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Ecclesiastical Administrator
In the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church, an administrator of ecclesiastical property is anyone charged with the care of church property. Administrative authority The supreme administrator and steward of to all ecclesiastical temporalities is the pope, in virtue of his primacy of governance. The pope's power in this connection is solely administrative, as he cannot be said properly to be the owner of goods belonging either to the Church or to particular churches. Papal administrative authority is exercised principally through the Congregations of the Roman Curia and similar bodies The ordinary is to exercise vigilance over the administration of the property of the diocese, religious institute or other juridical bodies subject to him. ''What follows is taken from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canon Law (Catholic Church)
The canon law of the Catholic Church () is "how the Church organizes and governs herself". It is the system of religious laws and canon law, ecclesiastical legal principles made and enforced by the Hierarchy of the Catholic Church, hierarchical authorities of the Catholic Church to regulate its external organization and government and to order and direct the activities of Catholics toward the mission of the Church. It was the first modern Western world, Western legal system and is the oldest continuously functioning legal system in the West, while the unique traditions of Eastern Catholic canon law govern the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic particular churches '. Positive ecclesiastical laws, based directly or indirectly upon immutable divine law or natural law, derive formal authority in the case of universal laws from Promulgation (Catholic canon law), promulgation by the supreme legislator—the supreme pontiff, who possesses the totality of legislative, executi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman 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] |
Pope
The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of state of the Papal States, and since 1929 of the much smaller Vatican City state. From a Catholic viewpoint, the primacy of the bishop of Rome is largely derived from his role as the apostolic successor to Saint Peter, to whom Petrine primacy, primacy was conferred by Jesus, who gave Peter the Keys of Heaven and the powers of "binding and loosing", naming him as the "rock" upon which the Church would be built. The current pope is Leo XIV, who was elected on 8 May 2025 on the second day of the 2025 papal conclave. Although his office is called the papacy, the ecclesiastical jurisdiction, jurisdiction of the episcopal see is called the Holy See. The word "see" comes from the Latin for 'seat' or 'chair' (, refe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Congregation (Roman Curia)
In the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church, a congregation () was a type of department. They were second-highest-ranking departments, ranking below the two Secretariats, and above the pontifical councils, pontifical commissions, tribunals and offices. Originally, congregations were select groups of cardinals drawn from the College of Cardinals, commissioned to take care of some field of activity that concerned the Holy See. After the Second Vatican Council, members included diocesan bishops from diverse parts of the world who are not cardinals. Each congregation also had a permanent staff. Each congregation was led by a prefect, who is usually a cardinal.René Metz, ''Twentieth Century Encyclopedia of Catholicism, Vol. 80: What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960), pp. 99-101 A non-cardinal appointed to head a congregation was styled pro-prefect until made a cardinal. This practice was later abandoned. Under the reforms of Pope Francis, the congregations were each ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ordinary (Catholic Church)
An ordinary (from Latin ''ordinarius'') is an officer of a church or civic authority who by reason of office has ordinary power to execute laws. Such officers are found in hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ecclesiastical legal system.See, e.g.c. 134 § 1 ''Code of Canon Law'', 1983 For example, diocesan bishops are ordinaries in the Catholic Church and the Church of England. In Eastern Christianity, a corresponding officer is called a hierarch (from Greek ''hierarkhēs'' "president of sacred rites, high-priest" which comes in turn from τὰ ἱερά ''ta hiera'', "the sacred rites" and ἄρχω ''arkhō'', "I rule"). Ordinary power In canon law, the power to govern the church is divided into the power to make laws (legislative), enforce the laws (executive), and to judge based on the law (judicial). An official exercises power to govern either because he holds an office to which the law grants governing power or because someone with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diocese
In Ecclesiastical polity, 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 Roman province, provinces were administratively associated in a larger unit, the Roman diocese, diocese (Latin ''dioecesis'', from the Greek language, Greek term διοίκησις, meaning "administration"). Christianity was given legal status in 313 with the Edict of Milan. Churches began to organize themselves into Roman diocese, dioceses based on the Roman diocese, civil dioceses, not on the larger regional imperial districts. These dioceses were often smaller than the Roman province, provinces. Christianity was declared the Empire's State church of the Roman Empire, official religion by Theodosius I in 380. Constantine the Great, Constantine I in 318 gave litigants the right to have court cases transferred from the civil courts to the bishops. This situa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Religious Institute
In the Catholic Church, a religious institute is "a society in which members, according to proper law, pronounce public religious vows, vows, either perpetual or temporary which are to be renewed, however, when the period of time has elapsed, and lead a life of brothers or sisters in common." A religious institute is one of the two types of institutes of consecrated life; the other is the secular institute, where its members are "living in the world". Religious institutes come under the jurisdiction of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. Description A member of a religious institute lives in community with other members of the institute and observes the three evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience, which they bind themselves to observe by public vows. Classification Since every religious institute has its own unique charism#Religious meaning, charism, it adheres to a particular way of religious living whethe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role or office of the bishop is called episcopacy or the episcopate. Organisationally, several Christian denominations utilise ecclesiastical structures that call for the position of bishops, while other denominations have dispensed with this office, seeing it as a symbol of power. Bishops have also exercised political authority within their dioceses. Traditionally, bishops claim apostolic succession, a direct historical lineage dating back to the original Twelve Apostles or Saint Paul. The bishops are by doctrine understood as those who possess the full Priest#Christianity, priesthood given by Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ, and therefore may ordain other clergy, including other bishops. A person ordained as a deacon, pri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parish Priest
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or more curates, and who operates from a parish church. Historically, a parish often covered the same geographical area as a manor. Its association with the parish church remains paramount. By extension the term ''parish'' refers not only to the territorial entity but to the people of its community or congregation as well as to church property within it. In England this church property was technically in ownership of the parish priest ''ex officio'', vested in him on his institution to that parish. Etymology and use First attested in English in the late 13th century, the word ''parish'' comes from the Old French , in turn from , the Romanisation of the , "sojourning in a foreign land", itself from (''paroikos''), "dwelling beside, st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Third Plenary Council Of Baltimore
The Plenary Councils of Baltimore were three meetings of American Catholic bishops, archbishops and superiors of religious orders in the United States. The councils were held in 1852, 1866 and 1884 in Baltimore, Maryland. These three conferences played major roles in the 19th century in the establishment of Catholic education in the United States. They also defined the roles and rules for the church hierarchy, the clergy and Catholic laypeople. Historical background The Vatican erected the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1808, the first and only ecclesiastical province in the United States. At that time, the Catholic population in the country was under 30,000 and the majority of them lived in Maryland. All the Catholic dioceses were part of this province. From 1829 to 1849, the bishops attended seven provincial councils, all of them held in Baltimore. The bishops used the councils to establish uniform procedures and policies for the province of Baltimore. From 1830 to 1850, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rector (ecclesiastical)
A rector is, in an ecclesiastical sense, a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations. In contrast, a vicar is also a cleric but functions as an assistant and representative of an administrative leader. Ancient usage In ancient times bishops, as rulers of cities and provinces, especially in the Papal States, were called rectors, as were administrators of the patrimony of the Church (e.g. '). The Latin term ' was used by Pope Gregory I in '' Regula Pastoralis'' as equivalent to the Latin term ' (shepherd). Roman Catholic Church In the Roman Catholic Church, a rector is a person who holds the ''office'' of presiding over an ecclesiastical institution. The institution may be a particular building—such as a church (called his rectory church) or shrine—or it may be an organization, such as a parish, a mission or quasi-parish, a seminary or house of studies, a university, a hospital, or a community of clerics or religious. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trustee System (Catholic Church)
Trusteeism and the trustee system are practices and institutions within certain parishes of the Catholic Church in the United States, under which laypersons participate in the administration of Ecclesiastical Property. When laypersons are among the trustees, the Church seeks concordat, agreement with the civil authorities to have the property administered under principles of canon law of the Catholic Church, canon law. The Church often appoints deputies who are responsible to herself. Technically, such administrators, whether cleric or lay, are called the "fabric" of the Church (). History In very early times ecclesiastical goods were divided into three or four portions, and that part set aside for the upkeep of the Church began to take on the character of a juridical person. The Eleventh Council of Carthage in 407 requested the civil power to appoint five executors for ecclesiastical property, and in the course of time laymen were called on to take their share in this admini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
