Vicar general: Encyclopedia - Vicar general

Vicar general

A vicar general is an ecclesiastical office in the Latin rite of the Catholic Church existing in each particular church. A diocesan bishop must appoint at least one vicar general for his diocese. Vicars general share in the bishop's ordinary power over the entire diocese, acting as a sort of second-in-command. Vicars general must be either priests, auxiliary bishops, or coadjutor bishops. The equivalent officer in the Eastern rite churches is called the protosyncellus.

The similarly titled vicar episcopal shares in the bishop's ordinary power over a particular section of a diocese. These too must either be priests, auxiliary bishops, or coadjutor bishops. The equivalent officer in the Eastern rite churches is called the syncellus. This office should not be confused with the vicar forane or "dean", as those vicars do not have ordinary power.

Both vicars general and vicars episcopal are prelates. Unless they are ordained bishops, their term of office is for a fixed duration. They lose their office sede vacante unless they have been ordained bishops.

The appointment of a vicar general is a useful tool for a diocesan bishop who has additional functions attached to his episcopate. The most notable example is what occurs in the diocese of Rome. The Pope is the diocesan bishop of Rome, but since he must spend most of his time governing the Latin rite church and the global Catholic Church, his vicar general functions as the de facto bishop of the diocese. The Vicar General of Rome also serves the same role for the suburbicarian diocese of Ostia, the traditional see of the Dean of the College of Cardinals, since it was merged with the diocese of Rome. The Vicar General of Rome, who is normally a cardinal, is one of the few church officials in Rome to remain in office sede vacante. The current Vicar General of Rome is Camillo Cardinal Ruini.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Vicar general", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki