Patriarch and/or his vicar. Two lines in the Russian Church

• Church

In its broadest sense, a vicar is a deputy, from the Latin word “vicarius”. In the Christian Orthodox and Catholic churches he has different powers and responsibilities as a spiritual person. This church position involves serving as an assistant or deputy church administrator. He does not have his own diocese. The Christian Orthodox Church specifically establishes this position so that he can assist the bishop in the management of his diocese.

Meaning of the word

In different explanatory dictionaries, the meaning of the word “vicar” is explained in approximately the same way:

• According to Efremova. A deputy or assistant bishop who governs a diocese in the Orthodox Church and holds the rank of bishop. In the Catholic Church he is defined as an assistant to the parish priest or bishop. By
• Ozhegov. In the Protestant church - an assistant to the priest, in the Orthodox - an assistant to the bishop. A vicar is a bishop without a diocese.
• According to Ushakov. A vicar is interpreted as a bishop, subordinate to the diocesan bishop, in the Orthodox Church. In Catholicism, he is an assistant to the parish priest or bishop.
• According to Dahl. Vicar - assistant, governor, comrade. An official of the highest rank.
• Encyclopedic Dictionary. The meaning of the word "vicar" is interpreted as "vicar" or "deputy". In the Protestant Church he is considered an assistant to the priest, in the Orthodox Church he is a deputy to the bishop.

Literature[ | ]

• Belovinsky L.V.
  Vicar // Illustrated encyclopedic historical and everyday dictionary of the Russian people. XVIII - early XIX centuries. / ed. N. Eremina. - M.: Eksmo, 2007. - P. 89. - 784 p. — 5000 copies. — ISBN 978-5-699-24458-4.
• Vicar / Tsypin V. A., prot. // Grand Duke - Ascending node of the orbit. - M.: Great Russian Encyclopedia, 2006. - (Big Russian Encyclopedia: [in 35 volumes] / chief editor Yu. S. Osipov; 2004-2017, vol. 5). — ISBN 5-85270-334-6.
• Tsypin Vladislav, Archpriest, Busygin A.V.
  Vicar // Orthodox Encyclopedia. - M.: Church-Scientific, 2004. - T. VIII: “Doctrine of Faith - Vladimir-Volyn Diocese.” - pp. 404-409. — 752 p. — 39,000 copies. — ISBN 5-89572-014-5.

Story

Vicar is a designation that has been specifically applied to officials since Roman times. Even during the reign of Constantine the Great, it was divided into four huge administrative districts - prefectures. They were divided into smaller administrative units - dioceses. Administration was carried out as follows: the prefecture was governed by the prefect, and the dioceses by the vicar, who was directly subordinate to the prefect.

Vicars were appointed by the emperor, and within their diocese they had the power to control the actions of provincial rulers. But they had no right to remove the latter from power. If the prefect himself was on the territory of the diocese, the vicar lost his power. In fact, he was an authorized person from the prefect.

A little history

The meaning of the concept “vicar” has many different interpretations. But despite this interpretation in all dictionaries is approximately the same. As mentioned above, this is the assistant to the parish priest. The history of this position dates back to the times of the Roman Empire. A person was appointed to it who served God by the emperor himself.

The appointment was within a certain territorial district. This calling makes it possible to control many of the actions of the rulers of specific provinces. But despite the fact that the appointment was made by the emperor, he had no right to remove the vicar from his post.

Also, his responsibilities include the ability to assist the priest during services and other sacred rites.

The Lord is always with you!

Catholicism

Popes often used the title "Vicar of Christ". That is, they considered themselves God's representatives on earth. The meaning of the word "curate" in this sense is first used since the eighth century. Until then, Popes had limited themselves to calling themselves Vicars of St. Peter. They were also called differently - “vicars of the head of the apostles.” But in addition to such a solemn meaning in canon law, this term also has a purely administrative meaning. Representatives of any church institution were called vicars. They also had various other names, depending on the role played.

Anglicanism

In this Protestant church the vicar is actually the parish priest. Historically, Anglicanism has recognized the administrative division between permanent curators and rectors. The latter received tithes as financial support. Curators are something like a salary. A vicar was a type of rector who had a smaller tithe. Now both of these titles are almost equal. Some Anglican parishes have a rector and some have a vicar. It all depends on how it developed historically in a given area. In the Episcopal Church of the United States, the position of vicar is not defined by canon law. But in some dioceses this is a priest invested with a specific mission.

