Definitor
{{Catholic Church hierarchy sidebar, Administrative and pastoral titles In the Catholic Church, a definitor (Latin for 'one who defines') is a title with different specific uses. There are secular definitors, who have a limited amount of oversight over a part of a diocese, and also definitors in religious orders who generally provide counsel and assistance to the superiors general and provincial superiors of their order. Secular definitors In a deanery or vicarate forane, which is a grouping of several neighboring parishes within a diocese, a definitor is either the second (and unique) highest office, immediately below the dean or vicar forane and his deputy, or is the priest in charge of any of a number of even smaller districts within the deanery, called ''definitio''. They oversee the ecclesiastical property and generally assist the dean, under the ordinary authority of the bishop. Alternative titles for this position are chamberlain or treasurer. These diocesan offices are not ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Superior General
A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of a religious institute in the Catholic Church and some other Christian denominations. The superior general usually holds supreme executive authority in the religious community, while the general chapter has legislative authority. History The figure of superior general first emerged in the thirteenth century with the development of the centralized government of the Mendicant Orders. The Friars Minor (Franciscans) organized their community under a Minister general, and the Order of Preachers ( Dominicans) appointed 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 model, but the institute was not accepted by the Roman Curia. It was not until the nineteenth century that religio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . 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.O'Collins, p. v (preface). The church consists of 24 ''sui iuris'' churches, including the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, which comprise almost 3,500 dioceses and eparchies located around the world. The pope, who is the bishop of Rome, is the chief pastor of the church. The bishopric of Rome, known as the Holy See, is the central governing authority of the church. The administrative body of the Holy See, the Roman Curia, has its principal offices in Vatican City, a small enclave of the Italian city of Rome, of which the pope is head of state. The core beliefs of Catholicism are found in the Nicene Creed. The Catholic Church teaches that it is the on ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cistercians
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contributions of the highly-influential Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, known as the Latin Rule. They are also known as Bernardines, after Saint Bernard himself, or as White Monks, in reference to the colour of the "cuculla" or cowl (choir robe) worn by the Cistercians over their habits, as opposed to the black cowl worn by Benedictines. The term ''Cistercian'' derives from ''Cistercium,'' the Latin name for the locale of Cîteaux, near Dijon in eastern France. It was here that a group of Benedictine monks from the monastery of Molesme founded Cîteaux Abbey in 1098, with the goal of following more closely the Rule of Saint Benedict. The best known of them were Robert of Molesme, Alberic of Cîteaux and the English ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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General Chapter
A chapter ( la, capitulum or ') is one of several bodies of clergy in Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, Anglican, and Nordic Lutheran churches or their gatherings. Name The name derives from the habit of convening monks or canons for the reading of a chapter of the Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ... or a chapter (books), heading of the Christian monasticism#Western orders, order's monastic rule, rule. The 6th-century St Benedict rule of Saint Benedict, directed that Benedictines, his monks begin their daily assemblies with such readings and over time expressions such as "coming together for the chapter" (') found their meaning transferred from the text to the meeting itself and then to the body gathering for it. The place of such meetings similarly be ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Order Of Friars Minor Capuchin
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM), the other being the Conventuals (OFM Conv.). Franciscans reformed as Capuchins in 1525 with the purpose of regaining the original Habit (Tunic) of St. Francis of Assisi and also for returning to a stricter observance of the rule established by Francis of Assisi in 1209. History Origins The Order arose in 1525 when Matteo da Bascio, an Observant Franciscan friar native to the Italian region of Marche, said he had been inspired by God with the idea that the manner of life led by the friars of his day was not the one which their founder, St. Francis of Assisi, had envisaged. He sought to return to the primitive way of life of solitude and penance, as practised by the founder of their Order. His religious superiors tried to suppress ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Discalced Carmelites
