APOSTOLIC ADMINISTRATOR. - This is the name given to the ecclesiastic charged by the Holy See with governing, by extraordinary means, a diocese or a part of it.
The a. a. can be appointed temporarily or permanently, during a vacant see or during a full see. The appointment of an a. a. during a vacant see is frequent, especially when the particular conditions of the diocese and of the chapter advise against allowing a capitular vicar to be appointed; generally one of the neighboring bishops is deputed. The appointment of an a. a. during a full see is rare. This can occur in the case of illness of the bishop, whom nonetheless it is not intended to make resign, or of particular disciplinary situations; and then, for the entire time that the administration lasts, the jurisdiction of the bishop and of his vicar general is suspended (can. 316, § 1). The powers of the a. a. are inferred from the letters of appointment; but in general, when it is temporary, he has the same rights and duties as the capitular vicar. During a full see he can visit the diocese (can. 319); he has, if he is not a bishop, the distinctive honors of the protonotaries of number; he does not lapse with the death of the Pontiff who appointed him, but only after the new bishop has taken possession of the diocese.
Permanent administrations are constituted by the Holy See in view of special political conditions, especially where particular questions of boundaries exist or where there is instability of possession on the part of various nations. In such cases the a. a. has the same rights, honors and obligations as the residential bishop (can. 315, § 1) and is generally invested with the episcopal character.