Cardinal Vicar
Cardinal vicar is a title commonly given to the vicar general of the Diocese of Rome for the portion of the diocese within Italy. The official title, as given in the Annuario Pontificio, is vicar general of His Holiness.
The bishop of Rome is responsible for the spiritual administration of this diocese, but because the bishop of Rome is the pope, with many other responsibilities, he appoints a cardinal vicar with ordinary power to assist in this task. Canon law requires all Catholic dioceses to have one or more vicars general, but the cardinal vicar functions more like a de facto diocesan bishop than do other vicars general. The holder has usually been a cardinal.
A similar position exists to administer the spiritual needs of the Vatican City, known as the vicar general for Vatican City or, more exactly, Vicar General of His Holiness for Vatican City.
History
Establishment
It seems certain that in the twelfth century vicars were named only when the pope absented himself for a long time from Rome or its neighbourhood. When he returned, the vicar's duties ceased. This may have lasted to the pontificate of Pope Innocent IV ; on the other hand it is certain that in the latter half of the thirteenth century the vicar continued to exercise the duties of his office even during the presence of the pope at Rome. Thus the nomination of a vicar on 28 April 1299, is dated from the Lateran. The office owes its full development to the removal of the Roman Curia to Southern France and its final settlement at Avignon. Since then the list of vicars is continuous.The oldest commissions do not specify any period of duration; in a Bull of 16 June 1307, it is said for the first time that the office is held "at our good will". Life-tenures begin to appear in the sixteenth century; the exact year of this modification remains yet to be fixed. Formerly the nomination was by Bull; when began the custom of nominating by Brief is difficult to determine. The oldest Bull of nomination known bears the date of 13 February 1264.
An immemorial custom of the Curia demands that all its officials shall be duly sworn in, and this was the case with the vicars. In all probability during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries such oaths were taken at the hands of the pope himself. Later the duty fell to the Apostolic Camera. The oath is conceived in very general terms and lays but slight stress on the special duties of the vicar. The official named on 18 October 1412, as representative of the vicar was also sworn in, and before entering on his office was admonished to take, in presence of a specified cardinal, the usual oath of fidelity to the pope and of a faithful exercise of the office.
Authority
According to the oldest known decree of nomination, 13 February 1264, both Romans and foreigners were subject to the jurisdiction of the vicar. In this document, however, neither the special rights of the vicar nor the local extent of his authority are made known, but it is understood that the territory in question is the city of Rome. On 27 June 1288, the vicar received the rights of "visitation, correction and reformation in spiritual matters..... of dedicating churches and reconciling cemeteries, consecrating altars, blessing, confirming, and ordaining suitable persons from the city". On 21 July 1296, On 6 July 1202, the following variant is met with: "to reform the churches, clergy, and people of Rome itself", and the additional right to do other things pertaining to the office of vicar.His jurisdiction over all monasteries is first vouched for 16 June 1207. The inclusion among these of monasteries, exempt and non-exempt and their inmates, without the walls of Rome, was the first step in the local extension of the vicar's jurisdiction. He was also empowered to confer vacant benefices in the city.
Special commissions, however, multiply in this period, bearing with them in each case a special extension or new application of authority. Under Pope Clement VI the territory of the vicar-general's jurisdiction was notably increased by the inclusion of the suburbs and the rural district about Rome. Until the time of Pope Benedict XIV this was the extent of the vicar's jurisdiction. By the "district of the city of Rome" was understood a distance of forty Italian miles from the city walls. Since, however, the territory of the suburbicarian sees lay partially within these limits, the vicar came to exercise a jurisdiction concurrent with that of the local bishop and cumulatively. This was a source of frequent conflicts, until 21 December 1744, when the local jurisdiction of the suburbicarian bishops was abolished by Benedict XIV, insofar as their territory fell within the above-mentioned limits.
In the course of time the vicar acquired not only the position and authority of a vicar-general, who has ordinary but delegated power, but the right of subdelegation, whereby he named a vicegerent, his representative not only in pontifical ceremonies, but also in jurisdiction.
