Vicar general
A
vicar general is an ecclesiastical office in the
Latin rite of the
Roman Catholic Church existing in each
particular church.
A diocesan
bishop must appoint at least one vicar general for his
diocese. Vicars general share in the bishop's
ordinary power over the entire
diocese, acting as a sort of second-in-command for administrative matters (a priest in a separate post,
judicial vicar, serves as the head of the bishop's court in Canon Law). Vicars general must be
priests,
auxiliary bishops, or
coadjutor bishops - according to Canon 406 of the
Code of Canon Law, if a coadjutor bishop exists for a diocese, the diocesan bishop is to appoint him vicar general. Other auxiliary bishops are appointed vicars general or at least episcopal vicars. The equivalent officer in the
Eastern Rite Catholic Churches is called the
protosyncellus.
The similarly titled
episcopal vicar shares in the bishop's ordinary power as the vicar general, but over only a particular section of a diocese or over certain matters, such as affairs of
religious orders or the faithful of a different rite. These too must be priests or
auxiliary bishop(s). The equivalent officer in the Eastern Rite Churches is called the
syncellus.
Priests appointed as vicars general or episcopal vicars are freely appointed or removed by the diocesan bishop, and must be appointed for a fixed duration. They lose their office when the term expires, or when the episcopal see
falls vacant (Canon 481).
Auxiliary bishops 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 (Canon 193). Likewise, while they lose their vicar general or episcopal vicar office
sede vacante, they retain the powers of the office until the succeeding bishop takes over the diocese (Canon 409). A coadjutor bishop has right of succession as coadjutor, so if the see falls vacant he becomes the diocesan bishop immediately.
(These offices should not be confused with the
vicar forane or "dean", as those
vicars do not have ordinary executive power.)
The appointment of a vicar general is a useful tool for a diocesan bishop who has additional functions attached to his episcopate. The most notable example is what occurs in the diocese of
Rome. The
Pope is the diocesan bishop of Rome, but since he must spend most of his time governing the Latin rite church and the global Catholic Church, his vicar general functions as the
de facto bishop of the diocese.
[Pope John Paul II (1998), Article 10, Apostolic Constitution Ecclesia in Urbe (in Italian)] The
Vicar General of Rome also serves the same role for the
suburbicarian diocese of
Ostia, the traditional
see of the
Dean of the College of Cardinals, since it was merged with the diocese of Rome. The Vicar General of Rome, who is normally a
cardinal, known as the
Cardinal Vicar, is one of the few church officials in Rome to remain in office
sede vacante.
[Article 13, Ibid] The current Vicar General of Rome is
Camillo Cardinal Ruini.
Vicars-General retain important administrative and judicial functions in the
Church of England.
