History of Papal election

[FrDavid96]

So in other words, the governing authority of a bishop is inherent to the man, while the governing authority of an office person in the diocese, the chancellor for example, is simply created, or delegated, authority.

Right?

Well, I want to make sure I understand what you’re asking here, so I’ll try to break it down into parts.

The governing authority of the bishop comes from 2 sources (see canon 336 & 375)

1. his episcopal ordination—ie the fact that he truly is a bishop and a successor to the apostles (because the authority of a diocesan administrator who is not a bishop would be different).
2. his full communion with the Church, the Supreme Pontiff, and the rest of the college of bishops (which also includes his obedience to the pope).

We can also say that a “source” of this authority is the fact that he was appointed to be the bishop of that diocese by the pope (that’s a part of #2), since a bishop cannot simply name himself to be the bishop of a diocese. Example: If Auxiliary Bishop Smith were to declare himself to be the next bishop of the diocese when the Ordinary, Bishop Jones suddenly dies, he would have no authority, even though he does possess the episcopal character, but again, that’s part of #2.

As the bishop of a diocese, his authority is “ordinary, proper, and immediate”—meaning that yes, it rests with him as the shepherd of that diocese. (see canon 381).

I hope that answered the first part…

On the other hand (to respond to the second half of your question)
some offices are not “ordinary” but “vicarious” (aka delegated) they have their authority only as representatives of the bishop. The obvious one here would be a “vicar general”–he only has his authority as a representative of the bishop.

Sometimes authority comes by virtue of the office (we say it is “ordinary”); so that a chancellor has the authority to notarize a document. The authority comes with the office–as part and parcel of that office.

Some chancellors also have vicarious (aka delegated) authority in addition to their ordinary (by virtue of office) authority. Again for example: A bishop might delegate the chancellor to give permission for a marriage to occur at a Catholic shrine (which requires the bishops permission).

Not all offices/functions in a diocese are strictly-speaking vicarious. I mention this only because that was part of your question. Some are ordinary, some vicarious, and some are a combination.

I’m not quite sure if I’ve actually answered the question, so get back to me if you feel the need.

 

[Chatter163]

Actually, the answer to the question is “no.”
Even though it took nearly 2000 years, the council finally settled the question by declaring that the bishop receives the fullness of ordination and on the other hand that a priest does not receive the fullness of ordination while a bishop is a priest-with-jurisdiction.

This is why until; after Vatican II, the liturgical books indicated that priests, deacons and subdeacons were ordained, but bishops were consecrated. Indeed, the three holy orders were listed as priest, deacon and subdeacon.

Until Vatican II, it was an open and oft-debated topic among theologians of whether the office of bishop was actually the fullness of ordination, or whether a bishop was a priest with the power of jurisdiction.

(Now, there are some times when governing occurs by one who is not a bishop–in that case, he is exercising his own proper office of governing, but not exercising the office of bishop as such. A diocesan administrator is such an example. He exercises his own temporary authority.)

A case that comes to mind is that of Msgr. Jefrey Steenson, who is the Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter here in the US, and Msgr. Keith Newton of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in the UK. These groups are comprised of former Anglicans who have been received into the Catholic Church under Anglicanorum Coetibus. A personal prelature is a rare canonical situation, but as I understand it, these priests, who are monsignors, do exercise governance on a permanent basis on the Church, as they are Ordinaries, but lack the episcopal character.