Apostolic vicariate

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Vicar apostolic
)
See also:
Catholic Church hierarchy § Equivalents of diocesan bishops in law
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An apostolic vicariate is a territorial

Catholics
for the Church to create a diocese one day.

It is

exempt, directly subject to the missionary Dicastery for Evangelization of the Vatican in Rome. Like the stage of apostolic prefecture which often precedes it, the vicariate is not part of an ecclesiastical province
. It is intended to mature in developing Catholic members until it can be promoted to a (usually suffragan) diocese.

The

Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church counterpart is an (apostolic, patriarchal, or archiepiscopal) exarchate
.

Institution

An apostolic vicariate is led by a vicar apostolic, who is usually a

Code of Canon Law, a vicar apostolic's jurisdiction is an exercise of the jurisdiction of the Pope — the territory comes directly under the pope as "universal bishop", and the pope exercises this authority through a "vicar".[1]
This is unlike the jurisdiction of a diocesan bishop, whose jurisdiction derives directly from his office.

Like any ecclesiastical jurisdiction, an apostolic vicariate may be administered by the bishop of a neighbouring diocese, or by a priest appointed transitionally as an

apostolic administrator. As in a regular diocese, the vicar apostolic may appoint priests as vicars exercising limited jurisdiction over the apostolic vicariate. Normally, a titular bishop is appointed to administer the apostolic vicariate. When someone who does not qualify or has not been ordained as bishop is appointed ad interim, he may be styled Pro-vicar.[2]

An apostolic vicariate is to be distinguished from an

apostolic exarch
for an Eastern Catholic counterpart.

The apostolic vicariate is distinguished from a

abbey nullius") — an area not a diocese but under the direction of the abbot of a monastery
.

Starting in 2019, new Vicars Apostolic, although they are (or become) bishops, are no longer assigned titular sees.

List

Current apostolic vicariates

Africa

The Americas

Asia

Europe

Historical apostolic vicariates

(incomplete)

Inactive apostolic vicariates (and/or former names, often promoted to diocese) are in italics.

Eastern Catholic
(mostly Byzantine Rite) apostolic vicariates are in bold.

Africa

The Americas

Asia

Europe

Oceania

See also

References

  1. ^ Code of Canon Law, Book II, Canon 371§1
  2. ^ Fanning, William. "Vicar Apostolic." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 8 March 2023 Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ^ Cheney, David M. "Archdiocese of Seoul". catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 20 August 2015.[self-published source]

External links

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