Wikipedia:Naming conventions (clergy)
![]() | This guideline documents an English Wikipedia naming convention. Editors should generally follow it, though exceptions may apply. Substantive edits to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on this guideline's talk page. |
This page contains guidance on how to title articles about members of the Christian clergy (popes, cardinals, bishops, etc.), as well as saints.
For links to pages with guidance concerning other religions, see the Other religions section below. For general guidance on how to title biographical articles, see Wikipedia:Naming conventions (people), and for those with royal or noble titles, Wikipedia:Naming conventions (royalty and nobility). For the use of names of clergy and saints in article text, see Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Biographies.
While most clerical names are clear, unambiguous and known, some names associated with clergy of some faiths make this difficult. In those religions which have hierarchies, the higher the level within that hierarchy, the greater the likelihood that the person's first name may have ceased to be used publicly, being replaced by a title. Others replace their own name completely with a new one. In some cases it may be difficult to discover what the first name actually was, particularly when dealing with senior clergy from many centuries ago.
Typical clergy
[edit]If an article title needs disambiguation to distinguish a member of clergy from people with other roles – e.g., from an actor, artist, politician or musician – the typical disambiguation term is "(clergyman)" (e.g., rather than "minister" or "preacher"). The corresponding term for a woman would be "(clergywoman)", although as of March 2024 there are currently no article titles on the English Wikipedia that use this form.
For Catholic and Anglican priests, use "priest" rather than "clergyman". The disambiguation term should indicate the highest level attained in the hierarchical structure of the church. For example, in the Catholic Church, "cardinal" would be preferred over "bishop", and "bishop" over "priest".
Popes
[edit]For popes, whether Catholic, Coptic, or otherwise, use the format "Pope {papal name} {ordinal if more than one} of {episcopal see}". Popes of Rome should not be linked with their episcopal sees; Rome is understood. For popes who are also saints, see Saints below.
Some early popes are better known to a wide range of readers by an epithet or cognomen than by name and number; when this is so, Wikipedia may title the article by the well-known name. Which name is to be used should be decided by consensus, after consultation of a variety of reliable English-language sources.
Patriarchs
[edit]For patriarchs, whether the Ecumenical Patriarch, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria, or otherwise, use the format "Patriarch {episcopal name} {ordinal if more than one} of {episcopal see}". Do not use a patriarch's personal name; e.g., use Patriarch Nikon, not Nikita Minov. However, if there is already a well established name in English for a particular patriarch, use that format instead. For example, use John Chrysostom as the main title of article, with Patriarch John I of Constantinople and John I of Constantinople as redirects.
Cardinals
[edit]In the titles of articles, cardinals generally go by their full name (both first name and surname) alone, without the title "Cardinal", as "Ascanio Sforza", not "Cardinal Ascanio Sforza", nor "Ascanio Cardinal Sforza". Exceptions are cardinals who are identifiable only by the cardinalitial title (as in the case of a hypothetical Cardinal John Smith), those best known by the title "Cardinal" followed by a surname (as Cardinal Richelieu), and those of the period before the introduction of surnames. For many of the latter, however, their place of origin will serve the same function as a surname.