exarch

Plural: exarchs

Noun

• a bishop in one of several Eastern Orthodox Churches in North America
• a bishop in eastern Christendom who holds a place below a patriarch but above a metropolitan
• a viceroy who governed a large province in the Roman Empire
• In the Byzantine Empire, a governor of a distant province.
• In the Eastern Christian Churches, the deputy of a patriarch, or a bishop who holds authority over other bishops without being a patriarch.
• In these same churches, a bishop appointed over a group of the faithful not yet large enough or organized enough to constitute an eparchy or diocese.