Factsheet 3
Church - Minster - Cathedral Church A Christian place of worship. All minsters and cathedrals are churches, but not all churches are minsters or cathedrals.
Minster Towards the end of the sixth Century, Pope Gregory sent Christian missionaries to convert Saxon England. They built churches to be centres for worship and as bases from which they would go to preach in the surrounding countryside. Priests lived there communally though not necessarily as monks subject to the rule of St Benedict. Such a centre was known as a monasterium. This word entered the Saxon language as mynster. Today the spelling has changed and the word Minster describes many different types of church building, from small parish churches to large cathedrals such as York.
Cathedral A cathedral is the most important church in a bishop’s diocese, the geographical area over which he has authority. In the early days of the church, a bishop wore the same vestments (clothes) as any other priest. To distinguish him as the leader he was given a chair on which only he could sit, in the same way that in secular society, the king was given a throne. In both Greek and Latin the word for chair is cathedra. From this the word cathedral has been derived.
Produced by York Minster Centre for School Visits Š Dean & Chapter of York 2006
Factsheet 3
Church - Minster - Cathedral The Archbishop of York An Archbishop has responsibility for leadership of a province of the church – a region made up of a number of dioceses (areas roughly the size of a county) each with its own cathedral and bishop. The words bishop and archbishop come from the Greek word episkopos which means overseer. His prime duty is to oversee the teaching of the Christian faith and the pastoral care of the church. In the Church of England only bishops and archbishops
can
administer
confirmation
and
Northern Province
ordination. The Archbishop of York is appointed by the crown to be head of the Church of England in the Northern Province. His title is the primate of England. He and the Archbishop of Canterbury, the
Southern Province
only other English Archbishop, have seats in the House of Lords. They rank in precedence after the Royal Dukes.
The Archbishop of York and the Minster The Archbishop has a special relationship with the Minster. He is not responsible for the day to day running of the cathedral but he is its visitor. This means he can carry out formal fact finding visitations to determine that all is well with the way that the Dean and Chapter are carrying out their duties. He is also responsible for appointing canons. As Archbishop he has the right to preach at Easter and he uses the Minster to ordain deacons and consecrate bishops. The current Archbishop was inaugurated in November 2005 and is the 97th man to have become Archbishop of York.
The Arcbishop of Canterbury (right )embraces the new Archbishop of York on the day of his Inauguration
Produced by York Minster Centre for School Visits Š Dean & Chapter of York 2006