CHAPTER. — From the Latin *capitulum*, diminutive of *caput*, the term came to signify: 1) the various divisions of a book; 2) the passage of Holy Scripture that is sung or read in the Divine Office; 3) the section of the rule of a religious Order that monks are obliged to read; 4) the college of priests serving a church; 5) gatherings of religious to discuss matters concerning the community in any way; 6) the place where such gatherings are held.
Summary:
I. The canonical CHAPTER
II. The religious CHAPTER
III. CHAPTER hall
IV. The CHAPTER in liturgy
V. The CHAPTER of fault.I. The canonical CHAPTER
It is defined as a college of priests, established to render the divine worship more solemn in the church of its foundation, and, if it is a cathedral CHAPTER, also to assist the bishop, assenate and diocesan council, and to assist it, during the vacancy of the see, in the government of the diocese (can. 391, § 1).
1. Origins
It traces its origin to the ancient presbyterium, that is, to the entire local clergy which, in the first centuries of the Church, formed the senate of the bishop, aiding him in the functions of worship and diocesan administration and serving as his voice during the vacancy of the see. Beginning in the late 4th century, following the example of what St. Augustine had successfully implemented in his see of Hippo, the presbyterium in many regions adopted a common life in the bishop’s house, regulated by certain norms (canones), functioning as a rule (canon), with a marked monastic tendency. Thus began canonical life, which soon developed rapidly; those who professed it were called canons, and their daily gathering was called a capitulum, since it was obligatorily devoted to the reading of a capitulum, that is, a brief passage from their rule. This terminology soon came to designate in general any gathering of the college and eventually became fixed to signify the college itself. Later, the example of cathedral churches was followed by the clergy of major rural centers, organized into a common life around the principal church of the place, thereby creating, alongside the cathedral canons, the category of collegiate canons, which found a singular expression in southern Italy in the so-called "recettizie" churches (though their members do not constitute a true college).The Carolingian era marked the golden period of canonical life. Its most renowned organizers and legislators were Chrodegang, bishop of Metz in the 8th century, who gave it a widely adopted rule, especially in France, and, at the beginning of the following century, Amalarius of Metz, commissioned by the Synod of Aachen, promoted by Louis the Pious, to extract from patristic texts a norm for clerical life; thus arose the *De institutione canonicorum*.
Common life, however, did not last long. Already in the 9th century, after alternating periods of flourishing and decline, it showed signs of fatigue and was clearly disappearing. The individual division of the patrimonial goods of the college marked its end. Under the influence of benefices, bishops first separated their own patrimony (mensa episcopalis) from that of the college (portio clericorum, mensa canonicorum), soon followed by the canons, who, in addition to separate dwellings (mansiones), obtained that the common patrimony (massa communis), initially held in indivision, be divided into various benefice quotas (praebendae) to be enjoyed individually. Where the number of canons was fixed according to the number of prebends, the college was called *numeratum* or *clausum*, while it was called *non numeratum* or *apertum* when the number of canons did not depend on the number of prebends.
The attempts of the great reformers of the clergy in the 11th century to restore common life by reforming it did not yield other results than creating a new but more perfect type, since it was now guaranteed by the vow of poverty and the profession of a strictly monastic rule. Thus arose, in contrast to the secular canons, gathered in secular colleges, the regular canons and regular colleges.
The disappearance of common life, however, did not alter in any way the functional unity and juridical identity of the colleges, which continued to exist in the form and competencies of autonomous corporations, with their own legal personality, statutes, and patrimony.
2. Evolution
The evolution of the colleges, although not following a rigidly uniform development through their various statutes, can be considered substantially complete by the 13th century. The college, presided over by a head (praepositus, decanus, archidiaconus, archipresbyter), included, in hierarchical order, dignities with jurisdiction (dignitates), protocolary dignities (personatus), and offices (officia, canonicatus); this last category encompassed various competencies in worship (primicerius, praeconter, cantor, succentor), in education (scholasticus), in pastoral care (lector, theologus, poenitentiaris), and in general service (thesaurarius, vestarius, sacrista, custos, portarius, cellerarius, punctator). The holders of these various offices, that is, the canons in the strict sense, were generally distinguished by their respective orders into three groups: presbyteral, diaconal, and subdiaconal. The special categories of aspirants (domicellares, scholares, canonicini *in pulvere*, *in herbis*, so called in contrast to those *in floribus et fructibus*) and other auxiliary ministers of the office (hebdomadarii, portionarii, mansionarii, beneficiarii, canonici minores, etc.) represented collateral and subordinate aggregations of the college but were part of it *optimo iure*.Each canon had the right to a distinct prebend or to a personal stipend from the common patrimony (massa communis); the lower categories enjoyed minor benefices (v. CANONICO).
Depending on its subordination to the bishop and the pastoral care it might be entrusted with, the college could be exempt or non-exempt, pastoral or non-pastoral. The honorary qualification of *insigne* or *perinsigne* for a time designated colleges reserved for nobles, later becoming an honorary title granted by ecclesiastical authority to particularly illustrious colleges.
