Ordinary (church officer)

An ordinary (from Latin, meaning "overseer") is an officer of a church or civic authority who by reason of office has ordinary power to execute laws.

Such officers feature in hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ecclesiastical legal-system. For example, diocesan bishops are ordinaries in the Catholic Church and in the Church of England. In Eastern Christianity, a corresponding officer is called a hierarch (from Greekἱεράρχηςhierarkhēs "president of sacred rites, high-priest" which comes in turn from τὰ ἱερά ta hiera, "the sacred rites" and ἄρχω arkhō, "I rule").

During at least the 17th and 18th centuries in England the title of "Ordinary" could designate a prison chaplain, such as the one who attended condemned prisoners before their execution at Newgate.