Vicar general

A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ordinaryexecutive power over the entire diocese and, thus, is the highest official in a diocese or other particular church after the diocesan bishop or his equivalent in canon law.

The title normally occurs only in Western Christian churches, such as the Latin Church of the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. Among the Eastern churches, the Mar Thoma Syrian Church, based in Kerala, India, uses this title and remains an exception. The titles for the equivalent officer in the Eastern churches are syncellus and protosyncellus.

The term is used by many religious orders of men similarly, designating the authority in the Order after its superior general.