A territorial prelate is, in

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

usage, a

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...

whose geographic jurisdiction, called territorial prelature, does not belong to any

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

and is considered a

particular church In metaphysics, particulars or individuals are usually contrasted with universals. Universals concern features that can be exemplified by various different particulars. Particulars are often seen as concrete, spatiotemporal entities as opposed to a ...

. The territorial prelate is sometimes called a prelate ''nullius'', from the Latin ''nullius diœceseos'', prelate "of no diocese," meaning the territory falls directly under the 'exempt' jurisdiction of the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

(Pope of Rome) and is not a diocese under a residing

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

. The term is also used in a generic sense, and may then equally refer to an

apostolic prefecture An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...

, an apostolic vicariate, a permanent apostolic administration (which are pre-diocesan, often missionary, or temporary), or a

territorial abbacy A territorial abbey (or territorial abbacy) is a particular church of the Catholic Church comprising defined territory which is not part of a diocese but surrounds an abbey or monastery whose abbot or superior functions as ordinary for all Ca ...

(see there).

Status

A territorial prelate exercises quasi- episcopal jurisdiction in a territory not comprised by any diocese. The origin of such prelates must necessarily be sought in the apostolic privileges, for only he whose authority is superior to that of bishops can grant an exemption from episcopal jurisdiction. Such exemption, therefore, comes only from the pope. The rights of prelates ''nullius'' are quasi-episcopal, and these dignitaries are supposed to have any power that a bishop has, unless it is expressly denied to them by

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

. If they have not received

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, such prelates may not confer holy orders. If not consecrated episcopally, they have not the power to exercise those functions of consecrating oils, etc., which are referred to the episcopal order only analogously. Prelates nullius may take cognizance of matrimonial causes within the same limits as a bishop. They may dispense from the proclamation of matrimonial banns, grant faculties for hearing

confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information th ...

s and preaching, reserve certain cases to themselves, publish

indulgence In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission before God of ...

s and

jubilee A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of y ...

s, exercise full jurisdiction over the enclosure of

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

s, and invite any bishop to

confirm In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant (religion), covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an wikt:affirmation, affirma ...

in their quasi-diocese. They may, even if priests only, confirm themselves by papal privilege as expressed in canon 883 No. 1 CIC whenever they find it appropriate; however, even as local ordinaries they are in that case only extraordinary ministers of confirmation and should thus prefer to invite bishops if possible. These prelates may not, however, without special permission of the

, convoke a synod or institute synodal examiners. Neither may they confer parochial benefices. They are not allowed to grant indulgences, or absolve from the reserved cases and secret irregularities whose absolution is restricted to the pope ordinarily, but allowed to bishops by the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation, it has been described a ...

, nor promote secular clerics to orders, nor grant dimissory letters for ordination, nor exercise jurisdiction over regulars as

apostolic delegate An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international o ...

s. Prelates nullius are, however, bound to residence, to preach the Word of God, to offer

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

for their people, to make the ''

visit ad limina A quinquennial visit ''ad limina'', or simply an ''ad limina'' visit, is the required visit of Catholic residential diocesan bishops and certain prelates with territorial jurisdiction (such as territorial abbots) to the ''thresholds of the'' om ...

'' to the Roman Curia, and in concurrence with the neighbouring bishop to perform a visitation of their quasi-diocese. As a rule, territorial (and personal) prelates are consecrated as bishops, though not bishops ''of'' their diocese, as expressed by the title Bishop-prelate. Most were/are missionaries, outside Europe (mainly Latin America and a few Asian countries) or in countries with a crushing Protestant majority (notably Lutheran Norway).

Current territorial prelatures

, there were 39, all

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...

In Asia

* in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

: Batanes,

Infanta ''Infante'' (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as Infant or translated as Prince, is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to th ...

, Isabela,

Marawi Marawi, officially the Islamic City of Marawi (Maranao language, Maranao: ''Inged a Marawi''; fil, Islamikong Lungsod ng Marawi), is a 4th class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of th ...

In Europe

* in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

: Loreto, Pompei * in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

: Mission de France * in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies in Northern Norway. The municipality is the ...

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

In Latin America

* in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

: Cafayate, Deán Funes, Esquel,

Humahuaca Humahuaca () is a small city in the province of Jujuy, Argentina. Since 2003 declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO at the Paris conference. It has 11,369 inhabitants as per the , and is the principal town (seat) of the Department of Humahuaca. T ...

* in Bolivia:

Aiquile Aiquile is a town in the Cochabamba Department, Bolivia. It is the capital of the Narciso Campero Province and Aiquile Municipality. Most of its population is Quechua, and its residents are reputed to be the best charango The charango is a sma ...

Corocoro is a Japanese monthly manga magazine published by Shogakukan, established on May 15, 1977. Its main target is elementary school-aged boys, younger than the readers of shōnen manga. Several of its properties, like ''Doraemon'' and the ''Pokémo ...

* in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

: Itacoatiara,

Itaituba Itaituba is a city and municipality located in the state of Pará, Brazil, and one of the most important socioeconomic centers in the western region of the State. Location Itaituba is the fifteenth largest city (by population) in the State of ...

, Lábrea,

Marajó Marajó () is a large coastal island in the state of Pará, Brazil. It is the main and largest of the islands in the Marajó Archipelago. Marajó Island is separated from the mainland by Marajó Bay, Pará River, smaller rivers (especially ...

, São Félix, Tefé, Alto Xingu-Tecumã * in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

: Illapel * in Guatemala: Santo Cristo de Esquípulas (United ''aeque principaliter'', i.e. in

personal union A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...