The meaning of the word "vicar"

Vicar

- from the Latin word vicarius, which means deputy. This word is especially used in relation to officials. Since the time of Constantine the Great, the Roman Empire was divided into four large administrative districts - prefectures, which in turn were divided into dioceses. At the head of each prefecture was a praefectus praetorio, and at the head of each diocese was a ruler, subordinate to the prefect and called vicarius (praefectorum). V. was appointed directly by the emperor and, within the limits of his diocese, enjoyed the powers of a prefect in supervising the rulers of the provinces (a division of the diocese), however, without the right to remove them from office. But when the prefect himself was present in the diocese, the vicar lost all power. This characteristic feature makes V. a person, as it were, authorized by the prefect, who at any time can destroy these powers. The vicariate position retained the same character in the church, where this term became widespread. In the Roman Catholic Church, first of all, the Pope himself, as the successor of the prince of the apostles Peter, whom Christ appointed as his deputy, is called vicarius Jesu Christi. In turn, the Pope appoints deputies for himself, who are called apostolic V. (vicarii apostolici), also born legates (legati nati), if this title is associated not with the personality of the bishop, but with a certain see, central for a given district, as a result of which every bishop who enters this see, eo ipso becomes a papal vicar. Such wars appeared in the 5th century due to the difficulty of relations between remote provinces and Rome. Within more or less extensive territories, they were granted the exercise, on behalf of the Pope, of certain higher government rights to convene councils, to consider controversial cases between bishops, to accept appeals, etc. The papal archbishops were: Thessalonica - for Illyricum, Arelates - for Gaul, Seville - for Spain. To the VIII table. permanent papal v. disappeared and reappeared in the 11th century, when this title with more or less extensive powers was granted to the archbishops of Salzburg, Mainz, Trier, and Hamburg-Bremen. At present, the appointment of apostolic V. takes place only as an exception, under extraordinary circumstances; Only in Austria is the head of the military clergy considered a papal priesthood (vicarius castrensis), and thanks to the successes of Catholic missionaries, apostolic priesthoods appeared in Australia, China, the Pacific Islands, etc. Roman Catholic diocesan bishops also have vicar bishops (vicarius in pontificalibus), who are otherwise called titular bishops (episcopi titulares), since they have only a title without corresponding episcopal jurisdiction, and also bishops in partibus (infidelium), since they are consecrated to fictitious chairs located in the countries of the infidels. The fact is that the First Ecumenical Council established the principle that there should not be two bishops in one diocese. Meanwhile, bishops of vast dioceses from ancient times needed assistants to the episcopal rank, who would carry out the functions of their episcopal priesthood for them. When in the 13th century the pagans of Livonia and Prussia expelled many bishops from the newly established dioceses, and at the same time in the East with the fall of the Latin Empire there were a significant number of bishops who lost their see, the bishops of vast European dioceses took advantage of the services of these expelled bishops. This order of things became permanent, since the Pope, in order to protect his rights to the once existing dioceses of the Catholic Church, gave and still gives successors to the dying bishops of these fictitious dioceses. Thus, in the Roman Catholic Church, the suffragan bishop is an assistant to the diocesan in the exercise of his rights of episcopal priesthood (ju ra ordinis); he is appointed by the Pope on the proposal of the diocesan bishop. The vicar general (vicarius generalis) has a different meaning This is an assistant to the diocesan bishop in managing the diocese and in exercising his governmental rights (jura jurisdictionis). The bishop has the right and obligation to personally govern his diocese, therefore he can do without the general V.; The Pope can force him to decree the latter only if the bishop is insufficiently familiar with canon law or in the case of the vastness of the diocese. The Vicar General must have a doctorate or licentiate degree in canon law or theology and be versed in jurisprudence, but he is not required to have any degree of holy orders; it is enough that he generally belongs to the clergy, that is, has a tonsure. Between the authorizing bishop and the general V., who accepts the authority, unity of person is assumed, so that both of them are legally considered as one authority, and appeals against the actions of the general V. are sent not to the bishop, but to the next instance - to the archbishop. By virtue of the same unity of persons in the presence of a bishop, that is, when the bishop himself personally performs any government act, the general V. legally does not exist. His rights cease immediately with the termination of the rights of the bishop himself; in addition, the bishop can take back the powers given to him at any time. Sometimes specialization of administrative and judicial matters is allowed, so that the General V. is entrusted with only administrative matters, while for judicial matters there is another assistant, under the name of an official. The legal position of both is the same. In German dioceses, under the General V. there is usually an entire collegial institution, and where there has been a specialization of administrative and judicial affairs with the assignment of both to various officials - the General V. and the official - there are even two collegial institutions: the General Vicariate and the Officialate or Consistory . Sede vacante, i.e. when the episcopal see is vacant, or sede im pedita, i.e. when the see is not legally considered vacant, but in fact the bishop is rendered unable to exercise his episcopal office (for example, due to imprisonment, capture, but not due to illness, when a coadjutor is appointed), the management of the diocese passes to the cathedral chapter, which within 8 days must appoint an steward to manage the property of the bishopric and a capitular vicar (vicarius capitularis) to exercise episcopal jurisdiction. Within Russia. the empire, under the Roman Catholic diocesan bishops, consists of suffragan bishops (suffragans), who are appointed by the emperor after preliminary communication with the Roman Curia; on behalf of the diocesan bishop, they can correct the functions of the general V. In the event of a vacancy in the department, the cathedral chapter elects a vicar until the department is replaced. The Western Catholic principle of vicarious jurisdiction is expressed in Russia in the fact that the positions of members of the Roman Catholic. consistories cease with the death of the bishop or in the event of his resignation from the episcopal rank, as well as with the termination of the administration of the vacant see by the vicar. Finally, in the Roman Catholic Church, parish priests (parochs) can have V. They are permanent (vicarii perpetui), when the parish has branch churches, chapels, or when the parish is distinguished by its large population, and temporary (v. temporarii), appointed in in the event of a steamer's inability to hold a position, as well as for the period of vacancy of this position. The latter kind of V. are also known in the Protestant Church. Wed. Deneubourg, “Etude canonique sur les vicaires paroissiaux” (Par., 1871).

