I say, I say, I say.

The expression ex cathedra cropped up in a post the other day - so what exactly does it mean?  Well it translates as "from the chair" - the word cathedra being Latin for chair - strictly a chair with arms, but it has come to mean the ornate type of chair - more like a throne really - used by a bishop.  And - you may have already made the connection - a cathedral is simply a church which houses such a chair. And one of those things which "everybody knows" but which is actually false, is that a city is a place which has a cathedral.  Not so.  A city is a city by virtue of royal proclamation, and the presence or absence of a cathedral is immaterial,  There are cathedrals in places which are not cities (Blackburn and Guildford for example) and cities with no cathedral (Leeds and Wolverhampton for instance).  So a pronouncement made ex cathedra is one made with the authority of a bishop speaking from his chair of office - and the top dog of course is the Bishop of Rome - the Pope.