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Avicar (/ˈvɪkər/;Latin:vicarius) is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" oragent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically,vicar is cognate with the English prefix "vice", similarly meaning "deputy". It also refers to a senior priest in theChurch of England. The title appears in a number ofChristianecclesiastical contexts, but also as anadministrative title, or title modifier, in theRoman Empire. In addition, in theHoly Roman Empire, a local representative of theemperor, such as anarchduke, could be styled "vicar".
ThePope bears the titlevicar of Christ (Latin:Vicarius Christi).[1]
InCatholiccanon law,a vicar is the representative of any ecclesiastic entity. TheRomans had used the term to describe officials subordinate to thepraetorian prefects. In the early Christian churches,bishops likewise had their vicars, such as thearchdeacons andarchpriests, and also the ruralpriest, thecurate who had thecure orcare of all the souls outside the episcopal cities. The position of the Roman Catholic vicar as it evolved is sketched in theCatholic Encyclopedia (1908).[2]
Vicars have various titles based on what role they are performing. Anapostolic vicar is abishop or priest who heads amissionaryparticular Church that is not yet ready to be a fulldiocese – he stands as the local representative of the Pope, in the Pope's role as bishop of all unorganized territories. Avicar capitular, who exercises authority in the place of the diocesan chapter, is a temporaryordinary of a diocese during asede vacante period.
Vicars exercise authority as the agents of the bishop of the diocese. Most vicars, however, haveordinary power, which means that their agency is not by virtue of a delegation but is established by law.Vicars general, episcopal vicars, andjudicial vicars exercise vicarious ordinary power; they each exercise a portion of the power of the diocesan bishop (judicial for the judicial vicar,executive for the others) by virtue of their office and not by virtue of a mandate.
Avicar forane, also known as an archpriest or dean, is a priest entrusted by the bishop with a certain degree of leadership in a territorial division of a diocese or a pastoral region known as a vicarate forane or a deanery.
A parochial vicar is a priest assigned to aparish in addition to, and in collaboration with, theparish priest orrector. He exercises his ministry as an agent of the parish's pastor, who is termedparochus in Latin.Somepapal legates are given the titleVicar of the Apostolic See.
A vicar can be the priest of a "chapel of ease", a building within the parish which is not the parish church. Non-resident canons led also to the institution ofvicars choral, each canon having his own vicar, who sat in his stall in his absence (seeCathedral).
InOpus Dei, a regional vicar is a priest designated to fulfil responsibilities for an entire country or region, such as France or the United States.
Within religious communities, the vicar is the secondary superior of the group, subject only to theSuperior General, whether of an individual community or monastery, or of a wider jurisdiction, called, e.g., a Vicar Provincial. In these organizations, the office is filled by any member of the community, whether clergy or lay.
In theRussian Orthodox Church and some other non-Hellenic Eastern Orthodox churches that historically follow Russian tradition, vicar (Russian:vikariy / викарий) is a term for what is known assuffragan bishop in theAnglican Communion or asauxiliary bishop in theLatin Church of theCatholic Church. A vicar bishop usually bears in his title the names of both his titular see (usually, a smaller town within the diocese he ministers in) and the see he is subordinate to. For example, Ignaty Punin, the vicar bishop under the Diocese ofSmolensk, is titled "The Right Reverend Ignaty, the bishop ofVyazma, the vicar of the Diocese of Smolensk", Vyasma being a smaller town inside the territory of the Diocese of Smolensk. Normally, only large dioceses have vicar bishops, sometimes more than one. Usually, Russian Orthodox vicar bishops have no independent jurisdiction (even in their titular towns) and are subordinate to their diocesan bishops; though some of themde facto may have jurisdiction over some territories, especially when there is a need to avoid an overlapping jurisdiction.
In some other Eastern Orthodox churches the term "chorbishop" is used instead of "vicar bishop".
InAnglicanism, avicar is a type ofparishpriest. Historically, parish priests in theChurch of England were divided into vicars,rectors, andperpetual curates. The parish clergy and church were supported bytithes—like a local tax (traditionally, as the etymology oftithe suggests, of ten percent) levied on the personal as well as agricultural output of the parish. Roughly speaking, the distinction was that a rector directly received both the greater and lessertithes of his parish while a vicar received only the lesser tithes (the greater tithes going to the lay holder, orimpropriator, of the living); a perpetual curate with a smallcure and often aged or infirm received neither greater nor lesser tithes, and received only a small salary (paid sometimes by thediocese). (See also inChurch of England.) Today, the roles of a rector and a vicar are essentially the same. Which of the two titles is held by the parish priest is historical. Some parishes have a rector, others a vicar.
In theEpiscopal Church in the United States of America, the positions of "vicar" and "curate" are not recognized in the canons of the entire church. However, some diocesan canons do define "vicar" as the priest in charge of a mission; and "curate" is often used for assistants, being entirely analogous to the English situation.
A vicarage, or vicarage house, is aresidence provided by the church for the priest. They were usually located near the church and were sometimes quite elaborate and other times inadequate. Dating frommedieval times, they were often rebuilt and modernized. In the second half of the 20th century, most large vicarages were replaced with more modern and simpler houses.[3]
In theEvangelical Lutheran Church in America, theLutheran Church–Missouri Synod, theLutheran Church–Canada, and theWisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, a vicar is a candidate for ordained pastoral ministry, serving in a vicariate or internship, usually in the third year of seminary training, though it can be delayed to the fourth year (this is often referred to as "a vicarage", a homonym of the residence of the Vicar). Typically at the end of the year of vicarage, the candidate returns to seminary and completes a final year of studies. After being issued acall or assignment, the candidate isordained as apastor in the ministry of Word and Sacrament. The role of a vicar in the Lutheran tradition is most comparable to that of atransitional deacon in the Anglican and Roman churches, except that Lutheran vicars are not ordained. In the Evangelical Lutheran Church in South Africa, a vicar is a person who has completed seminary training and is awaiting ordination while serving at a parish where the Diocesan Council places him or her.
The titleVikar, used in the Lutheran churches in Germany, is comparable while the LutheranChurch of Sweden calls itkyrkoherde ("church shepherd"), although that title is more comparable to arector.
Oliver Goldsmith's novelThe Vicar of Wakefield (1766) andHonoré de Balzac'sThe Curate of Tours (Le Curé de Tours; 1832) evoke the impoverished world of the 18th- and 19th-century vicar.Anthony Trollope'sChronicles of Barsetshire are peopled with churchmen of varying situations, from wealthy to impoverished; the income differences prompted a digression inFramley Parsonage (chapter 14) on the incomprehensible logic that made one vicar rich and another poor. The 18th-century satirical ballad "The Vicar of Bray" reveals the changes of conscience a vicar (whether of theBray in Berkshire or of that inCounty Wicklow) might undergo in order to retain his meagre post, between the 1680s and 1720s. "The Curate ofArs" (usually in French:Le Curé d'Ars) is a style often used to refer to SaintJean Vianney, a French parish priest canonized on account of his piety and simplicity of life.
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