, with Diocese of Zacapa from 1986.06.24) * in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

: El Salto, Huautla, Jesús María, Mixes * in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

: Bocas del Toro * in

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

: Ayaviri, Caravelí, Chota, Chuquibamba,

Chuquibambilla Chuquibambilla is a town in southern Peru, capital of the province Grau in the region Apurímac. The city is the seat of the Territorial Prelature of Chuquibambilla. History In 1928, the town was the site of hostile activity by ''abigeos'' ...

, Huamachuco,

Juli Juli may refer to: * Juli (band), a rock/pop band from Germany * "Juli", by Ryan Adams from the album '' Prisoner (B-Sides)'' * Juli District, one district of the province Chucuito in Puno Region, Peru ** , the capital of Juli District * Juli (foo ...

Moyobamba Moyobamba () or Muyupampa ( Quechua ''muyu'' circle, ''pampa'' large plain, "circle plain") is the capital city of the San Martín Region in northern Peru. Called "Santiago of eight valleys of Moyobamba" or "Maynas capital". There are 50,073 inha ...

, Santiago Apóstol de Huancané,

Yauyos Yauyos is a town in Central Peru, capital of the province Yauyos in the region Lima. The city is the seat of the Territorial Prelature of Yauyos The Territorial Prelature of Yauyos ( la, Praelatura Territorialis Yauyosensis) is a Roman Catho ...

Nominal territorial prelatures

(incomplete?) * in Italy : Territorial Prelature of Santa Lucia del Mela, on

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, merged into the thus accordingly renamed Metropolitan Archdiocese of Messina–Lipari–Santa Lucia del Mela

Former territorial prelatures

''(probably quite incomplete; all Latin) ; In Europe - Italy * Territorial Prelature of Acquaviva delle Fonti (suppressed into Diocese of Altamura–Gravina–Acquaviva delle Fonti) * Territorial Prelature of Altamura (promoted to Diocese of Altamura–Gravina–Acquaviva delle Fonti) ; in

* Territorial Prelature of Abaeté do Tocantins (Brazil, now Diocese of Abaetetuba) * Territorial Prelature of Acre and Purus (Brazil, now Diocese of Rio Branco) * Territorial Prelature of Bananal (Brazil, suppressed) *

Territorial Prelature of Bom Jesus do Piauí A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

(Brazil, renamed and promoted Diocese of Bom Jesus do Gurguéia) * Borba (Brazil, promoted diocese) * Territorial Prelature of Cristalândia (Brazil, promoted diocese) * Territorial Prelature of Formosa (Brazil, promoted diocese) * Territorial Prelature of Guiratinga (Brazil, promoted and renamed Diocese of Primavera do Leste–Paranatinga) * Territorial Prelature of Paranatinga (Brazil, suppressed) * Territorial Prelature of Porto Velho (Brazil, promoted twice: now Archdiocese) *

Territorial Prelature of Registro do Araguaia The Diocese of Guiratinga (Dioecesis Guiratingensis) was a former ecclesiastical circumscription of the Catholic Church in Brazil, belonging to the Ecclesiastical Province of Cuiabá and the West II Regional Bishops' Council of the National Confer ...

(Brazil, suppressed) * Territorial Prelature of Rio Branco (Brazil, originally Acre and Purus, promoted Diocese of Rio Branco) * Territorial Prelature of Roraima (Brazil, promoted diocese) * Territorial Prelature of São Peregrino Laziosi no Alto Acre e Alto Purus (Brazil, originally Acre and Purus, promoted Diocese of Rio Branco) * Territorial Prelature of São Raimundo Nonato (Brazil, promoted diocese) ; in Spanish-speaking

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

* Territorial Prelature of Arica (Chile, promoted diocese) * Territorial Prelature of Caacupé (Paraguay, promoted diocese) * Territorial Prelature of Chimbote (Peru, promoted diocese) *

Territorial Prelature of Choluteca The Roman Catholic Diocese of Choluteca (erected 8 September 1964, as the Territorial Prelature of Choluteca) is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Tegucigalpa. It was elevated on 29 August 1979. Bishops Ordinaries * Marcel Gérin y Boulay, P.M.E ...

(Honduras, promoted diocese) * Territorial Prelature of Chulucanas (Peru, promoted diocese) * Territorial Prelature of Copiapó (Chile, promoted diocese) * Territorial Prelature of Escuintla (Guatemala, promoted diocese) * Territorial Prelature of Huarí (Peru, promoted diocese) * Territorial Prelature of Huehuetenango (Guatemala, promoted diocese) *

Territorial Prelature of Madera A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...

(Mexico, promoted and renamed Diocese of Cuauhtémoc-Madera) * Territorial Prelature of Río Magdalena (Colombia, promoted and renamed Diocese of Barrancabermeja) * Territorial Prelature of San Fernando de Apure (Venezuela, promoted diocese) * Sicuani, (Peru, promoted to diocese) * Territorial Prelature of Tarma (Peru, promoted diocese) * Territorial Prelature of Inmaculada Concepción de la B.V.M. en Olancho (Honduras, renamed and promoted Diocese of Juticalpa) ;in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

: * Territorial Prelature of Cotabato (Philippines, initially Territorial Prelature of Cotabato and Sulu; promoted diocese) * Territorial Prelature of Kidapawan (Philippines, promoted diocese) * Territorial Prelature of Marbel (Philippines, promoted diocese)

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic
{{Catholicism

Status

Current territorial prelatures

In Asia

In Europe

In Latin America

Nominal territorial prelatures

Former territorial prelatures

See also

References

Sources and external links