CHAPTER. – From the Latin capitulum, diminutive of caput, the term came to signify: 1) the various divisions of a book; 2) the passage of Sacred 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 official priests of a church; 5) assemblies of religious held to discuss matters in any way concerning the community; 6) the place where such assemblies are held.
SUMMARY:
I. The canonical C
II. The religious C
III. Chapter hall
IV. The C. in the liturgy. – V. The chapter of faults.I. THE CANONICAL CHAPTER
It is defined as a college of priests established for the purpose of rendering divine worship more solemn in the church in which it is established and, if it is a cathedral C., also to assist the bishop, as(fot. Alinari)
CAPITOLO — Chapter house of the Certosa di S. Martino (16th century). Naples.
diocesan senate and council, and to replace him, during the vacancy of the see, in the governance of the diocese (can. 391, § 1).
1. Origin
It derives from the ancient presbyterium, that is, from the body of the local clergy which, from the earliest centuries of the Church, constituted the bishop’s senate, assisting him in the functions of worship and in diocesan administration and acting in his place during the vacancy of the see. Beginning at the end of the 4th century, following the example of what s. Agostino had successfully instituted in his see of Hippo, the presbyterium in many regions adopted communal residence in the bishop’s house, regulated by certain norms (canones), serving as a rule (canon), and displaying a distinctly monastic tendency. Thus began canonical life, which quickly underwent rapid development; those who professed it were called canons, and capitulum was the name given to their daily assembly, since it was obligatorily devoted to the reading of a capitulum, that is, a brief passage from their rule: terminology which soon came to designate every assembly of the college in general, and then became definitively fixed as the designation of the college itself. Subsequently, the example of cathedral churches was also followed by the clergy of large rural centers organized in communal life around the principal church of the locality, thereby creating from that time, alongside the category of cathedral C., that of collegiate C.; in southern Italy this category found a wholly distinctive expression in the so-called receptive churches (whose members, however, do not constitute a true C.).The Carolingian period marked the golden age of canonical life. Its best-known organizers and legislators were Crodegango, bishop of Metz, in the 8th century, who gave it a rule that was widely adopted, especially in France, and, at the beginning of the following century, Amalario of Metz, commissioned by the synod of Aachen, promoted by Ludovico il Pio, to extract from patristic texts a norm for clerical life; this resulted in the De institutione canonicorum.
Communal life, however, did not last long. Already in the 9th century, after alternating periods of prosperity and decline, it showed signs of weariness and was decisively moving toward disappearance. The individual division of the C.’s patrimonial goods marked its end. Under the influence of benefice-related ideas, the bishops were the first to separate their own patrimony (mensa episcopalis) from that of the C. (portio cleri, mensa canonicorum); shortly thereafter they were followed by the canons, who, in addition to separate dwellings (mansio), obtained the division into various benefice shares (praebendae), to be enjoyed individually, of the common patrimony (massa communis), which had initially been enjoyed pro indiviso. Where the number of C. was fixed according to the number of prebends, the C. was called numeratum or clausum, whereas one in which the number of canons did not depend on the number of prebends was called non numeratum or apertum.
The attempts of the great reformers of the clergy in the 11th century to restore communal life by reforming it produced no result other than the creation of a new type, but a more perfect one, since it was now guaranteed by the taking of the vow of poverty and by the profession of a strictly monastic rule. Thus, in contrast to secular canons gathered in secular C., there came into being regular canons and C.
The disappearance of communal life nevertheless did not alter in any way the functional unity or juridical character of the C., which continued to exist in the form and with the competencies of an autonomous corporation, possessing its own legal personality, statutes, and patrimony.
2. Development
Although the development of the C., through its various statutes, did not follow a rigidly uniform course, it may be regarded as substantially complete as early as the 13th century. The college, presided over by a head (praepositus, decanus, archidiaconus, archipresbyter), comprised, in hierarchical order, offices of precedence with jurisdiction (dignitate), offices of precedence of purely ceremonial character (personatus), and offices (officia, canonicatus); this latter category included various responsibilities relating to worship (primicerius, praecentor, cantor, succentor), education (scholasticus), the care of souls (lector, theologus, poenitentiarius), and service in general (thesaurarius, vestatarius, sacristus, custos, portarius, cellerarius, punctator). The holders of the various offices, that is, the canons in the strict sense, were then generally divided, according to their respective order, into three groups: presbyteral, diaconal, and subdiaconal. The special categories of aspirants (domicellares, scholares, canonici in pulvere, in herbis, so called in contrast to those in floribus et fructibus) and of the other assistants in the Divine Office (hebdomadorii, portionarii, mansionarii, beneficiati, canonici minores, etc.) represented collateral and subordinate aggregations of the C., but were part of it optimo iure.Each canon had the right to a distinct prebend, or to a personal allowance from the common patrimony (massa communis): the lower categories enjoyed the beneficii minora (v. CANONICO).
