Since 1972, the Roman Catholic Church uses the name " Anointing of the Sick " both in the English translations issued by the Holy See of its official documents in Latin and in the English official documents of Episcopal conferences.

However, since the 1930s, Utrecht Old Catholic bishops ( recognised by the Holy See as validily ordained ) have sometimes taken part in the ordination of Anglican bishops.

According to the writer Timothy Dufort, by 1969, all Church of England bishops had acquired Old Catholic lines of apostolic succession recognised by the Holy See.

The Holy See accepts as valid the ordinations of the Old Catholics in communion with Utrecht, as well as the Polish National Catholic Church ( which received its orders directly from Utrecht, and was — until recently — part of that communion ); but Roman Catholicism does not recognise the orders of any group whose teaching is at variance with what they consider the core tenets of Christianity ; this is the case even though the clergy of the Independent Catholic groups may use the proper ordination ritual.

Whilst members of the Independent Catholic movement take seriously the issue of valid orders, it is highly significant that the relevant Vatican Congregations tend not to respond to petitions from Independent Catholic bishops and clergy who seek to be received into communion with the Holy See, hoping to continue in some sacramental role.

Various smaller communities, such as the Old Catholic and Independent Catholic Churches, include the word Catholic in their title, and share much in common with Roman Catholicism but are no longer in communion with the See of Rome.

In the Catholic Church ( both the Western and Eastern Catholic Churches ) the act of canonization is reserved to the Holy See and occurs at the conclusion of a long process requiring extensive proof that the person proposed for canonization lived and died in such an exemplary and holy way that he or she is worthy to be recognized as a saint.

Many episcopi vagantes claim succession from the Old Catholic See of Utrecht, or from Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, or Eastern Catholic Churches.

A few others derive their orders from Roman Catholic bishops who have consecrated their own bishops after disputes with the Holy See.

A similar declaration was issued with regard to Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo's conferring of episcopal ordination on four men-all of whom, by virtue of previous Independent Catholic consecrations, claimed already to be bishops-on 24 September 2006: the Holy See, as well as stating that, in accordance with Canon 1382 of the Code of Canon Law, all five men involved incurred automatic (" latae sententiae ") excommunication through their actions, declared that " the Church does not recognise and does not intend in the future to recognise these ordinations or any ordinations derived from them, and she holds that the canonical state of the four alleged bishops is the same as it was prior to the ordination.

In contrast, the Holy See has not questioned the validity of the consecrations that the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre performed in 1988 for the service of the relatively numerous followers of the Traditionalist Catholic Society of St. Pius X that he had founded, and of the bishops who, under pressure from the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, " have been ordained without the Pontifical mandate and who have not asked for, or have not yet obtained, the necessary legitimation ", and who consequently, Pope Benedict XVI has declared, " are to be considered illegitimate, but validly ordained ".

The Roman Catholic Church recognizes as ecumenical various councils held later than the First Council of Ephesus ( after which churches out of communion with the Holy See because of the Nestorian Schism did not participate ), later than the Council of Chalcedon ( after which there was no participation by churches that rejected Dyophysitism ), later than the Second Council of Nicaea ( after which there was no participation by the Eastern Orthodox Church ), and later than the Fifth Council of the Lateran ( after which groups that adhered to Protestantism did not participate ).

* 1806-Gibraltar was made a Catholic Apostolic Vicariate ( until then Gibraltar belonged to the See of Cadiz ).

The Holy See (, ) is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome.

Diplomatically, the Holy See acts and speaks for the whole Roman Catholic Church.

Though all episcopal sees may be considered " holy ", the expression " the Holy See " ( without further specification ) is normally used in international relations ( and in the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church ) to refer to the See of Rome viewed as the central government of the Roman Catholic Church.

He was a key figure in the Danish policies of territorial expansion in the Baltic Sea, Europeanization in close relationship with the Holy See, and reform in the relation between the Church and the public.

Pope Shenouda III, the 117th Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria | Pope of Alexandria and the Patriarch of All Africa on the Holy Apostolic See of Saint Mark the Evangelist ( 1971 – 2012 ).

