Servia and the Servians 1862 William Denton

86 BBBrI.4 AND !f/IE BBBYI.4118.
consecration, at least t,o the metropolit,ical sees, are
always made to him. The bond which unites the
primates of the other Churches t,o the central see of
Constantinople is that of fraternal aifection, the love
and respect of younger brethren to the elder brother
of the Church.
The Servian Church is at present governed by
fo~r prelates, the Archbishop of Belgrade, who is the
metropolitan, and the three suffragan bishops of
Schabatz, N egotin, and Tchatchat. Ricaut, indeed,
s~aks of an Archbishop of Servia at Epikion (lpeik),
with sixteen bishops under him, but this includes the
whole of the ancient sees within the bounds of the old
Servian empire, and comprises those of Bosnia, Bulgaria,
and Slavonia. The bishoprics of Servia proper are
only four in number. The present occupiers of the
sees are Michel of Belgrade, Gabriel of Schabatz,
Guerassime of N egotin, and Y oaniquie of Tchatchat.
On a vacancy occuning in any one of. those sees,
the parish priests and Hegumons, or Archimandrites
throughout the diocese, are summoned by their r&­
spective arch-priests t,o appoint an administrator of the
bishopric pending the election of a successor to the
deceased bishop. Afterwards the same persons proceed
to an election of a bishop. When this has been done,
the name of the person who has been elected to the
vacant office is forwarded to the prince, and unless there
should be some obvious objection to the priest who bas
been selected, the approbation of the Government is, as
a matter of course, given. The newly elected prelate is
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