ecclesiastical
Pertaining to clergy
Ecclesiastical means relating to the Christian church or its clergy.
The word applies to church governance, architecture, law, and ceremony: ecclesiastical authority, ecclesiastical vestments, ecclesiastical courts.
It carries a formal, institutional tone—you might describe a cathedral's ecclesiastical architecture but not call your local pastor's sermon ecclesiastical.
Catholic Church's supreme leader
- cardinalOf foremost importance
- archbishopSenior prelate over province
- bishopDiocesan clergy head
- monsignorPapal honorific for priests
priest · deacon · vicar · rector · pastor · chaplain · curate · parson
Bishop's territorial jurisdiction
- parishLocal church community
- synodChurch governing assembly
- bishopricBishop's jurisdictional district
- episcopateBishops as a body
see · curia · consistory · conclave · council · canon law · encyclical · excommunication
Clergy training college
- ordinationClergy appointment ceremony
- theologyStudy of the divine
- divinitySacred nature or nougat-like sweet
- catechismReligious teaching guide
novitiate · vocation · discernment · tonsure · vows · holy orders · apostolate · mission
Bishop's principal church
- chapelSmall worship room
- basilicaColonnaded church with apse
- naveChurch's main interior
- chancelAltar-adjacent clergy space
altar · pulpit · apse · transept · sacristy · vestry · rectory · vicarage
Formal worship structure
- MassCatholic worship service
- EucharistSacramental bread and wine
- baptismRitual water purification ceremony
- communionProfound shared closeness
confirmation · ordination · vespers · matins · compline · evensong · benediction · procession
Address to deity
- pietySincere religious devotion
- reverenceProfound admiring respect
- holinessSacred spiritual purity
- sanctityQuality of being inviolable
devotion · veneration · worship · sacrament · consecration · pilgrimage · relic · rosary
pope
Catholic Church's supreme leader
- cardinalOf foremost importance
- archbishopSenior prelate over province
- bishopDiocesan clergy head
monsignor · priest · deacon · vicar · rector · pastor · chaplain · curate · parson · canon
diocese
Bishop's territorial jurisdiction
episcopate · see · curia · consistory · conclave · council · canon law · encyclical · excommunication · dispensation
seminary
Clergy training college
- ordinationClergy appointment ceremony
- theologyStudy of the divine
- divinitySacred nature or nougat-like sweet
catechism · novitiate · vocation · discernment · tonsure · vows · holy orders · apostolate · mission · ministry
cathedral
Bishop's principal church
chancel · altar · pulpit · apse · transept · sacristy · vestry · rectory · vicarage · minster
liturgy
Formal worship structure
- MassCatholic worship service
- EucharistSacramental bread and wine
- baptismRitual water purification ceremony
communion · confirmation · ordination · vespers · matins · compline · evensong · benediction · procession · incense
prayer
Address to deity
sanctity · devotion · veneration · worship · sacrament · consecration · pilgrimage · relic · rosary · novena
cassock
Full-length clerical garment
- surpliceWhite ecclesiastical overgarment
- stoleTook without permission
- chasubleLiturgical overgarment for clergy
alb · cope · mitre · biretta · pallium · maniple · cincture · humeral · vestment · clerical collar
- possessionowned, acquired, possessed, kept, retained
- Italian sacred literatureDante, Divine Comedy, Inferno, Paradiso, Beatrice
- Sacred Authoritydivine right, papal authority, papal supremacy, theocracy, divine mandate
- Swiss ReligionCalvinism, Swiss Brethren
- papacypontiff, Pope, pope, Holy See, papal election
- ReformationMartin Luther, John Calvin, 95 Theses, Protestant Reformation, Luther
ecclesiasticallay
Place down flat
secular · nonclerical · nonordained · laic · nonsectarian
- ecclesiastical LatinLanguage of Christian liturgy