* The leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, is known as Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of all Africa on the Holy See of St. Mark the Apostle.

Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria | Pope Cyril VI, the 116th Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria | Pope of Alexandria and the Patriarch of All Africa on the Holy Apostolic See of Saint Mark the Evangelist ( 1959 – 1971 ).

Former Pope Gregory XII was then created titular Cardinal Bishop of Porto and Santa Ruffina by the Council, with rank immediately below the Pope ( which made him the highest-ranking person in the Church, since, due to his abdication, the See of Peter was vacant ).

** See Church militant and church triumphant for ecclesia militans, ecclesia paenitens, ecclesia triumphans

Claiming the ancient primacy of Peter and the title of " Apostolic See ", it remained the last court of episcopal appeal in serious matters for the whole Church, East and West.

* 1626 – Emperor Susenyos of Ethiopia and Patriarch Afonso Mendes declare the primacy of the Roman See over the Ethiopian Church and Roman Catholicism the state religion of Ethiopia.

Following the example of the holy fathers and recognizing the obligation of our office, we absolutely forbid in virtue of the authority of the Apostolic See that anyone be ordained or promoted for money in the Church of God.

See also: Unity Church, Christian Science, Christian theological praxis and Postmodern Christianity.

During this interregnum, the heads of the dicasteries of the Roman Curia ( such as the prefects of congregations ) cease immediately to hold office, the only exceptions being the Major Penitentiary, who continues his important role regarding absolutions and dispensations, and the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, who administers the temporalities ( i. e., properties and finances ) of the See of St. Peter during this period.

The government of the See, and therefore of the Catholic Church, then falls to the College of Cardinals.

( See chart at right for full terminology hierarchy.

They regard the question of the legitimacy of the present hierarchy and the possibility that the Holy See is unoccupied to be unresolved.

See Australian court hierarchy for the counterparts in Australian states.

In 1853, the Holy See was allowed to re-established its hierarchy in the Netherlands.

In 1966, Duvalier managed to persuade the Holy See to allow him to nominate the Catholic hierarchy for Haiti.

* displacing responsibility for the killing onto an authority figure, i. e., the commanding officer and the military hierarchy ( See the Milgram experiment )

See peerage for a systematization of this hierarchy, and order of precedence for links to various systems.

The Church of Ireland claims Apostolic succession because of the continuity in the hierarchy ; however, this is disputed by the Roman Catholic Church which asserts that only those bishops approved by and in communion with the Holy See are legitimate.

In February 1982, in Munich's Sankt Michael church, Archbishop Thục issued a declaration that the Holy See in Rome was vacant, intimating that he desired a restoration of the hierarchy to end the vacancy.

See hierarchy problem.

: See also: Catholic Church hierarchy and Diocesan bishop

See also Catholic Church hierarchy for the distinctions.

See Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China for how these two types of districts fit into the general administrative hierarchy of mainland China.

See space hierarchy theorem for details.

See the polynomial hierarchy article.

: See also: Catholic Church hierarchy and Bishop ( Catholic Church )

Apostolic delegates, unlike apostolic nuncios, exercise only ecclesiastical functions of oversight over the Catholic hierarchy of the country to which they were sent, while apostolic nuncios have the added responsibility of also acting as ambassadors of the Holy See before the government of the country where they serve.

SSPV priests regard the question of the legitimacy of the present hierarchy and the possibility that the Holy See is unoccupied ( sedevacantism ) to be unresolved.

In 1828, as part of the Restoration of the Scottish hierarchy, the Holy See erected the Western District or Vicariate of Scotland, and the first vicar Apostolic to reside in Glasgow was Andrew Scott, Bishop of Eretria ( b. 1772, d, 1846 ).

( See Projective hierarchy for definitions.

In 4 March 1878 Pope Leo XIII restored the Catholic hierarchy of Scotland by proclamation of the Bull Ex supremo Apostolatus apice and Vicar-Apostolic John MacDonald was translated to the restored See of Aberdeen as its first post Reformation bishop.