Diocesan administrator
- See: Catholic Church hierarchy#Equivalents of diocesan bishops in law
- "Archdiocesan administrator", "Archiepiscopal administrator" and "Eparchial administrator" redirect here.
A Diocesan administrator (also known as archdiocesan administrator, archiepiscopal administrator and eparchial administrator for the case, respectively, of an
Diocesan or archdiocesan administrators in canon law
The
If a diocese has a
Before the election of the administrator of a vacant see, the governance of the see is entrusted, with the powers of a vicar general, to the auxiliary bishop, if there is one, or to the senior among them, if there are several, otherwise to the college of consultors as a whole. The administrator has greater powers, essentially those of a bishop or archbishop except for matters excepted by the nature of the matter or expressly by law.[4] Canon law subjects his activity to various legal restrictions and to special supervision by the college of consultors (as for example canons 272 and 485). The administrator remains in charge until a new bishop or archbishop is installed or until he presents his resignation to the college of consultors.[5]
Some Bishops ruled more than one bishopric for long. In any beside their primary bishopric, they would have to be called an administrator. Nevertheless, in local tradition often they are called bishops in all their bishoprics.
An episcopal conference can transfer the functions of the consultors to the cathedral chapter.[6] In those countries in which the episcopal conference has transferred the functions, the cathedral chapter, and not the consultors, elect the administrator.[7] Capitular election was the default rule before the adoption of the 1983 Code of Canon Law;[8] this old default rule is reflected in the term for the equivalent of an administrator in the 1917 code: vicar capitular.
Administrators of prince-bishoprics
Since the
Candidates elected, who lacked canon law prerequisites and/or papal confirmation, would officially only hold the title diocesan/archdiocesan administrator (but nevertheless colloquially be referred to as prince-bishop). This was the case with Catholic candidates, who were elected for an episcopal see with its revenues as a mere appanage and with all Protestant candidates, who all lacked either the necessary vocational training or the papal confirmation.
Protestant "elected bishops"
With many capitulars converting to
Many Protestant candidates, elected by the capitulars, neither achieved papal confirmation nor a liege indult, but nevertheless, as a matter of fact held de facto princely power. This was because the emperor would have to use force to bar the candidates from ruling, with the emperors lacking the respective power or pursuing other goals. A similar situation was in a number of
Unconfirmed incumbents of the sees were called Elected Bishops or Elected Archbishops. The information that Protestant clerical rulers would generally have been called administrators, as written in several encyclopedias, does not fit historically documented practice.
Prince-bishoprics ruled by Protestant bishops
Prince-bishoprics, which were ruled by Protestants, were the following:
- Electorate of Brandenburgin 1571.
- Duchy of Bremenin 1648
- Prince-Bishopric of Cammin, Lutheran bishops and administrators since 1544, secularised and merged into the Duchy of Pomerania in 1650
- Prince-Bishopric of Halberstadt, Lutheran administrators 1566–1628, after the rule of the last, however, Catholic administrator, secularised as Principality of Halberstadtin 1648
- Electorate of Brandenburgin 1598.
- Electorate of Brandenburgin 1598.
- Principality of Lübeckin 1803
- Prince-Archbishopric of Magdeburg, Lutheran administrators between 1566 and 1631 and again since 1638, secularised as hereditary Duchy of Magdeburg in 1680
- Prince-Bishopric of Merseburg, Lutheran administrators since 1544, secularised and merged into the Electorate of Saxony in 1565
- Principality of Mindenin 1648
- Prince-Bishopric of Naumburg, Lutheran bishop and administrators between 1542 and 1547 and from 1562 on, secularised and merged into the Electorate of Saxonyin 1615
- Electorate of Brunswick and Lunenburgin 1803
- Prince-Bishopric of Ratzeburg, Lutheran administrators since 1554, secularised as the Principality of Ratzeburg in 1648
- Prince-Bishopric of Schwerin, Lutheran administrators since 1533, secularised as the Principality of Schwerinin 1648
- Principality of Verdenin 1648
References
- ^ Code of Canon Law, canon 421 §1.
- ^ Code of Canon Law, canon 425 §1. The word used in the canon (sacerdos) is not limited to a priest and applies also to a bishop.
- ^ Code of Canon Law, canons 421 §2 and 425 §3.
- ^ Code of Canon Law, canons 426-427
- ^ Code of Canon Law, canons 430
- ^ Codex Iuris Canonici Canon 502 § 3.
- ^ See Codex Iuris Canonici Canon 421 § 1 (noting that the consultors elect the administrator, "without prejudice to the provisions of can. 502 §3").
- ^ Codex Iuris Canonici Canons 431–432 (1917).
- ^ Eike Wolgast: Hochstift und Reformation. Studien zur Geschichte der Reichskirche zwischen 1517 und 1648, Stuttgart 1995