By a Constitution of Clement VIII, 8 June 1592, the vicar's right to hold a visitation ordinary and extraordinary of churches, monasteries, clergy, and the people was withdrawn in favour of the Congregatio Visitationis Apostolicæ, newly founded, for the current affairs of the ordinary visitation. Henceforth this duty pertains to the vicarius urbis only insofar as he may be named president or member of this congregation, the prefect of which is the pope himself. The great "extraordinary" visitations, held generally at the beginning of each pontificate, were executed by a specially-appointed commission of cardinals and prelates, the presidency of which fell by custom to the vicar. The Congregation of the Visitation was quite independent of the vicar, being constituted by Apostolic authority.
The authority of the vicar does not cease with the pope who appointed him. But should he die during a vacancy of the Holy See, the vicegerent assumed his functions as a quasi vicar capitular.
Pope Pius X: (1912)
In 1908, Pope Pius X re-organized the Roman Curia with the Apostolic Constitution Sapienti Consilio. The essential ordinances of the Constitution and the enacting ordinances afterwards issued for the congregations and curial authorities in regard to the manner in which business should be transacted also apply to the vicariate.Four years later he turned his attention to the Urban Vicariate, whose administrative practice had become cumbersome, time-consuming, and inefficient. Various difficulties had stood in the way of a thorough reform of the Roman vicariate. Not the least of these was the lack of space in the former office of the vicariate. It was not until after the purchase of the Palazzo Mariscotti near Santissime Stimmate di San Francesco, which was assigned to the cardinal vicar and his officials and arranged for their use, that Pius X was able to carry out his long cherished plan for a thorough reform of the Roman vicariate.
Pius published his new ordinances respecting the administration of his Diocese of Rome in the Apostolic Constitution Etsi nos of 1 January 1912. The canon law entered into force, as provided in it, on 15 January 1912, the day it was promulgated in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.
The Curia Urbis or the Vicariate of the City of Rome was divided into four departments :
- divine worship and apostolic visitation, including the treasury of relics, the archaeological commission, the committee on church music, and a commission on ecclesiastical art
- discipline of the clergy and the Christian people, overseeing the clergy, women's religious institutions, schools, colleges and other institutions for education in the city, brotherhoods, unions, and social societies.
- judicial matters
- financial administration and other administrative affairs
Pope Benedict XV
, in his apostolic letter In Ordinandis of 20 April 1917, modified some of the provisions of his predecessor. In 1929, with the establishment of Vatican City, Pope Pius XII removed Vatican City State from the authority of the cardinal vicar.Pope John XXIII
established that the offices of the vicarate would be located at the Lateran Palace. He paid tribute to the work of his Cardinal Vicar, Clemente Micara, in his speech announcing the proposed Second Vatican Council.Pope Paul VI: (1966)
In the 1966 moto proprio Romanae Urbis the diocese was divided into five sections. Auxiliary Bishops were appointed to supervise pastoral ministry in a territorial sector or possibly in a specific pastoral activity in the entire diocesan area.Pope Paul VI further updated the norms relating to the functioning of the Vicariate in the Apostolic Constitution Vicariae potestatis in urbe, superseding Etsi Nos.
Pope John Paul II: (1998)
Starting from the Apostolic Constitution Vicariae potestatis in urbe, published by Paul VI on January 6, 1977, John Paul II explains in the introductory paragraphs the importance of the Vicariate of Rome. The Diocesan Council for Economic Affairs, assumed functions previously handled by Pius X's fourth department. It had the task of preparing the budget for the economic management of the Diocese every year and of approving the final statement of income and expenditure.The Diocesan Curia of Rome was divided into pastoral and administrative offices and judicial bodies. Twenty distinct offices were established for pastoral care, including the Office for school pastoral care and religious education, the Liturgical office, the Clergy office, and others. Eight administrative office were created, such as, the General Archive, the Legal office, the Data Processing Center, and others. The judicial bodies are: the Ordinary Tribunal of the Diocese of Rome, the Court of First Instance for cases of nullity of marriage in the Lazio Region, and the Court of Appeal. These tribunals operate according to norms established by the Italian Bishops Conference.
The Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi, set up to serve pilgrims, operates in the Vicariate of Rome under its own rules and procedures.