil suits while celebrating divine service, from filling the office of bailiff, constable, or the like ; but, on the other hand, he cannot sit in the house of commons, engage in trade, or farm lands to the extent of more than 80 acres, or for the term of more than seven years. The clerical system of the Protestant Episcopal church in America resembles that of the parent establishment, except in local regulations, and in that it has no archbishops. Some other Protestant communions recognize degrees of