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, 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, a ...

' in the

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, worldwid ...

, and in some other

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...

s. 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 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 po ...

; the

Roman Curia The Roman Curia () comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution of which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use ...

; 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 Mendicant orders are primarily certain Catholic Church, Catholic religious orders that have vowed for their male members a lifestyle of vow of poverty, poverty, traveling, and living in urban areas for purposes of preacher, preaching, Evangelis ...

. The Friars Minor (

Franciscans The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...

) organized their members under a Minister General, and the Order of Preachers (

Dominicans Dominicans () also known as Quisqueyans () are an ethnic group, ethno-nationality, national people, a people of shared ancestry and culture, who have ancestral roots in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican ethnic group was born out of a fusio ...

) elected a Master of the Order. Due to restrictions on women religious, especially the obligation of cloister for nuns, congregations of women were not initially able to organize with their own superior general. In 1609, Mary Ward was the superior general of a religious institute that imitated the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

model, but the institute was not accepted by the

. It was not until the nineteenth century that religious congregations of women were able to organize with a general superior, and the role is now very common.

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu (born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, ; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa or Saint Mother Teresa, was an Albanian-Indian Catholic Church, Roman Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of ...

, for example, was the superior general of the Missionaries of Charity, known by the honorific title of ''Mother''. Following the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

, women religious formed the International Union of superiors general.

Canon law

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

, the generic term supreme moderator is used instead of superior general. Many orders and congregations use their own title for the person who holds this position. Some examples, in addition to those named above, are: * Abbot general or Abbess general * Custos-general * Mother general * Mother Superior * Prior general * Rector general * General Director or general Directress In many cases there is an intermediate level between the superior general and the superior of the individual monasteries or of equivalent local communities, often named the

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 ...

Notes

References

Sources

* * {{Authority control Organisation of Catholic religious orders Catholic ecclesiastical titles

History

Canon law

See also

Notes

References

Sources