Vicar general
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A vicar general is an ecclesiastical office in the Latin rite of the Roman Catholic Church existing in each (arch)bishopric's particular church.
Catholic dioceses
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. Vicars general must be either priests, auxiliary bishops, or coadjutor bishops. Indeed, according to Canon 406 of the Code of Canon Law, the diocesan bishop is to appoint the coadjutor bishop as 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 vicar episcopal shares in the bishop's ordinary power over a particular section of a diocese or over certain matters, such as affairs of religious orders or faithful of a different rite. These too must be priests, and often are or include auxiliary bishop(s). The equivalent officer in the Eastern rite churches is called the syncellus.
Priests appointed as vicars general or vicars episcopal 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). Auxiliaries may also be removed from the office of vicar general, but must at least be appointed vicar episcopal. An auxiliary vicar episcopal, or a coadjutor 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.
(These offices should not be confused with the vicar forane or "dean", as those vicars do not have ordinary power, but delegated 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.
Anglican
Vicars-General retain important administrative and judicial functions in the Church of England.References
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