I was reading about the Episcopalian church today and found reference to clergy with titles like:
“The Most Reverend Smith”
“The Right Reverend Jones”
“The Very Reverend Thomas”
What’s all this about? The only information I could find online was that they are titles of respect. But what I was reading about the Episcopalians made it sound like part of their official titles.
What’s the difference between a “Very” reverend and a “Right” reverend? Which is the best reverend, just in case I ever need one?
Here’s a link to the protocol office of the government of Saskatchewan, which explains the usage.
“Most reverend” appears to be used for the upper reaches of the hierarchy in the Anglican, Roman Catholic and Ukrainian Catholic churches. Anglicans use it for the primate and archbishops; Roman Catholics for archbishops and bishops; Ukrainian Catholics for eparchs.
“Right reverend” is the next step down, then “Very reverend”. “Reverend” seems to be used for the everyday priests in the churches.
Further googling provides a link to the Government of Canada’s webpage on Styles of Address, which gives similar information.
Sidebar: why is that governments in Canada seem to be the leaders on the web in providing this arcane information? :dubious:
According to this page, “the Right Reverend” is applied to an Episcopal bishop, who outranks a dean (“the Very Reverend”). “The Reverend” is appended to the name of a priest or deacon. However, you address a clergyman of the denomination as “Mr. Smith”, a clergywoman as “Ms. Anderson” (or “Mrs.” or “Miss”, as appropriate). Although it’s not specified in the text I’ve paraphrased, you can also feel free to address the holder of an earned or honorary doctorate as “Dr. Lee” unless he/she prefers another honorific.