EXAMINER. — Among the various consultative bodies established by canon law in every episcopal curia for the purpose of assisting the Ordinary in the exercise of his functions, a prominent place is occupied by the synodal examiners, a college of ecclesiastics elected, upon the bishop’s proposal, at the diocesan synod. Those who may be appointed by the bishop outside the synod are called prosynodal examiners.
Their principal task is to examine and judge the suitability of candidates for appointments to parish benefices, with or without competition, and to assist the Ordinary, as assessors, in administrative proceedings for the removal or transfer of parish priests and for the application of the disciplinary measures provided for in the CIC against clerics who, in certain cases, have failed in their priestly duties (cann. 2147–85). The bishop may also avail himself of their services, though he is not obliged to do so, in examinations for sacred ordination and for licenses to preach and hear confessions, as well as in the annual examinations prescribed for newly ordained priests in the years following ordination (can. 389 §§ 1, 2, can. 150).
They must be elected in every diocese at the diocesan synod, through proposal by the bishop and approval by the assembly, in a number that may vary, at the Ordinary’s discretion, from a minimum of four to a maximum of twelve (can. 385). If the synod is not held within the prescribed period, or if any position should otherwise become vacant before the expiration of the term, the bishop himself makes the new appointments or replacements, after hearing the opinion of the cathedral Chapter (can. 386). They remain in office for ten years, but cease to hold office if, before the ten-year period expires, the new synod is convened. In the case of replacements made outside the synod, the term of office is limited to the period established for the person who has been replaced. They are, in any event, always eligible for re-election (can. 387). The bishop may not remove them from office except for a grave cause and after obtaining the opinion of the cathedral Chapter (can. 388).
The office of synodal examiner is not incompatible with the closely related office of consultor parish priest. However, the same person, if invested with both offices, may not exercise them cumulatively in the same case (can. 390).
Historically, the synodal examiners trace their origin to the Council of Trent, which prescribed their establishment in every diocesan curia after making examination obligatory for competitions for parish benefices (sess. XXIV, chap. 18 de ref.). The decree Maxima cura, 20 Aug. 1910, of the Sacred Consistorial Congregation, which introduced in this matter the modern law subsequently incorporated into the CIC, also extended their intervention to administrative proceedings for the removal of parish priests.
BBL.: Wernz-Vidal, II, p. 694 ff.; G. Caviglioli, Manuale di diritto canonico, Torino 1938, p. 280 ff.; I. Chelodi-P. Capratti, Iut immatum de personis, Vicenza-Trento 1942, p. 644 ff.
Zaccaria da San Mauro