Wikipedia:Clergy by nationality
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This is a proposal for a guideline on Wikipedia to do with the categorization of Christian clergy, although it could have relevance for other religions.
In a nutshell: Clergy should be categorized by where they serve, separately from their nationality.
The problem
[edit]The problem is that we have confused a person's location or affiliation during their working life with their nationality. Just because I work for the US government doesn't make me American (e.g. overseas embassy staff), and just because I live in the UK doesn't make me British (e.g. footballers). Similarly, just because I worked for the Ukrainian Catholic Church doesn't make me Ukrainian, and just because I was the Bishop of Sydney doesn't make me an Australian
The solution
[edit]Clergy should be categorized by the country of their work, and their denomination, as well as their nationality. e.g.: Category:Bishops in Canada separately from Category:Canadian bishops.
This is on the model of Category:Expatriate footballers in France, which is different than Category:French footballers.
As well, we should recognize that no one church body universally represents all people of that persuasion. For example, the Church of Ireland is NOT identical to Anglicanism in Ireland. There may be plenty of dissenting Anglicans worshiping in splinter churches. Therefore, CoI Bishops should be in a category called Category:Church of Ireland bishops which is a subcategory of Category:Anglican bishops in Ireland.
Similarly, Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church are not the only Catholics in their country. Category:Roman Catholic bishops in Spain are just part of a larger family which includes Old Catholics, Eastern Catholics, dissenting Catholics, etc.
Examples
[edit]Let's say I'm a Nigerian Anglican bishop who has led sees in the USA and England (regular, not dissenting). I need a category for my nationality, Category:Nigerian Anglican bishops, and two for my organization / location Category:Episcopal Church (United States) bishops and Category:Church of England bishops. But then let's say I broke with the Anglican Communion to led a dissenting see in Ireland. Then I'd also go in Category:Anglican bishops in Ireland.
Another example. I'm a person born in the Soviet Union who moved to the United States and became a citizen. I then joined the Ukrainian Catholic church as a priest and later moved to Canada to become a bishop. I go in Category:Soviet Ukrainain Greek Catholic bishops, Category:American Ukrainian Greek Catholic bishops, Category:Ukrainian Greek Catholic priests in the United States and Category:Ukrainian Greek Catholic bishops in Canada.
Does any of this make sense?