In the ancient Russian church, the bishops had a viceroy, who was his main representative in the field of court and administration. Initially, this was a clergy person, but at the end of the 14th century, when a special service class was formed under the bishops in the person of episcopal boyars and boyar children, a secular person could also be the governor. The existence of the bishop's boyars came to an end at the beginning of the 18th century. The institution of suffragan bishops has only recently received widespread development. In pre-Petrine Rus', under the Metropolitan of Moscow alone and later under the Patriarch of Moscow, there was an assistant with the rank of bishop, the Bishop of Sarsk and Podonsk, under the patriarchs renamed Metropolitan of Krutitsky, who, after the fall of the Sarai Horde, began to live in Moscow on Krutitsy, without ceasing, however, to be a bishop his former diocese. At the council of 1667, it was intended that all four metropolitans appoint auxiliary bishops who would live in the monasteries designated by them. This assumption did not come true, just as the desires of the Supreme Privy Council to transfer the management of the dioceses of the members of the Holy Synod into the hands of specially appointed vicars were not realized subsequently. In 1698, Peter the Great allowed the Kyiv bishop Varlaam Yasinsky, “due to the weakness of his health,” to elect and consecrate himself a bishop-coadjutor, so that this privilege would extend to his successors. By the end of the 18th century. there were suffragan bishops in the dioceses of Novgorod, Moscow and Kyiv. In the present century, cases of defining vicars as bishops auxiliary to diocesan bishops have become more frequent, and in 1865 it was given the highest permission to establish vicariates in all dioceses, where local sources of their maintenance can be indicated without burdening the state treasury, namely fairly wealthy monasteries. A vicar bishop is consecrated bishop of one of the cities of a given diocese; but this does not mean that a bishop who receives his title from one or another city has this city and the district belonging to it in his church administration. The vicar is only an assistant to the diocesan bishop, primarily in the exercise of sacred rights; his participation in diocesan administration is not determined by any fixed rules. Usually, at the discretion of the diocesan bishop, he is entrusted with a preliminary review, and sometimes approval of consistory journals and protocols; further, he is transferred to matters regarding the accession of non-believers to the Orthodox Church, the issuance of peace, consecrated antimensions, metric certificates, passports to clergy, the submission of church repentance according to reports from public places, etc. If there is a vacancy in the episcopal see in a diocese in which there is a ., decrees from the Holy Synod are addressed to Bishop V. Due to exceptional local circumstances, some suffragan bishops with their subordinate ecclesiastical boards actually conduct church government in a prominent local area. These are the vicar of the Kholm-Warsaw diocese - the Bishop of Lublin, who carries out administration and spiritual court within the former Greek-Uniate Kholm diocese, and the vicar of the Irkutsk diocese - the Bishop of Chita, who is in charge of diocesan affairs of the Transbaikal region. In a completely exceptional position is the vicar of the Riga diocese, the Bishop of Revel, who is not subordinate to his diocesan bishop and serves as an episcopal bishop in Japan, where he resides. Currently, there are 4 vicars under the Metropolitan of Novgorod, St. Petersburg and Finland - one for the diocese of Novgorod and 3 for the diocese of St. Petersburg; under the Metropolitans of Moscow and Kiev - 3 vicars each; in 5 dioceses (Vyatka, Georgian, Irkutsk, Lithuania and Kherson) there are 2 vicars each and in 21 dioceses there is one vicar. On the position of suffragan bishops from the point of view of canonical cf. N. Suvorova, “Course of Church Law” (Yarosl., 1890, part II).

