AD NUTUM

AD NUTUM. — In current canon law, ecclesiastical offices conferred *ad nutum* are those whose holder may be removed at the superior’s discretion without any canonical causes being expressly established. Such offices include, for instance, those of the vicar general (CIC, can. 366, § 2), the vicar forane (can. 446, § 2), the religious parish priest (can. 454, § 5), the parochial vicars (can. 887), and the rectors of churches (can. 880). The expression *ad nutum* is also applied to any provision that may be revoked at the author’s discretion (a discretionary measure); hence it is analogous in meaning to the other formula *ad beneplacitum nostrum* (v.), with the difference that the latter form entails the cessation of the concession even if the grantor loses authority.