Titles of Bishops - quick question

  • Thread starter Thread starter rcuk
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
In France, frère (“brother”) is indeed used to indicate a male religious who is not a priest.

As far as “abbé” goes, now we’re getting into muddy territory for me. The term is used colloquially to refer to any priest, a practice that has generally been accepted since at least the 19th century and perhaps as far back as the 17th. An actual abbot is called an “abbé régulier.” Again, this is common usage. There are currently three official titles for a monastic abbot in France, depending upon the existence or absence of certain circumstances, but explaining that would take longer than it’s probably worth and I run the risk of getting something wrong (“lost in translation,” as it were) so I will refrain. :o
 
As an extension of the original question, I have noticed that Cardinals in France are referred to formally as “S.E.R,” which stands for “Son Éminence Révérendissime.” This document, promoting this year’s edition of the annual Lourdes pilgrimage for the ICRSS in France, shows the acronym in action at the bottom of the first page, where it is used to refer to Cardinal Burke. (I went on that pilgrimage, by the way. Fab-u-lous. But I digress.) The closest off-the-cuff translation I can come up with for this is “His Eminence The Very Reverend” though it might be “Most Reverend”—I’ll need to investigate that. In reality, no one I know of except the ICRSS uses this form of address. All the rest of us say Your/His Eminence and leave it at that.
 
UpUpAndAway said:
In France, frère (“brother”) is indeed used to indicate a male religious who is not a priest.
Click to expand...
That seems to mean that a friar in holy orders is not a frère. I wonder how they get around that one!

Translating documents of the kind that Fr David linked to (#16) must be even more of a challenge than it looks.
 
BartholomewB said:
That seems to mean that a friar in holy orders is not a frère. I wonder how they get around that one!
Click to expand...
If/When I find myself face-to-face with a French friar, I’ll let you know. :tiphat:

It’s probably one of those terms that is used in a specific way “sauf exception”* 🤷

*loose translation: unless otherwise indicated
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top