page_title: Crosier
section_title: Official use
hierarchical_section_title: Crosier / Official use
context_page_description: A crosier is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or Apostle and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, and some Lutheran, United Methodist and Pentecostal churches.
  In Western Christianity the usual form has been a shepherd's crook, curved at the top to enable animals to be hooked. In Eastern Christianity, it is found in two common forms: tau-shaped, with curved arms, surmounted by a small cross; or a pair of sculptured serpents or dragons curled back to face each other, with a small cross between them.
  Other typical insignia of prelates are the mitre, the pectoral cross, and the episcopal ring.
context_section_description: The crosier is the symbol of the governing office of a bishop or Apostle.
caption: Eufemia Szaniawska, Abbess of the Benedictine Monastery in Nieśwież with a crosier, c. 1768, National Museum in Warsaw
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