“He is a senior cleric...”
Actually, my understanding is that LDS bishops are pretty low on the totem pole in the LDS hierarchy. A bishop leads a local ward. A group of wards comprise a stake, which is led by an area president. Above these folks (or at the same level - I'm not exactly sure) are the Quorums of the 70, which include stake presidents in their leadership. Above that is the Quorum of the 12 Apostles. Then there is the First Presidency, comprising the president and two counselors.
As you can see, bishops are more or less near or on the bottom rung of the organizational leadership ladder.
sitetest
He’s also a member of an elite circle called the Melchizedek priesthood (of the LDS). Please feel free to lecture me on how this doesn’t rank as a senior position in the LDS hierarchy.
By the way, this part of what I previously posted was inaccurate:
“A group of wards comprise a stake, which is led by an area president.”
Actually, a stake is led by a stake president. Then there are folks called area presidents. I’m a little bit iffy about how they fit in hierarchically, but they appear to be above stake presidents, which are above bishops (one source also refers to bishops as “ward presidents”).