EXARCH also denotes an officer, still subsisting in the Greek church; being a kind of deputy or legate à latere of the patriarch, whose office it is to visit the provinces allotted him, in order to inform himself of the
Exarch the lives and manners of the clergy; take cognizance of ecclesiastical causes; the manner of celebrating divine service; the administration of the sacraments, particularly confession; the observance of the canons; monastic discipline; affairs of marriages, divorces, &c. but above all, to take an account of the several revenues which the patriarch receives from several churches; and, particularly, as to what regards the collecting the same.
The exarch, after having greatly enriched himself in his post, frequently rises to the patriarchate itself.