In the

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

of the

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 ...

, a procurator is one who acts on behalf of and by virtue of the authority of another.John Hardon, ''Modern Catholic Dictionary''
/ref> 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 Peter Canisius ( nl, Pieter Kanis; 8 May 1521 – 21 December 1597) was a Dutch Jesuit Catholic priest. He became known for his strong support for the Catholic faith during the Protestant Reformation in Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Swit ...

attended the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trento, Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italian Peninsula, Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation ...

as procurator for the

Bishop of Augsburg Diocese of Augsburg is a diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Munich.Religious institute A religious institute is a type of institute of consecrated life in the Catholic Church whose members take religious vows and lead a life in community with fellow members. Religious institutes are one of the two types of institutes of consecrate ...

s, societies of apostolic life and autonomous

particular Church In metaphysics, particulars or individuals are usually contrasted with universals. Universals concern features that can be exemplified by various different particulars. Particulars are often seen as concrete, spatiotemporal entities as opposed to a ...

es ''sui iuris'' (especially

Eastern Catholic The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous ('' sui iuris'') particular churches of t ...

, 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 The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

. Thus a Prelate (not Ordinary elsewhere) is appointed as Procurator for the Patriarch of Antioch of the

Greek-Melkite Church el, Μελχιτική Ελληνική Καθολική Εκκλησία , image = Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Damascus, Syria.jpg , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = , abbreviatio ...

. Such procuration may be combined with the office of

Apostolic Visitator In the Catholic Church, an apostolic visitor (or ''Apostolic Visitator''; Italian: Visitatore apostolico) is a papal representative with a transient mission to perform a canonical visitation of relatively short duration. The visitor is depute ...

for that rite-specific church (especially in Europe)

Internal regular procurators

Within the above regular

institutes of consecrated life An institute of consecrated life is an association of faithful in the Catholic Church erected by canon law whose members profess the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience by vows or other sacred bonds. They are defined in the ...

and societies of apostolic life, the person charged with matters such as the purchase of provisions, furniture, books and other supplies may be called a procurator. This officer may be called a provincial procurator or a procurator general, if looking after the needs of a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

or of the institute as a whole. In other institutes, the terms used may be bursar or econome.

Canonical litigation

A party to litigation may generally appoint a procurator instead of responding personally. The name "fiscal procurator" or "fiscal promoter" was previously used in canon law for the official known since the publication of the 1917 Code of Canon Law as the promoter of justice, whose function is to safeguard the public welfare in cases brought before ecclesiastical tribunals.Sebastian S. Karambai, ''Ministers and Ministries in the Local Church''
(St Pauls BYB 2005 , pp. 112-114 In

canonization Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of ...

cases, the corresponding official was called the promoter of the faith or, in popular parlance, the

devil's advocate The (Latin for Devil's advocate) is a former official position within the Catholic Church, the Promoter of the Faith: one who "argued against the canonization ( sainthood) of a candidate in order to uncover any character flaws or misrepresent ...

References

{{Reflist

Sources and external links

GCatholic passim, here page Recent Appointments in the Eastern Churches
Canon law of the Catholic Church Catholic ecclesiastical titles Tribunals of the Catholic Church

Internal regular procurators

Canonical litigation

See also

References

Sources and external links