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Definitor
{{Catholic Church hierarchy sidebar, Administrative and pastoral titles In the Catholic Church, a definitor (Latin for 'one who defines') is a title with different specific uses. There are secular definitors, who have a limited amount of oversight over a part of a diocese, and also definitors in religious orders who generally provide counsel and assistance to the superiors general and provincial superiors of their order. Secular definitors In a deanery or vicarate forane, which is a grouping of several neighboring parishes within a diocese, a definitor is either the second (and unique) highest office, immediately below the dean or vicar forane and his deputy, or is the priest in charge of any of a number of even smaller districts within the deanery, called ''definitio''. They oversee the ecclesiastical property and generally assist the dean, under the ordinary authority of the bishop. Alternative titles for this position are chamberlain or treasurer. These diocesan offices are n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Guzmán. It was approved by Pope Honorius III via the papal bull on 22 December 1216. Members of the order, who are referred to as Dominicans, generally display the letters ''OP'' after their names, standing for , meaning 'of the Order of Preachers'. Membership in the order includes friars, nuns, Religious sister (Catholic), active sisters, and Laity, lay or secular Dominicans (formerly known as Third Order of Saint Dominic, tertiaries). More recently, there have been a growing number of associates of the religious sisters who are unrelated to the tertiaries. Founded to preach the The gospel, gospel and to oppose heresy, the teaching activity of the order and its scholastic organisation placed it at the forefront of the intellectual life of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Superior General
A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of an 'order' of religious persons (nuns, priests, friars, etc) or, in other words, of a 'religious institute' in the Catholic Church, and in some other Christian denominations. The superior general usually holds supreme 'executive' authority in the religious community, subject only to the Pope in the case of Catholic orders, while the general chapter has 'legislative' authority. Many Catholic superiors general are elected (directly or indirectly) by their order's membership, and are based in Rome, and thus facilitate their order's engagement with other elements of church leadership (the Pope; the Roman Curia; other orders' leadership). History The figure of superior general first emerged in the thirteenth century with the development of the centralized government of the Mendicant Orders. The Friars Minor (Franciscans) organized their members under a Minister General, and the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) elected a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions and has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilization.Gerald O'Collins, O'Collins, p. v (preface). The church consists of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites#Churches, ''sui iuris'' (autonomous) churches, including the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, which comprise almost 3,500 dioceses and Eparchy, eparchies List of Catholic dioceses (structured view), around the world, each overseen by one or more Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishops. The pope, who is the bishop of Rome, is the Papal supremacy, chief pastor of the church. The core beliefs of Catholicism are found in the Nicene Creed. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cistercians
The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contributions of the highly influential Bernard of Clairvaux, known as the Latin Rule. They are also known as Bernardines, after Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint Bernard, or as White Monks, in reference to the colour of their cowl, as opposed to the black cowl worn by Benedictines. The term ''Cistercian'' derives from ''Cistercium,'' the Latin name for the locale of Cîteaux, near Dijon in eastern France. It was here that a group of Benedictine monks from the monastery of Molesme Abbey, Molesme founded Cîteaux Abbey in 1098. The first three abbots were Robert of Molesme, Alberic of Cîteaux and Stephen Harding. Bernard helped launch a new era when he entered the monastery in the early 1110s with 30 companions. By the end of the 12th century, the ord ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Order Of Friars Minor Capuchin
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. OFMCap) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFMObs, now OFM), the other being the Conventuals (OFMConv). Franciscans reformed as Capuchins in 1525 with the purpose of regaining the original Habit (tunic) of St. Francis of Assisi and also for returning to a stricter observance of the rule established by Francis of Assisi in 1209. History Origins The Order arose in 1525 when Matteo da Bascio, an Observant Franciscan friar native to the Italian region of Marche, said he had been inspired by God with the idea that the manner of life led by the friars of his day was not the one which their founder, St. Francis of Assisi, had envisaged. He sought to return to the primitive way of life of solitude and penance, as practised by the founder of their Order. His religious superiors tried to suppress the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Discalced Carmelites
The Discalced Carmelites, known officially as the Order of the Discalced Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel () or the Order of Discalced Carmelites (; abbreviation, abbrev.: OCD; sometimes called in earlier times, ), is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order with roots in the hermit, eremitic tradition of the Desert Fathers. The order was established in the 16th century, pursuant to the reform of the Carmelites, Carmelite Order by two Spain, Spanish saints, Teresa of Ávila (foundress) and John of the Cross (co-founder). ''Discalced'' is derived from Latin, meaning "without shoes". The Carmelite Order, from which the Discalced Carmelites branched off, is also referred to as the Carmelites of the Ancient Observance to distinguish them from their discalced offshoot. The third order affiliated to the Discalced Carmelites is the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites. Background The Discalced Carmelites are friars and nuns who dedicate themselves to a life of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Provincial Superior
A provincial superior is an officer of a religious institute (including religious orders) acting under the institute's Superior General. A provincial superior exercises general supervision over all the members of that institute in a territorial division of the order called a ''province'', which is similar to, but not to be confused with, an ecclesiastical province. Instead, the province under a provincial superior is one made up of particular churches or dioceses under the supervision of a Metropolitan Bishop. The division of a religious institute into provinces is generally along geographical lines and may consist of one or more countries, or of only a part of a country. There may be, however, one or more houses of one province situated within the physical territory of another since the jurisdiction over the individual religious is personal, rather than territorial. The title of the office is often abbreviated to Provincial. Among the friars and Third Order Religious Sister ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prior (ecclesiastical)
Prior (or prioress) is an Ecclesiology, ecclesiastical Title#Ecclesiastical titles (Christian), title for a Superior (hierarchy), superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be lower in rank than the abbey's abbot or abbess. Monastic superiors In the Rule of Saint Benedict, the term appears several times, referring to any superior, whether an abbot, Provost (religion), provost, Dean (Christianity), dean, etc. In other old monastic rules, the term is used in the same generic sense. With the Cluniac Reforms, the term ''prior'' received a specific meaning; it supplanted the provost or dean (''praepositus''), spoken of in the Rule of St. Benedict. The example of the Cluniac congregations was gradually followed by all Benedictine monasteries, as well as by the Camaldolese, Vallombrosians, Cistercians, Hirsau Abbey, Hirsau congregations, and other ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Camaldolese
The Camaldolese Hermits of Mount Corona () are a Catholic Church, Catholic monastic order of pontifical right for men founded by Romuald, St. Romuald. Its name is derived from the Holy Hermitage () in Camaldoli, high in the mountains of Tuscany, Tuscany, Italy, near the city of Arezzo. Members of that community add the postnominal letters ECMC after their names. A second community, the Benedictine Camaldolese, are also based at Camaldoli and add the postnominals OSB Cam. Apart from the Catholic monasteries, ecumenical Christian hermitages with a Camaldolese spirituality have arisen as well. History The Camaldolese were established through the efforts of the Italian people, Italian monk Saint Romuald (). His reform sought to renew and integrate the hermit, eremitical tradition of monastic life with that of the cenobium. In his youth, Romuald became acquainted with the three major schools of Western monastic tradition. The monastery where he first entered monastic life, Basilica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Procurator (Catholic Church)
In the canon law of the Catholic Church, a procurator is one who acts on behalf of and by virtue of the authority of another. In a monastery, the procurator is the friar, monk or nun charged with administering its financial affairs. Bishops have been represented at councils by procurators, as Peter Canisius attended the Council of Trent as procurator for the Bishop of Augsburg. Procurator at Rome Catholic Religious institutes, societies of apostolic life and autonomous particular Churches ''sui iuris'' (especially Eastern Catholic, each using a non-Latin rite) may have representatives resident in Rome acting on their behalf in business they may have with the Holy See, who are titled Procurators General. Internal regular procurators Within the above regular institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life, the person charged with matters such as the purchase of provisions, furniture, books and other supplies may be called a procurator. Canonical litigation A p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minister General
Minister general is the term used for the head or superior general of the different branches of the Order of Friars Minor. It is a term exclusive to the order and comes directly from its founder, St. Francis of Assisi. Terminology Francis chose the word "minister" over "superior" out of his vision that the brothers of the Order were all to be equal, and that the friar supervising his brothers was to be a servant ("minister") who cared for ( ministered to) them, not one who lorded over them. The original term is ''minister generalis'' in Latin and is found in Chapter 8 of the Rule of Saint Francis. In his lifetime, Francis actively employed the term "minister" to refer to the heads of the various communities of friars who by then were already scattered around Europe. The term is sometimes written as "general minister", but "minister general" is the official form in the English language, in keeping with other official titles. Third Order In the 20th century, the term also came ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abbot
Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivalent is abbess. Origins The title had its origin in the monasteries of Egypt and Syria, spread through the eastern Mediterranean, and soon became accepted generally in all languages as the designation of the head of a monastery. The word is derived from the Aramaic ' meaning "father" or ', meaning "my father" (it still has this meaning in contemporary Arabic: أب, Hebrew: אבא and Aramaic: ܐܒܐ) In the Septuagint, it was written as "abbas". At first it was employed as a respectful title for any monk, but it was soon restricted by canon law to certain priestly superiors. At times it was applied to various priests, e.g. at the court of the Frankish monarchy the ' ("of the palace"') and ' ("of the camp") were chaplains to the Merovingian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
