What Is A Vicar General?

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BlyssfulDreamer

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I have seen the question asked about what was a parochial vicar. I have seen the mention in our dicesan newspaper about the Bishop’s Vicar General. I asked the apologists and it was never answered, so I am asking you knowledgeable folks. What is a vicar general?
Thank you.

:heart:Blyss
 
BlyssfulDreamer said:
I have seen the question asked about what was a parochial vicar. I have seen the mention in our dicesan newspaper about the Bishop’s Vicar General. I asked the apologists and it was never answered, so I am asking you knowledgeable folks. What is a vicar general?
Thank you.

:heart:Blyss
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A priest who normally represents the Bishop in many different things around the diocese. Just like the Parochial Vicar represents the Pastor around the parish.
 
A priest who normally represents the Bishop in many different things around the diocese. Just like the Parochial Vicar represents the Pastor around the parish.
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Think of the Vicar General as the bishop’s prime minister, vice president, or deputy sherrif.
Also, in many cases the Vicar General is himself a consecrated bishop. If a diocese has an aux. bishop, he is the logical choice for vicar general (I’m not sure if it’s obligatory or not). In the case of a coadjutor bishop (right of automatic succession when the reigning bishop retires or dies, like a vice president) he is the Vicar General automatically under canon law. Here in the Archdiocese of Vancouver the Holy Father recently sent us the Most. Rev. Michael Miller, formerly the Secretary for Catholic Education in the Curia, as our new Coadjutor Archbishop. Until the reigning Archbishop of Vancouver retires, Archbishop Micahel Miller will serve as Vancouver’s Vicar General.
 
Great and informative posts. I thank you all for your time.👍

:heart:Blyss
 
twf said:
If a diocese has an aux. bishop, he is the logical choice for vicar general (I’m not sure if it’s obligatory or not).
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It’s not. Our current vicar general is just a priest of the diocese, but not an aux. bishop (though we have several of those, also.) Cardinal George was once Vicar General of his religious order, before he was a bishop.
 
Now for a monkey wrench to this question: What is an Episcopal Vicar? A dear friend of mine held this position for quite some time, as our city was 150 miles away from the seat of our diocese at the time. He could administer the sacrament of Confirmation in the absence of the bishop and do other things. In 2000, we were erected as a diocese and he wasn’t Episcopal Vicar anymore.
 
Episcopal vicars are vicars of the bishop (who act in his name) that are placed over a particular subset, usually territorial, of the diocese. This seems to happen most often when a large diocese has several auxiliaries, who are then each placed over a certain number of the deaneries. The difference between episcopal vicars and vicars general is that a vicar general acts in the bishop’s name for the whole diocese (hence the adjective “general”) while an episcopal vicar does so only for his particular subgroup.
 
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