3. In current canon law, colleges are collegial moral persons, that is, corporations endowed with juridical personality and autonomy within their jurisdiction. The constitutional order maintains, with few modifications, the historical and traditional characteristics already noted. With the disappearance of the intermediate category of *personatus*, the modern college consists, strictly speaking, of dignities and offices or canonries. The dignities, however (archdeacon, archpriest, provost, prior, dean, primicerius), which may also not belong to the college, have lost their jurisdictional prerogatives, retaining only those of precedence and honor. The mansionaries or minor beneficiaries, which reproduce the ancient categories of auxiliary ministers of the office, are not considered constitutive parts of the college (can. 393, § 2). Among the offices, particular importance is given by the CIC to those of theologian and penitentiary (v. CANONICO TEOLOGO; CANONICO PENITENZIERE).
The erection, modification, and suppression of colleges, as well as the erection of new dignities, are reserved exclusively to the Holy See (can. 392, 394, § 2). Moreover, a special concession from the same Holy See is required for the establishment of the so-called statutory canonries, that is, nominal benefices without stipend (can. 393, § 3).
The conferral of dignities is likewise reserved to the Holy See (can. 396, § 1). For canonries and minor benefices, whether of the cathedral or collegiate churches, provision is made by episcopal appointment following the advice of the college concerned (can. 394, § 2). For the provision of the offices of canon theologian and canon penitentiary, in Italy and adjacent islands, the form of competition prescribed by the constitution *Pastoralis officii* of May 19, 1725, remains in full force even after the CIC (can. 399, § 2). The right to transfer by option (*ius optionis*) from one office to another or from one dignity to another (a right introduced by custom around the 12th century) is abolished unless authorized by the law of foundation (can. 396, § 2).
4. The patrimonial organization also does not differ substantially from the historical tradition. The income of the canonical benefice typically rests on three distinct sources: the prebend, the ordinary
The Chapter (C.) may be organized either with distinct prebends to be received from distinct benefices, or with a common fund, that is, with indistinct prebends to be received from a common patrimony. In either case, alongside the so-called large fund (or main fund), which is the property of the Chapter entity (C.), intended for chapter expenses and, in the remainder, for supplementary allowances in favor of the members of the Chapter, there must exist the so-called small fund, resulting from autonomous assets, or, in their absence, obligatorily constituted by setting aside one-third of the benefice revenues (in this case called the conciliar third, because introduced by the Council of Trent), the income of which is intended to ensure the ordinary daily distributions, consisting of attendance quotas assigned as a reward to canons actually present in choir or deemed present by law if legitimately absent. By virtue of the right of accretion (*jus accrescendi*), these quotas automatically increase by the quotas (fallentiae) not enjoyed by illegitimately absent members (cc. 394 § 3, 395). If it is exceptionally impossible to constitute the small fund for distributions, the Code provides for the creation of a compensation system, consisting of monetary fines corresponding, in the case of negligence, to the amount of distributions that would be lost (cc. 395, § 2).
A different category consists of the *distributiones inter praesentes*, which do not derive either from the benefice or from the fund, but are constituted either by the income from special foundations (fixed distributions) or by the uncertain revenues from extraordinary functions and services (occasional distributions) and are divided among those actually present (cc. 420, § 2). The calculation of absences is handled by the *punctatores* elected for this purpose by the Chapter, to whom the bishop may add a control *punctator* (cc. 395, § 4).
5. The hierarchical functions pertaining to the Chapter as such represent the exercise of its rights and duties as an autonomous corporation for the purpose of worship and as the diocesan senate. As an autonomous corporation (v. AUTONOMIA), it has the right to regulate its own activity through statutes recognized by common law as juridical norms of particular law, and to deliberate, in ordinary and extraordinary meetings, on matters within its competence (cc. 410, 411). If a pastoral care is attached to the chapter church in such a way that habitual care belongs to the Chapter, the actual care, that is, the effective performance of parochial functions, is entrusted to a curate vicar, who may also not be a member of the Chapter (cc. 402, 415).
As a corporation, the Chapter is obliged to assist the bishop when he solemnly functions in the city and its suburbs (cc. 412) on certain days (cc. 414).
As the diocesan senate, finally, the functions of the cathedral Chapter vary depending on whether the episcopal see is full, vacant, or impeded. In a full see, the Chapter represents an advisory body that the bishop is obliged to consult in matters of greater importance, in some of which with merely consultative efficacy (cc. 386 § 1, 388, 394 § 3, 403, 406, 1234 § 1, 1428), and in others with binding efficacy (cc. 394 § 2, 712 § 2, 1541 § 2 n. 2, etc.). In a vacant see, due to death, resignation, transfer, or deprivation of office, if the Holy See has not otherwise provided, the government of the diocese belongs to the Chapter, which, within eight days of receiving notice of the vacancy, must elect the vicar capitular to exercise in its name a large part of the ordinary powers of the bishop (v. VICARIO CAPITOLARE). In the case of an impeded see, that is, in the case of imprisonment, relegation, exile, or inability of the bishop such that he cannot communicate with the diocese even by letter, the succession of the Chapter and the appointment of the vicar capitular will likewise take place, but only when the vicar general or a delegate specially appointed by the bishop is lacking and the Holy See has not otherwise provided, or when even the vicar general and the bishop’s delegate are themselves impeded (cc. 429).
