Question 3: The “continental” Roman church was organized into districts that coincided with, from what I understand, Roman cities. Each of these districts then had a bishop appointed as the, well, as the boss. In Ireland, however, there were no cities at the time, so the church there could not be organized in the same… Continue reading →

Due to the unusual structuring of Irish society, early Celtic Christianity’s basic unit of ecclesiastical organization became monasteries. Each tribe had its own monastery, and an abbot was placed in charge of the communities. Though some priests were often present to perform sacraments, the abbots had the ultimate authority. Essentially, the most “distinctive feature of… Continue reading →