By reason of its subordination to the bishop and of the care of souls with which it might be entrusted, the C. could be exempt or non-exempt, pastoral or non-pastoral. The honorary designation insigne or perinsigne for a time indicated C. reserved for nobles; it later became an honorary title bestowed by ecclesiastical authority on particularly distinguished C.
3. In current canon law, C. are collegial moral persons, that is, corporations endowed with juridical personality and autonomy within the sphere of their jurisdiction. The constitutional organization retains, with very few modifications, the historical and traditional characteristics already noted. With the disappearance of the intermediate category of personatus, the present-day C., in strict law, consists of dignities and offices or canonicates. The dignities, however (archdeacon, archpriest, provost, prior, dean, primicerius), which may also not belong to the C., have lost their prerogatives of jurisdiction, retaining only those of precedence and honor. The mansionaries or minor beneficiaries, who reproduce the ancient categories of assistants in the Divine Office, are not regarded as constitutive members of the C. (can. 393, § 2). Among the offices, the CIC assigns particular importance to those of theologian and penitentiary (v. CANONICO TEOLOGO; CANONICO PENITENZIERE).
The erection, modification, and suppression of C., as well as the erection of new dignities, belong exclusively to the Holy See (cann. 392, 394 § 2). A special concession from the same Holy See is also required for the establishment of the so-called statutory canonicates, that is, nominal benefices without an allowance (can. 393, § 3).
The conferral of dignities is likewise reserved to the Holy See (can. 396, § 1). Canonicates and minor benefices, on the other hand, both in cathedral and collegiate churches, are filled by appointment made by the bishop after obtaining the opinion of the C. concerned (can. 394, § 2). For filling the offices of canon theologian and canon penitentiary, the form of a competitive examination is mandatory in Italy and the adjacent islands, as prescribed by the constitution Pastoralis officii of 19 May 1725, which retains its full force even after the CIC (can. 399, § 2). The right to pass by option (ius optionis) from one office to another, or from one dignity to another dignity (a right introduced by custom around the 12th century), is abolished unless authorized by the founding law (can. 396, § 2).
4. The patrimonial organization likewise does not differ substantially from the historical traditional one. The income of the canonical benefice ordinarily rests on three distinct sources: the prebend, the ordinary or daily distributions, and the-
daily, and the distributiones inter praesentes. The C. may be organized either with separate prebends, to be drawn from distinct benefices, or with a common fund, that is, with undifferentiated prebends to be drawn from a common patrimony. In either case, alongside the so-called large (or gross) fund, owned by the C. institution and intended for chapter expenses and, in any surplus, for supplementary allowances in favor of the members of the C., there must exist the so-called small fund, consisting of autonomous assets or, in their absence, obligatorily constituted by setting aside one-third of the benefice revenues (in that case called the conciliar third, because it was introduced by the Council of Trent). Its proceeds are intended to ensure the distributiones ordinariae quotidianae, consisting of attendance shares assigned as a reward to canons actually present in choir or deemed legally present when absent for a legitimate reason. By virtue of the ius accrescendi, these shares are automatically increased by the shares (fallentiae) not enjoyed by those unlawfully absent (cann. 394 § 3, 395). If, exceptionally, it should not be possible to constitute the small fund for the distributions, the Code provides for the creation of a system of compensation consisting of pecuniary fines corresponding approximately to the amount of the distributions that would be lost in cases of negligence (can. 395, § 2).
The distributiones inter praesentes, on the other hand, belong to a different category: they derive neither from the benefice nor from the fund, but are constituted either by the revenues of special foundations (fixed distributions) or by the uncertain proceeds of extraordinary functions and services (adventitious distributions), and are divided among those actually present alone (can. 420, § 2). The calculation of absences is undertaken by the punctatores elected for this purpose by the C., to whom the bishop may add a supervisory counter (can. 395, § 4).
5. The hierarchical functions belonging to the C. as such represent the exercise of its rights and duties as an autonomous corporation for purposes of worship and as a diocesan senate. As an autonomous corporation (v. AUTONOMIA), it has the right to regulate its own activity by means of statutes, recognized by common law as juridical norms of particular law, and to deliberate, in ordinary and extraordinary meetings, on matters within its competence (cann. 410, 411). If pastoral care is attached to the chapter church in such a way that habitual care belongs to the C., actual pastoral care, that is, the effective performance of parochial functions, is entrusted to a parochial vicar, who need not belong to the C. (cann. 402, 415).
As a corporation, the C. is obliged to assist the bishop when he officiates solemnly in the city and suburbs (can. 412) on certain days (can. 414).