Vicar

In the Orthodox Church, a vicar is a bishop who does not have his own diocese. He is also called: suffragan bishop or suffragan bishop. He is charged with assisting the ruling diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese.

Under certain conditions, he may be entrusted, within certain limits, with the management of part of the diocese - a vicariate, or vicariate. The ruling bishop bears a title according to his seat and territory.

An assistant to a bishop, under his canonical jurisdiction, may be given the following title:

• by the name of the vicariate given to him to manage;
• by the name of the city located on the territory of the diocese, in which the vicar resides (but this is not a mandatory condition) or conducts ministry;
• by the name of a previously abolished department that has no relation to the diocese or locality where he, in fact, serves.

In the Roman Catholic Church, a vicar is a suffragan bishop (from the medieval Latin “suffragium” - “help”, “support”), appointed to assist the clergy of the chapter.

Responsibilities

As one of the important clergy, the vicar has quite a lot of responsibilities related to his service in a particular parish. These include:

• Assisting the bishop in managing the diocese.
• Monitoring the execution of decrees and orders of the bishop.
• Drawing up reviews (or other written documents) serving as a response to the leaders of other parishes of the diocese, addressed mainly to the bishop and agreed upon with him upon completion of the drafting.

The duties of the vicar include assisting the priest during divine services and other sacred ceremonies.

• Visiting parishes and monasteries of your diocese and performing divine services in them.
• Control of the activities of monasteries and church parishes.
• Providing the diocese and the bishop with proposals regarding the appointment or, conversely, removal from office of clergy and chairmen of parish councils.
• Nominates candidates for ordination.
• Recommends for admission to educational institutions of the Russian Orthodox Church.
• Puts forward proposals for the organization of church parishes and monasteries.
• Sends clergy for temporary service in the temple for a period of no more than a month.
• He is responsible for the educational level of all confessors, including church workers, directs them to training and conducts training seminars himself.
• Submits for consideration by the diocese a proposal to reward ministers of parishes and monasteries.
• Responsible for drawing up the vacation schedule for ministers and submitting it to the diocesan department annually.
• Receives complaints against clergy for consideration and resolves conflicts that arise.
• Responsible for the financial aspects of the parish, submitting reports to the diocese.

Vicar General

The definition of vicar general is completely different. This is an assistant to the bishop, but within the scope of his governmental rights. According to the canons of the church, the bishop has the authority and responsibility to personally govern the diocese without outside help. The pope can forcibly appoint a vicar general only if the bishop has insufficient knowledge of canon law, or if the diocese is large.

For appointment, the applicant is presented with a number of requirements, without which he cannot occupy this church position. He must have a licentiate or doctorate degree in canon law or theology. Understand the law, belong to the clergy, and the degree of clergy is not taken into account. Both positions are considered as one legal entity.

If the actions of the vicar general are appealed, then the papers are sent not to the bishop, but to the archbishop, as a higher authority. The same principle of unity applies if the bishop makes any decision or performs any governmental act. However, the vicar general does not legally exist.

A possible division of powers is possible, when administrative affairs are assigned to the vicar, and judicial affairs are under the jurisdiction of another assistant - an official. Legally they have equal rights. When the rights of the bishop are terminated, the rights of the vicar general are automatically terminated.

Who is a vicar in the Orthodox Church

In general terms, a vicar is a deputy (especially considering the Latin origin of this word, which means exactly the word above). The position of vicar in the church involves the performance of some particularly important duties related to assistance to the main servant of the cathedral - the bishop or bishop.

In the Orthodox Church, the vicar (or bishop) is the primary assistant to the priest. At the same time, an important feature of this position is that the vicar cannot have his own diocese.

Vicar - a position in the Orthodox Church, equivalent to a deputy clergyman

It is characteristic that after several years in this position, the vicar can still become a priest, if the bishop and the diocese support this proposal. Therefore the position is not permanent.

In addition, in exceptional cases, the vicar may be entrusted with the management of a certain part of the diocese, more often when there is no priest in the church for some reason. Moreover, the history of Orthodoxy describes cases when a vicar was appointed manager of an entire city and his direct responsibilities included monitoring the conduct of services in city churches.

Important! In the church, vicar can also be referred to as suffragan bishop or suffragan bishop, emphasizing the nature of the position - replacing the main minister.

Some Orthodox churches use another name for this position, namely: chorebishop. This term appeared in Russia during the reign of Peter I and finally took root during the reign of Catherine the Great.