It is interesting to
note that in the
New Testament Greek, no distinction is made between
priests and
bishops. The word presbuterion in the Greek, commonly translated as priest, simply means "one who is
older." The word espicopos from which bishop is derived (hence episcopal describing the area over which a bishop presides) is literally translated as "
overseer."
These two words describe the same person - one describing his function, the other describing a property. They are used interchangably.
Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.