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 Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation, it has been described a ...
as procurator for the Bishop of Augsburg.
Procurator at Rome
Catholic Religious institutes, 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 ...
, 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 R ...
.[
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 institutes of consecrated life 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 state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
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 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 misrepresentat ...
.
See also
* Apocrisiarius
An ''apocrisiarius'', the Latinized form of ''apokrisiarios'' ( el, ), sometimes Anglicized as apocrisiary, was a high diplomatic representative during Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages. The corresponding (purist) Latin term was ''respons ...
* Proctor
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