Finally, as a diocesan senate, the functions of the cathedral C. vary according to whether the episcopal see is occupied, vacant, or impeded. In sede plena, the C. constitutes a consultative body that the bishop is obliged to consult in affairs of greater importance, in some of which its opinion has purely consultative force (cann. 386 § 1, 388, 394 § 3, 403, 406, 1234 § 1, 1428), and in others binding force (cann. 394 § 2, 712 § 2, 1541 § 2 n. 2 etc.). In sede vacante, through death, resignation, transfer, or deprivation of office, if the Holy See has not provided otherwise, the government of the diocese belongs to the C., which, within eight days of receiving notice of the vacancy, must elect the capitular vicar to exercise in its name a large part of the bishop’s ordinary powers (v. VICARIO CAPITOLARE). In the case of an impeded see, that is, in the event of the bishop’s imprisonment, relegation, exile, or incapacity such that he cannot communicate with the diocese even by letter, the succession of the C. and the appointment of the capitular vicar shall likewise take place, but only when there is no vicar general or delegate specifically appointed by the bishop and the Holy See has not otherwise provided, or when the vicar general and the bishop’s delegate are themselves also impeded (can. 429).
6. The laws confiscating ecclesiastical property had suppressed the collegiate C. in Italy, with the exception of the C. of the city of Rome and the suburban sees; in the preserved cathedral C., they had suppressed canonicates of lay ecclesiastical patronage, as well as canonicates existing beyond the number of six (law of 15 Aug. 1867 no. 2848, art. 1 no. 2, art. 6; law of 11 Aug. 1870 no. 5784, art. 8). These cathedral C. had moreover been subjected to the tax regime common to the other preserved institutions (conversion of immovable property, extraordinary 30% tax, quota di concorso, and tax on the transfer of usufruct), and the canonical provision to individual canonical benefices had been made subject to the requirements of the placet and exequatur.
The Concordat of 11 Feb. 1929, while not expressly recognizing juridical personality for collegiate C. and other ecclesiastical institutions previously suppressed, contemplates the possibility of such recognition being granted by decree of the Head of State, after hearing the opinion of the Council of State, upon application by the institution’s legal representative, accompanied by the canonical act of erection and other documents capable of demonstrating the necessity and evident usefulness of the institution itself and the sufficiency of its means (Concordat, art. 29, d. 7; law of 27 May 1929, art. 3). It also abolishes the placet and exequatur and every form of state interference in the provision of canonicates, except for the privilegium praesentationis recognized to the Head of State for appointments to the canonicates of the Basilica of the Pantheon in Rome.
II. THE RELIGIOUS C
The religious C., which is the representative assembly of the members of a Religious Order or Congregation, periodically convened for the election of major superiors and for the discussion of the most important affairs, must be distinguished from the canonical C. Depending on whether the assembly brings together representatives of the entire religious institution or only those of a territorial portion thereof, the C. is called general, provincial, or local. Every C. always possesses dominative authority, in accordance with its own statutes and common law; moreover, the C. of exempt clerical religious institutes possesses ecclesiastical jurisdiction, both in the internal and external forum (can. 501, § 1).BIRL.: A. Barbosa, De canonicis et dignitatibus, Venice 1641; D. Bouix, Tractatus de Capitulis, Paris 1852; E. Amort, Vetus disciplina canonicorum, Venice 1748; L. Thomassinus, Vetus et nova ecclesiae disciplina, part 1, book 1, chap. 3 (many eds.); L. Ferraris, Capitulum, in Prompta bibliotheca canonica. II, Rome 1886, pp. 170–90; M. Gorino-Causa, Canonici, in Il nuovo digesto italiano, II, Turin 1937, pp. 745–51; E. Ruffini-Avondo, s. V. ENOCH.Ital., VIII (1930), pp. 862–63; I. Cheledi-P. Ciprotti, Ius canonicum de personis, 3rd ed., Vicenza-Trento 1942, pp. 318–37. Zaccaria da S. Mauro
III. CHAPTER HOUSE
In monasteries, the C., or chapter house, is the room intended for the meetings of the monks for the discussion of matters concerning the community; in cathedrals, for the assemblies of the canons.As a rule, the C. (which is a square or rectangular hall, almost always vaulted, with masonry benches 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 close to the choir. On the wall facing the cloister, the hall has a door and two large windows (biforas or polyforas), very often with a sill set quite high above the ground, and sometimes has smaller windows on the opposite side.
In monasteries of the Romanesque and Gothic periods in France and Germany, and in those of Italy most influenced by architectural forms from beyond the Alps (e.g., in the Cistercian abbeys of Fossanova, Casamari, and S. Galgano), the C. appear as halls divided into two or three small naves covered by groined vaults (with or without ribs), which discharge their weight onto one, two, or more columns or piers. When in Italy, especially during the 14th century, Gothic forms were reworked according to our artistic sensibility, and subsequently during the Renaissance, the chapter halls too tended toward a more unified sense of space through the elimination of piers and columns and the alteration of proportional relationships. See, for example, the C. of S. Maria Novella in Florence, from the mid-fourteenth century, decorated with famous frescoes.
In the Mozarabic Mass it is the introduction to the singing of the « Pater noster »; in ancient times it sometimes denoted the Prayer of the Mass (e.g., Pope Vigilius, Epist. ad Profuturum).