Diocesan chancery

A diocesan chancery is the branch of administration that handles all written documents used in the official government of a

Anglican diocese.^[1]^[2]

It is in the diocesan chancery that, under the direction of the bishop or his representative (the local ordinary), all documents which concern the diocese are drawn up, copied, forwarded, and a record kept of all official writings expedited or received.

The official charged with the execution of these duties is known as the diocesan chancellor.

Latin Catholic dioceses

In many dioceses, the

bishop himself, and in which the vicar-general (often not resident in the episcopal city

) is called on only when the bishop is absent or hindered.

In such cases, the chancellor is also the confidential

priest or deacon

. At the same time, the greater part of the diocesan administration is handed over to a body of officials under the bishop's or vicar-general's direction.

For the correspondence, registration, and care of the archives, such administrative bureaus are provided with a secretariat or chancery. The chancery is a necessary element of administration in every diocese. Some provision for its duties must be made, even in

missionary dioceses, apostolic prefectures, and apostolic vicariates

. Unless the official correspondence were properly cared for, there would be no tradition in diocesan management, important documents would be lost, and the written evidence necessary in lawsuits and trials would be lacking.

The famous

Apostolic See had never legislated concerning diocesan chanceries until the 1983 Code of Canon Law^{[citation needed]} under its canons on the diocesan curia (cc. 469-494). The diocesan system was generally introduced in many countries whose churches had hitherto been under a more or less provisional government (e.g., United States, England, Scotland, and India

).

National and provincial

archives. Similarly, for England, the Provincial Synod of Westminster

(1852).

In keeping with these recommendations, the diocesan chancery consists of a certain number of officials named by the bishop. In the United States, England, and Australia, there are usually, besides the vicar-general, a diocesan chancellor and a secretary. In European dioceses, the chancery is organized variously according to the extent of the diocese. There is generally in each diocese a chancellor or secretary with the necessary personnel.

In the dioceses of Germany, much of the administration is carried on by an official bureau (Ordinariat) as described above, i.e., the vicariate-general, to which are adjoined a secretariat, a registry office, and a chancery.

In the

Diocese of Breslau, there existed an institution known as the "Secret Chancery" (Geheimkanzlei), which expedited only matters decided by the prince-bishop

personally or with the advice of this body. The prince-bishop presided over its sessions with the help of the vicar-general. Its members were three priests and one lay counselor, to whom were added a secretary, a chief of the chancery, two private secretaries, a registrar, etc. The ordinary diocesan administration was carried on by two other bureaus, the vicariate-general and the diocesan consistory, mutually independent, but both acting in the name of the prince-bishop.

For the office of diocesan chancellor in the United States, see "Acta et Decreta" of the

Third Plenary Council of Baltimore, in index, p. 303, and of the Synod of Maynooth

(1900), s. v. "Archiva".

Anglican dioceses

Diocesan chanceries may be universal, but there is nothing concerning their creation and equipment in the common

ecclesiastical law. The explanation lies in the very nature of this law, which provides only for what is general and common. It takes no account of local means of administration, which it abandons to the proper authority in each diocese

, the concrete circumstances always offering great variety and calling for all possible freedom of action.

Although, as described above, the methods of diocesan administration exhibit little variety, there is a certain uniformity. Each diocese, after all, is bound to observe the common law, has an identical range of freedom, and identical limits to its authority. Each diocese, therefore, is likely, a priori, to develop its administration along similar lines but does so regularly in harmony with others, particularly neighboring dioceses. In this way, the dioceses of a given country come to have similar official administrations.