Archdeacon
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary · Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary
In ecclesiastical law
A ministerial officer subordinate to the bishop. In the primitive church, the archdeacons were employed by the bishop in the more servile duties of collecting and distributing alms and offerings. Afterwards they became, in effect, "eyes to the overseers of the church."
Cowell.
His jurisdiction is ecclesiastical, and immediately subordinate to that of the bishop, throughout the whole or a part of the diocese. He is a ministerial officer.
1 Sharswood, Bl. Comm. 383..