Today, the great majority of the cardinals are archbishops of the main metropolitan dioceses of the world and reside in their countries. Apart from the exclusive right of the election of the new pope, their dignity is purely honorific. However, originally the College of Cardinals was simply a college of the clergy of the City of Rome, constituted of the bishops of the seven dioceses (called suburbicarian sees) bordering the diocese of Rome (cardinal-bishops), priests of the parochial churches of Rome (cardinal-priests) and deacons heading the ecclesiastical regions of the city of Rome (cardinal-deacons). Unlike today, the cardinals had real jurisdiction over the dioceses, parochial churches (called tituli) or deaconries to which they were attached. The phenomenon of the external cardinalat