A
titular bishop in various churches is a
bishop who is not in charge of a
diocese. By definition a
bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop the tradition of the
Roman Catholic and
Orthodox churches is that he be ordained for a specific place. There are more bishops than there are functioning dioceses. Therefore a priest appointed not to head a diocese as its diocesan bishop, but to be an
auxiliary bishop, a papal diplomat, or an official of the
Roman Curia is appointed to a
titular see.