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The highest official of adiocese after the ordinary. He is acleric legitimately deputed to exercise generally the episcopaljurisdiction in the name of thebishop, so that his acts are reputed the acts of thebishop himself.
The wide powers of administration now enjoyed by the vicar-general belonged formerly to thearchdeacon. The latter official was the first among the sevendeacons, a number long retained in manychurches, and he held office, not by reason of priority ofordination, but by free appointment of thebishop. To him was generally committed the external administration of thediocese, including the control of the inferiorclergy and the right of visiting and correcting all theclerics by judicial procedure.
In the sixth century, there were both urban and ruralarchdeacons, and thedioceses were divided into districts ruled by these officials. This custom began inFrance and later spread all overEurope. By the eleventh century, thejurisdiction ofarchdeacons had become ordinary and stable. They had courts of first instance, and, besides their contentiousjurisdiction, they had wide administrative powers, so much so indeed that they became obnoxious to the legitimate exercise of thebishop's authority. In consequence, from the twelfth century onwards, we find newdiocesan assistants of thebishop, later called vicars-general, or officials, removable at the will of the ordinary. Vicars-general are not named in theDecretals ofGregory IX, but they are frequently referred to in the Sixth Book ofDecretals (e.g., cap. ii, iii, "De off. Vic.", I. 13 in 6) and in the Clementines (cap. ii, "De reser.", 1.2. in Clem). In largedioceses inEngland and some other countries, a distinction was made between the vicar-general, who hadvoluntaryjurisdiction or administration, and the official, who had contentiousjurisdiction, but this distinction was never received into thecommon law, and the titlesvicar-general andofficial are used indiscriminately for the sameperson in theDecretals and theTridentine decrees. The institution of vicars-general greatly limited the powers of thearchdeacons, and finally the latter officials were reduced by theCouncil of Trent (Sess. XXIV, c. xii, "De ref.") to mere honorary dignitaries incathedral chapters.
According to the present discipline, the vicar-general is deputed by thebishop to exercise the latter'sjurisdiction with a certain universality of power. Bishops could not of themselves be competent to establish officials with the same ordinary faculties which they themselves have, and consequently the office of vicar-general rests on powers communicated by thepope andcommon law. Thebishop, therefore, cannot concede to the vicar-general anyjurisdiction except within the bounds allowed by thelaw or legitimate custom, or expressApostolic indults. Thejurisdiction of the vicar-general is necessarily universal in the whole diocese, both forpersons and causes, with a universality, however, not absolute, but moral, and therefore, though thebishop can restrict it both as to places and causes, he cannot so limit it that it ceases to be general, at least morally. It is in the discretion of thebishop to constitute a vicar-general for hisdiocese, but he cannot suppress an office instituted bycommon law.
The office of vicar-general is unique, and therefore there should not be several of them in one diocese, either acting in concert or governing a special part of thediocese (S.C.C., 21 Feb., 1614). However, separate vicars-general may be appointed for the faithful of a different rite or language (C. 14, X, 1, 31). The cleric appointed as vicar-general should be of legitimate birth,tonsured, andcelibate. He should have attained his twenty-fifth year and be commendable for the probity of his life, hisprudence, and hisknowledge of canon law, in which he should be a doctor or licentiate, or at least equivalently qualified. Statutes of particular councils andrescripts ofRoman Congregations declare that the vicar-general should not have thecure of souls, but this is nowhere prescribed incommon law, and though an urbanparish, or a capitular office, or the rectorship of aseminary are hindrances to the liberty of a vicar-general, yet they are not strictly incompatible with it. Regulars cannot be appointed vicars-general without the permission of their religious superiors, and they need, in addition, the license of theHoly See to live outside theirmonasteries. It is expedient that the vicar-general should not be a blood relation of thebishop or acleric of thediocese, but there is no general law to this effect, though theschema of theVatican Council contains one (Jus. Pont. de Prop. Fid., VI, append.).
The power of the vicar-general, by reason of his office and deputation, extends to all causes in the ordinary episcopaljurisdiction, except those whichcommon law or thebishop may have reserved or made dependent on a special mandate. The tribunal of the vicar-general is one with thebishops, and therefore there is no appeal from one to the other. The vicar-general cannot substitute another cleric in his place to exercise his wholejurisdiction, but he may appoint delegates for special causes. Owing to the dependence of thejurisdiction of the vicar on that of thebishop, it ceases or is impeded with the latter. When, however, the vicar is acting in a special case as a strict delegate, he may even then finish the cause he had begun. Thejurisdiction of a vicar-general, according to most canonists, is of a class by itself between ordinary and delegated, and it may be called quasi-ordinary, because, on the one hand, it is connected with a certain office by legal enactment and, on the other, it is exercised not in his own, but another's name. As ordinaryjurisdiction, however, is always exercised by him as a matter of fact, there is no reason why his power should not be called ordinary. By virtue of a general mandate, the vicar-general exercises ordinaryjurisdiction in the name of thebishop, but for some causes he needs a special mandate. These are: to make a visitation of thediocese, to conferbenefices of free collation, to punish the excesses ofclerics or remove them from theirbenefices or offices, to use thebishop'sTridentine faculties ofdispensation and suspension, to concede dimissorial letters for receiving orders. All of the above require a special mandate by explicit law, but others of a similar nature, according to canonists, also require this mandate. They are: to suppress, unite, or dividebenefices, to admit resignations for the purpose of exchangingbenefices, to convoke adiocesan synod, to erectmonasteries and confraternities. The office of a vicar-general expires with his death or resignation; with the cessation of thebishop'sjurisdiction; with the revocation of his vicarial mandate, which must, however, be justified by a grave cause and against which, if hishonour be impugned, he has recourse to theHoly See.
TAUNTON, The Law of the Church (London, 1906), s.v.; SMITH, Elements of Ecclesiastical Law, I (New York, 1895); WERNZ, Jus decretalium, II (Rome, 1899); THOMASSIN, Vetus et nova disciplina (Paris, 1688); LAURENTIUS, Institutiones juris ecclesiastici (Fribourg, 1903); FERRARIS, Bibliotheca canonica, VII (Rome, 1891), s.v.
APA citation.Fanning, W.(1912).Vicar-General. InThe Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15402a.htm
MLA citation.Fanning, William."Vicar-General."The Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 15.New York: Robert Appleton Company,1912.<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15402a.htm>.
Transcription.This article was transcribed for New Advent by Thomas M. Barrett.Dedicated to the Poor Souls in Purgatory.
Ecclesiastical approbation.Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor.Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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