6. The laws abolishing ecclesiastical property had suppressed collegiate Chapters in Italy, with the exception of the Chapters of the city of Rome and the suburbicarian sees, and, in the cathedral Chapters preserved, had suppressed canons of lay ecclesiastical patronage, as well as canons existing beyond the number of six (Law of 15 Aug. 1867, no. 384, art. 1 n. 2, art. 6; Law of 11 Aug. 1870, no. 5784, art. 8); the same cathedral Chapters had furthermore been subjected to the fiscal regime common to other preserved entities (conversion of immovable property, extraordinary tax of 30%, contribution quota, and tax on the transfer of usufruct), and canonical provision to individual canonical benefices had been subjected to the modalities of *placet* and *executur*.
The Concordat of 11 Feb. 1929, although not expressly recognizing juridical personality to collegiate Chapters and other ecclesiastical entities already suppressed, contemplates the possibility of such recognition to be granted by decree of the Head of State, after hearing the opinion of the Council of State, upon request of the legal representative of the entity, accompanied by the canonical decree of erection and other documents demonstrating the necessity and evident utility of the entity and the sufficiency of its means (Concordat, art. 29, d. 7; Law of 27 May 1929, art. 3). It also abolishes the *placet* and *executur* and any form of state interference in the provision of canons, except for the *privilegium praesentationis* recognized to the Head of State for the appointment to the canons of the basilica of the Pantheon in Rome.
II. RELIGIOUS CHAPTER
The religious Chapter must be distinguished from the canonical Chapter; it is the representative assembly of the members of an Order or Religious Congregation, which is periodically convened for the election of major superiors and for the discussion of important matters. Depending on whether the assembly gathers representatives of the entire religious institution or only those of a territorial portion of it, the Chapter is called general, provincial, or local. Every Chapter always possesses dominative power in accordance with its own statutes and common law; the Chapters of exempt clerical religious institutes, moreover, possess ecclesiastical jurisdiction both for the internal and external forum (cc. 501, § 1).III. CHAPTER HOUSE
In monasteries, the Chapter (or chapter house) is the room intended for the meetings of monks to discuss matters concerning the community; in cathedrals, it is for the meetings of canons.As a rule, the Chapter (which is a square or rectangular hall, almost always vaulted, with seats in masonry or wooden stalls along the sides) is situated immediately after the sacristy, on the side of the cloister perpendicular to the axis of the church and near the choir. The hall has, in the wall facing the cloister, a door and two large windows (paired or mullioned), very often with a sill very high from the ground, and sometimes has smaller windows on the opposite side.
In monasteries of the Romanesque and Gothic periods, in France,
In Germany and in those parts of Italy most influenced by architectural currents from beyond the Alps (e.g., in the Cistercian abbeys of Fossanova, Casamari, and San Galgano) the chapter houses (C.) appear as halls divided into two or three small naves covered by ribbed vaults (with or without ribs) that rest on one, two, or more columns or piers. When in Italy, especially during the 14th century, Gothic forms were reworked according to our artistic sensibility—thus in the Renaissance—even in chapter houses a more unified sense of space was sought through the elimination of piers and columns and by altering proportional relationships. See, for example, the chapter house of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, from the mid-14th century, decorated with famous frescoes.
IV. THE CHAPTER HOUSE IN LITURGY — This term also refers to a short scriptural verse (Lectio brevis) recited in the Divine Office after the psalms. This brief reading, already found in the Rule of St. Benedict (chapters 10–18), replaced in monasteries the ancient reading of an entire chapter from the Rule itself in the second part of the hour of Prime; at the beginning of Compline, instead, an ascetical or hagiographical reading was given.
In the Mozarabic Mass it serves as the introduction to the singing of the “Pater noster”; in ancient usage it sometimes denotes the Prayer of the Mass (e.g., Pope Vigilius, Epistle to Profuturus).
V. THE CHAPTER OF FAULTS — A monastic practice, now found in various forms across many religious families, which dates back to St. Augustine (Epistle 211) and St. Benedict (Rule, chapter 46), in which individual religious, one by one, confessed their external faults against regular observance before the entire religious community in order to receive fitting penance. Among the Benedictines, each abbey had its own customs for hearing these confessions. Ordinarily this took place in the morning during the office of Prime. After the reading of the martyrology, the monks would process to the chapter house, usually adjacent to the choir, and before the abbot would confess their faults and receive words of admonishment and a prescribed penance. In some abbeys the abbot would take the occasion of the Chapter of Faults to give a conference to the monks. The Chapter of Faults was not held daily, but on certain days of the week. Among the Franciscan Orders it is held three times a week in the refectory before the blessing of the table. Other Congregations have different customs.