__NOTOC__{{Clergy}}In the broadest sense, a '''vicar''Vicar', from the Latin: vicarius, is a representative, deputy, or substitute; a person who acts for someone else or is an agent for a superior. Linguistically, ''vicar'' usually refers to is the root of the English prefix "vice," similarly meaning "deputy" as used in vice president, vice admiral, and vice chairman. Vicar is used similarly in the Orthodox Christian Church as a term for a representative or deputy of a [[bishop]]. This is usually Such a person may be a [[priest]] or another bishop, representing who represents a senior bishop or a [[patriarch]]. 

A vicar bishop usually bears in his title the names of both his [[titular bishop|titular]] [[see]] (usually a smaller town within the diocese Usually, bishops who are vicars in which he ministers) and the see to which he is subordinate. For example, Bishop [[Ignatii (Punin) of Vyazemsk|Ignaty (Punin)]], the vicar bishop under the Diocese of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, is titled "The Rt. Rev. Ignaty, the bishop of Vyazemsk, the vicar of the Diocese of Smolensk," Vyazemsk being a smaller town inside the territory of the Diocese of Smolensk and Kaliningrad. Normally, only large dioceses have vicar bishops, sometimes more than one.  Usually, Russian Orthodox vicar bishops Church do not have no an independent [[jurisdiction]] (, even in their titular towns) , and are subordinate to their diocesan bishops; though some of them ''de facto'' may have jurisdiction over some territories. Also, especially when there is a need to avoid an overlapping jurisdiction. In in the Russian Orthodox Church, some vicar bishops are may be styled "[[archbishop]]s" or "[[metropolitan]]s", but these as honorary titles are merely honorary. In some other Eastern Orthodox Churches of the Hellenic tradition the term "chorbishop" is may be used instead of "vicar bishop."Occasionally, a priest may be assigned to a position as a vicar to a bishop.

Another An example of the assignment of a "senior" bishop as a "vicar" is Metr. that of Metropolitan [[Alexios (Panagiotopoulos) of Atlanta|Alexios of Atlanta]] (of the [[GOARCHGreek Orthodox Archdiocese of America]]) who served as the Archepiscopal Vicar for the Diocese of Atlanta from after the death of Bp. Bishop [[Philip (Koutoufas) of Atlanta|Philip]] until Metr. Alexios was elected as the new bishop of the diocese. The [[Metropolis of Atlanta likewise ]] also has several priests assigned as vicars who to assist His Eminence Metro. Alexios.{{ref|1}}