The Discalced Carmelites, known officially as the Order of the Discalced Carmelites of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel ( la, Ordo Fratrum Carmelitarum Discalceatorum Beatae Mariae Virginis de Monte Carmelo) or the Order of Discalced Carmelites ( la, Ordo Carmelitarum Discalceatorum, links=no; abbrev.: OCD), is a Catholic mendicant order with roots in the eremitic tradition of the Desert Fathers and Mothers. The order was established in the 16th century, pursuant to the reform of the Carmelites, Carmelite Order by two Spanish saints, Saint Teresa of Ávila (foundress) and Saint John of the Cross (co-founder). ''Discalced'' is derived from Latin, meaning "without shoes". The Carmelite Order, from which the Discalced Carmelites branched off, is also referred to as the Carmelites of the Ancient Observance to distinguish them from their discalced offshoot. The third order affiliated to the Discalced Carmelites is the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites. Background Th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Caleruega. It was approved by Pope Honorius III via the papal bull ''Religiosam vitam'' on 22 December 1216. Members of the order, who are referred to as ''Dominicans'', generally carry the letters ''OP'' after their names, standing for ''Ordinis Praedicatorum'', meaning ''of the Order of Preachers''. Membership in the order includes friars, nuns, active sisters, and lay or secular Dominicans (formerly known as tertiaries). More recently there has been a growing number of associates of the religious sisters who are unrelated to the tertiaries. Founded to preach the Gospel and to oppose heresy, the teaching activity of the order and its scholastic organisation placed the Preachers in the forefront of the intellectual life of the Middle Ag ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Prior
Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be lower in rank than the abbey's abbot or abbess. Monastic superiors In the Rule of Saint Benedict, the term appears several times, referring to any superior, whether an abbot, provost, dean, etc. In other old monastic rules the term is used in the same generic sense. With the Cluniac Reforms, the term ''prior'' received a specific meaning; it supplanted the provost or dean (''praepositus''), spoken of in the Rule of St. Benedict. The example of the Cluniac congregations was gradually followed by all Benedictine monasteries, as well as by the Camaldolese, Vallombrosians, Cistercians, Hirsau congregations, and other offshoots of the Benedictine Order. Monastic congregations of hermit origin generally do not use the title of abbot for the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Camaldolese
The Camaldolese Hermits of Mount Corona ( la, Congregatio Eremitarum Camaldulensium Montis Coronae), commonly called Camaldolese is a monastic order of Pontifical Right for men founded by Saint Romuald. Their name is derived from the Holy Hermitage ( it, Sacro Eremo) of Camaldoli, high in the mountains of central Italy, near the city of Arezzo. Its members add the nominal letters E.C.M.C. after their names to indicate their membership in the congregation. Apart from the Roman Catholic congregations, ecumenical Christian hermitages with a Camaldolese spirituality have arisen as well. History The Camaldolese were established through the efforts of the Italian monk Saint Romuald (). His reform sought to renew and integrate the eremitical tradition of monastic life with that of the cenobium. In his youth, Romuald became acquainted with the three major schools of Western monastic tradition. The monastery where he entered the Order, Sant' Apollinare in Classe, was a traditional B ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Procurator (Catholic Church)
In the canon law of the Catholic Church, a procurator is one who acts on behalf of and by virtue of the authority of another. In a monastery, the procurator is the friar, monk or nun charged with administering its financial affairs. Bishops have been represented at councils by procurators, as Peter Canisius attended the Council of Trent as procurator for the Bishop of Augsburg. Procurator at Rome Catholic Religious institutes, societies of apostolic life and autonomous particular Churches ''sui iuris'' (especially Eastern Catholic, each using a non-Latin rite) may have representatives resident in Rome acting on their behalf in business they may have with the Holy See. Thus a Prelate (not Ordinary elsewhere) is appointed as Procurator for the Patriarch of Antioch of the Greek-Melkite Church. Such procuration may be combined with the office of Apostolic Visitator for that rite-specific church (especially in Europe) Internal regular procurators Within the above regular instit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Minister General
Minister General is the term used for the leader or Superior General of the different branches of the Order of Friars Minor. It is a term exclusive to them, and comes directly from its founder, St. Francis of Assisi. He chose this word over "Superior" out of his vision that the brothers of the Order were all to be equal, and that the friar supervising his brothers was to be a servant who cared for ( ministered to) them, not one who lorded over them. The original term is ''minister generalis'' in Latin and is found in Chapter 8 of the ''Rule of St. Francis''. The term is sometimes written as "General Minister", but this is the official form in the English language, in keeping with other official titles. Francis chose this term to designate the leaders of the various communities scattered around Europe even within his lifetime. In the 20th century, the term also came to be used as well by many religious congregations of the Third Order of St. Francis, in the effort to follow more ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |