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blesses Bishop Stephen Alencastre as fifth Apostolic Vicar Of The Hawaiian Islands in a Cathedral Of Our Lady Of Peace Window . In Catholicism , the Pope is the bishop of the Diocese Of Rome . He creates the other Dioceses throughout the world and chooses their bishops.]] In some Christian churches, the diocese is an administrative territorial unit administrated by a Bishop , hence also referred to as a '''''bishopric''''' or '' Episcopal See '', though more often the term ''episcopal see'' means the office held by the bishop. In the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, an important diocese is called an '''archdiocese''' (usually due to size, historical significance, or both), which is governed by an Archbishop , who may in the Catholic hierarchy either be exempt or have Metropolitan authority over the other ('suffragan') dioceses within a wider jurisdiction called Ecclesiastical Province . As Of 2003 , there are approximately 569 Roman Catholic archdioceses and 2014 dioceses. Some Protestant churches, such as the Church Of England , inherited this diocesan structure after the Protestant Reformation formally divided new Christian sects from the Roman Catholic Church. In the later organization of the Roman Empire , the increasingly subdivided Provinces were administratively associated in a larger unit, the diocese. ( Latin ''dioecesis'', from the Greek term διοίκησις meaning "administration"). The Catholic Church adopted the Roman diocesan structure of authority during the . IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE The earliest use of 'diocese' as an administrative unit was in the Greek-speaking East. Three districts— Cibyra , Apamea and Synnada — were added to the province of Cilicia in the time of Cicero , who mentions the fact in his familiar letters (''EB'' 1911). The word 'diocese', which at that time was equivalent to a tax-collecting district, came to be applied to the territory itself. The reorganization of the , included sixteen provinces, and the smallest, Britain, was comprised of only four provinces. A list of Roman dioceses as they existed in 395 CE can be found at the entry for Roman Province s. Each diocese of the Empire was governed by a ''. CHRISTIAN HIERARCHY Modern Christian usage of 'diocese' tends to refer to the sphere of a bishop's jurisdiction. This became commonplace during the self-conscious "classicizing" structural evolution of the Carolingian Empire in the 9th century, but this usage had itself been evolving from the much earlier ''parochia'' (" Parish "), dating from the increasingly formalised Christian authority structure in the 4th century (see ''EB'' 1911). In English-speaking countries, The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints uses the term Ward , rather than parish, to refer to the jurisdiction of the Bishop and his counselors. However, the ward is not equal in size to a Catholic diocese; rather, a Stake is. OTHER CHURCHES In the United Methodist Church , a Bishop is given oversight over a geographical area called an Episcopal Area. The Clergy under his supervision along with their churches are collectively referred to as the Annual Conference. Thus, depending on how the term "diocese" is being used (whether to refer to geography or a group of churches) either the term "Episcopal Area" or "Annual Conference" might be the appropriate UMC equivalent. SEE ALSO
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