A vicar general (previously,

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ordinary

executive power The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...

over the entire diocese and, thus, is the highest official in a diocese or other particular church after the diocesan bishop or his equivalent in canon law. The title normally occurs only in Western Christian churches, such as the

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

of 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 the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...

. Among the Eastern churches, the

Mar Thoma Syrian Church The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, often shortened to Mar Thoma Church, and known also as the Reformed Syrian ChurchS. N. Sadasivan. A Social History of India''. APH Publishing; 2000. . p. 442. and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malab ...

of Kerala uses this title and remains an exception. The title for the equivalent officer in the Eastern churches is

syncellus ''Synkellos'' (), latinized as ''syncellus'', is an ecclesiastical office in the Eastern Rite churches. In the Byzantine Empire, the ''synkellos'' of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople was a position of major importance in the state, and ...

and

protosyncellus A protosyncellus, protosynkellos or protosyngel () is the principal deputy of the bishop of an eparchy for the exercise of administrative authority in an Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic church. The equivalent position in the Western Chris ...

. The term is used by many

religious order A religious order is a subgroup within a larger confessional community with a distinctive high-religiosity lifestyle and clear membership. Religious orders often trace their lineage from revered teachers, venerate their Organizational founder, ...

s of men in a similar manner, designating the authority in the Order after its

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 super ...

Ecclesiastical structure

In the Roman Catholic Church, a diocesan

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 di ...

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

must appoint at least one vicar general for his

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, prov ...

archdiocese 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 associated ...

, but may appoint more—dioceses whose territory is split into different states usually have one each. The vicar general by virtue of office is the bishop's agent in administration, acting as second-in-command for diocesan executive matters. (A priest in a separate office, the judicial vicar, serves a similar role with regard to the exercise of ordinary judicial power of governance in the diocese which is normally exercised in ecclesiastical courts.) Vicars general must be

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

s, or

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

s—if a coadjutor bishop exists for a diocese, the diocesan bishop or archbishop is to appoint him as a vicar general. Other auxiliary bishops are usually appointed vicars general or at least episcopal vicars. A vicar general is a local ordinary and, as such, acquires his powers by virtue of office and not by delegation. He is to possess a doctorate or at least a licentiate in

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 ...

( JCL, JCD) or

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

( STL, STD) or be truly expert in these fields. The similarly titled episcopal vicar shares in the bishop's ordinary executive power like the vicar general, except for the fact that the episcopal vicar's authority normally extends over only a particular geographic section of a diocese or over certain specific matters. These might include issues concerning

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 ...

s or the faithful of a different rite. These too must be priests or auxiliary bishops. The equivalent officer in the Eastern Churches is called the

. Priests appointed as vicars general or episcopal vicars are freely appointed or removed by the diocesan bishop or archbishop, and are appointed for a fixed duration. They lose their office when the term expires, or when the episcopal see falls vacant (''sede vacante'').

Auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

s may also be removed from the office of vicar general, but must at least be appointed episcopal vicar. An auxiliary bishop who is an episcopal vicar, or a coadjutor bishop who is vicar general, may only be removed from office for a grave reason. Likewise, while they lose their vicar general or episcopal vicar office title ''sede vacante'', they retain the duties and responsibilities of the office—specifically, they can still be exercised while the see is vacant serving as right-hand to the diocesan or

apostolic administrator An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

to establish continuity—until the succeeding bishop is installed or assumes office on a diocese. A coadjutor bishop has the right of succession, so if the see falls vacant he becomes the diocesan bishop or archbishop immediately. These offices should not be confused with the

vicar forane A dean, in an ecclesiastical context, is a cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, and many Lutheran denominations. A dean's assistant i ...

or "dean/archpriest", as such

s do not have ordinary executive power. The appointment of a vicar general is also a useful tool for a diocesan bishop or archbishop who has additional functions attached to his episcopate. The most notable example is in the diocese of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. 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 ...

is 'ex officio' the diocesan bishop of Rome, but spends most of his time governing the Latin Church and the global Catholic Church. His vicar general therefore functions as the '' de facto'' bishop of the diocese. The Vicar General of Rome also serves the same role for the

suburbicarian diocese The seven suburbicarian dioceses (, ) are Catholic dioceses located in the vicinity of Rome, whose ( titular) bishops are the (now six) ordinary members of the highest-ranking order of cardinals, the cardinal bishops (to which the cardinal patriar ...

of Ostia, the traditional see of the

Dean of the College of Cardinals The dean of the College of Cardinals () presides over the College of Cardinals in the Catholic Church, serving as ('first among equals'). The position was established in the 12th century. He always holds the rank of a cardinal bishop and is as ...

, ever since it was merged with the diocese of Rome. The Vicar General of Rome, who is normally a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

, known as the

Cardinal Vicar Cardinal vicar () is a title commonly given to the vicar general of the Diocese of Rome for the portion of the diocese within Italy (i.e. excluding the portion within Vatican City). The official title, as given in the ''Annuario Pontificio'', i ...

, is one of the few church officials in Rome to remain in office ''sede vacante''. The current Vicar General of Rome is Cardinal

Baldassare Reina Baldassare Reina (born 26 November 1970) is an Italian Catholic prelate who has served as vicar general of the Diocese of Rome since 2024. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop there from 2022 to 2024. He also served in his native Archdi ...

. A similar example is found in the United States. The archbishop of New York functioned also as ordinary of the military services from World War I until the 1980s: in addition to being responsible for the archdiocese of New York, the same archbishop was also responsible for the Military Ordinariate. This had the status of an

apostolic vicariate An apostolic vicariate is a territorial jurisdiction of the Catholic Church under a titular bishop centered in missionary regions and countries where dioceses or parishes have not yet been established. The status of apostolic vicariate is often ...

, and functioned as the equivalent of a diocese defined by quality (that is, all Catholic members of the U.S. military and their dependents) rather than by geography. The archbishop had two separate administrations, therefore, and two sets of vicars general to manage each. This arrangement ended with the establishment of the wholly separate Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA. File:External Ornaments of a Vicar General.svg, Generic coat of arms of a vicar general

Anglican

Vicars-General retain important administrative and judicial functions in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

. Following the

Act of Supremacy The Acts of Supremacy are two acts passed by the Parliament of England in the 16th century that established the English monarchs as the head of the Church of England; two similar laws were passed by the Parliament of Ireland establishing the E ...

of 1534,

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

appointed

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; – 28 July 1540) was an English statesman and lawyer who served as List of English chief ministers, chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false cha ...

as his vicar general, a delegation of the powers with which Henry was invested by the Act as a result of becoming supreme head of the Church of England. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the Church of England licensed bishop-designates as episcopal vicars until they were permitted to hold consecration services. For example, Gavin Collins was licensed as an episcopal vicar in the Diocese of Oxford from his original consecration date (28 January 2021) until his consecration as Bishop of Dorchester (14 April 2021).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vicar General Canon law of the Anglican Communion Ecclesiastical titles Catholic ecclesiastical titles

Ecclesiastical structure

Anglican

See also

References