Co-cathedral
Co-cathedral is the name given to a
cathedral church which shares the honour of being a bishop's seat with another cathedral. Instances of this occurred in
England before the
Protestant Reformation in the dioceses of
Bath and
Wells, and of
Coventry and
Lichfield, hence the names of these dioceses. In
Ireland, an example occurs at
Dublin, where
Christchurch and
St. Patrick's are jointly the cathedral churches of that diocese. In
France the bishop of Couserans (a see suppressed at the Revolution) had two co-cathedral churches at St Lizier, and the bishop of Sisteron (a see also suppressed) had a second throne in the church of Forcalquier which is still called
La Con-cathédrale. Today in the
United States, the
Roman Catholic diocese that encompasses most of the state of
West Virginia is officially known as the Diocese of
Wheeling-
Charleston after its two cathedral cities. Other instances might be named.
In the case of York the collegiate churches of Beverley, Ripon and Southwell were almost in the same position, but although the archbishop had a
stall in each he had no diocesan cathedra in them, and the chapters were not united with that of the metropolitan church in the direct government of the diocese, or the election of the archbishop, nor had they those other rights which were held to denote the cathedral character of a church.