Everything about Vicar totally explained
In the broadest sense, a
vicar (from the
Latin vicarius) is anyone acting "in the person of" or for a superior (compare "vicarious"). In this sense, the title is comparable to
lieutenant. Usually the title appears in a number of
Christian ecclesiastical contexts, but in the
Holy Roman Empire a local representative of the
emperor, perhaps an
archduke, might be styled "vicar". "Representative" is the best definition of this word. Linguistically, it's related to the
Persian word
vezir.
Catholic Church
In
Catholic canon law,
a vicar is the representative of any ecclesiastic. The
Romans had used the term to describe officials subordinate to the
praetorian prefects. In the early Christian churches,
bishops likewise had their vicars, such as the
archdeacons and
archpriests, and also the rural
priest, the
curate who had the
cure of all the souls outside the episcopal cities. The position of the Roman Catholic vicar as it evolved is sketched in the
Catholic Encyclopedia, 1908.]
The
Pope uses the title
Vicarius Christi, meaning, the
vicar of Jesus Christ. The papacy first used this title in the
eighth century; earlier they used the title
vicar of Saint Peter or
vicarius principis apostolorum, the
vicar of the chief of the apostles.
Vicars have various different titles based on what role they're performing. An
apostolic vicar is a
bishop or priest who heads a
missionary particular church that isn't yet ready to be a full
diocese - he stands as the local representative of the Pope, in the Pope's role as bishop of all unorganized territories. A
vicar capitular, who exercises authority in the place of the diocesan chapter, is a temporary
ordinary of a diocese during a
sede vacante period.
Vicars exercise authority as the agents of the bishop of the diocese. Most vicars, however, have
ordinary power, which means that their agency isn't by virtue of a delegation but is established by law.
Vicars general, episcopal vicars, and
judicial vicars exercise vicarious ordinary power; they each exercise a portion of the power of the diocesan bishop (
judicial for the judicial vicar,
executive for the others) by virtue of their office and not by virtue of a mandate.
A
vicar forane, also known as an archpriest or dean, is a priest entrusted by the bishop with a certain degree of leadership in a territorial division of a diocese or a pastoral region known as a vicarate forane or a deanery.
A
parochial vicar is a priest assigned to a
parish in addition to, and in collaboration with, the
pastor of the parish. He exercises his ministry as an agent of the parish's pastor, who is termed
parochus in Latin.
Some
papal legates are honoured by the title
Vicar of the Apostolic See.
Eastern Orthodox
In the
Russian Orthodox Church and some other non-Hellenic Eastern Orthodox Churches that historically follow Russian tradition vicar (
Russian:
vikariy / викарий) is a term for what is known as
suffragan bishop in the
Anglican Communion or as
auxiliary bishop in the
Latin Rite of the
Roman Catholic Church. A vicar bishop usually bears in his title the names of both his titular see (usually, a smaller town within the diocese he ministers in) and the see he's subordinate to. For example, Bishop Ignaty Punin, the vicar bishop under the Diocese of
Smolensk, is titled "The Rt. Rev. Ignaty, the bishop of
Vyazma, the vicar of the Diocese of Smolensk," Vyasma being a smaller town inside the territory of the Diocese of Smolensk. Normally, only large dioceses have vicar bishops, sometimes more than one. Usually, Russian Orthodox vicar bishops have no independent jurisdiction (even in their titular towns) and are subordinate to their diocesan bishops; though some of them
de facto may have jurisdiction over some territories, especially when there's a need to avoid an overlapping jurisdiction. In the Russian Orthodox Church, some vicar bishops are styled "
archbishops" or "
metropolitans", but these titles are merely honorary.
In some other Eastern Orthodox Churches the term "
chorbishop" is used instead of "vicar bishop".
Anglican
In the
Church of England,
vicar is the ordinary title given to certain parish
priests. Historically, Anglican parish clergy were divided into
rectors, vicars and
perpetual curates. These were distinguished according to the way in which they were remunerated. The church was supported by
tithes — taxes (traditionally, as the etymology of
tithe suggests, of ten percent) levied on the agricultural output of the parish. These were divided into
greater tithes levied on wheat, hay and wood, and lesser tithes levied on the remainder. A rector received both greater and lesser tithes, a vicar the lesser tithes only. This was due to the fact that a monastery was the rector – and they supplied a priest to act on their behalf. A perpetual curate received no tithe income and was supported by the
diocese. A perpetual curate was usually in charge of a newly created Parish carved out of a larger rectoral or vicarial parish. In some cases a portion of the tithe income was given to support the priest. The adjective
perpetual emphasises that such a clergyman enjoyed the same security of tenure as his more affluent peers. As all rectors, vicars and perpetual curates were personal representatives of the authority of the church in their parishes they were generally styled
parsons. However, this title was used most often by perpetual curates more easily to distinguish them from
assistant curates, who were not legally parsons. An Act of Parliament of
1868 permitted perpetual curates to style themselves vicars and the term
parson rapidly lost popularity. The conjunction of this change with near-contemporaneous church reforms aimed at reducing the disparities of income among clergy meant that the distinction between the grades of clergy became progressively less relevant and remarked upon. Popularly, any members of the clergy are often referred to as a
vicar, even when they don't legally hold such a post. In the past a similar situation led to all clergy being popularly referred to as parsons.
Most parishes in England and Wales retain the historical title for their parish priest — rector or vicar — with vicar being more common in the urban areas, due to the fact of an expansion of new Parishes being created in the Victorian years, and the incumbents being styled 'vicar' after 1868. The distinctions between the titles is now only historical. In the late twentieth century, a
shortage of clergy and the disparity of workload between parish clergy led to the development of a number of new forms of parish ministry. One of these, which has proved relatively effective, is the
Team ministry or
benefice. It might be that a number of parishes join together to form the
Team, and each parish retains its legal definition and independence. Rather than having clergy licensed to the individual parishes, a team of clergy are licensed to the entire
benefice. Alternatively, a large parish with daughter churches in addition to a parish church, may be created as a Team Ministry.
In these examples, the more senior priest takes the title
Team Rector and serves as parish priest in the main parish, and one or more
stipendiary, experienced priests serve as
Team Vicars (often installed into the other parishes, or Churches). Non-stipendiary clergy and assistant
curates take other titles, often
Team Curate.
Team Rectors and Team Vicars are not perpetual parish priests, and as such don't possess the 'freehold' but are licensed for a fixed term, known as 'leasehold', usually seven years for a Team Rector, and five years for a Team Vicar.
In many other
Anglican provinces, the distinction between a vicar and a rector is different. In the
Church of Ireland and the
Scottish Episcopal Church, most parish priests are
rectors. In the
Episcopal Church in the United States of America, a vicar is a priest in charge of a
mission, meaning a congregation supported by its diocese instead of being a self-sustaining parish which is headed by a rector.
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