Provincial superior

A provincial superior is an officer of a

territory of another since the jurisdiction over the individual religious

is personal, rather than territorial. The title of the office is often abbreviated to Provincial.

Among the

, in contrast, use the title "Minister Provincial", in line with their emphasis on living as brothers to one another.

History

The old

mendicant orders. The Holy See hesitated for a long time before allowing the division of congregations with simple vows

, especially congregations of women, into different provinces as a regular institution, and some congregations have no such division.

The provincial superior is ordinarily

Society of Jesus he is directly appointed by the Father General). The "Regulations" (Normae) of 18 June 1901, vest the appointment of the provincial in the general council. The provincial superior is never elected for life, but ordinarily for three or six years. In religious orders with clerics, he is a regular prelate, and has the rank of ordinary with quasi-episcopal jurisdiction. In religious institutes whether of men or of women, the provincial superior appoints the regular confessors, calls together the Provincial Chapter, presides over its deliberations, and takes care that the orders of the General Chapter and the Superior General are properly carried out. The provincial superior is an ex officio member of the chapter. The principal duty of the provincial superior is to make regular visitations

of the houses of the province in the name of the General and to report to the latter on all the religious and the property of the order; authority over the various houses and local superiors differs in different orders. The provincial superior has, in many cases, the right of appointment to the less important offices. For institutes of men, at the end of his term of office, the provincial is bound, according to the Constitution "Nuper" of

Innocent XII (23 December 1697), to prove that he has complied with all the precepts of that decree concerning Masses

; if he fails to do so, he loses his right to be elected and to vote in the general chapter.

Politics

A unique case was eastern Paraguay, where the Spanish colonial authorities allowed the Jesuit missionaries to establish both the Catholic faith and a unique, humane regime for the local

viceroyalty of la Plata

, previously part of Upper Peru) and Portugal (Brazil).

List of notable provincial superiors

Society of Jesus

Brazil:
José de Anchieta

Brazil:
Manoel da Nóbrega

Philippines:
James T. G. Hayes

Argentina: Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who became Pope Francis
Order of Preachers
- Albertus Magnus
Franciscans
- Augustine of Alfeld

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Provincial". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

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