PRELATURA NULLIUS. – P. nullius (that is, nullius dioeceseos) in the general sense indicates a church which is removed from the jurisdiction of the bishop. In the specific sense, it is a territorial portion, within whose boundaries there are at least three parishes, detached from the diocese and independent of the jurisdiction of the bishop.
It is presided over by a prelate who is a true Ordinary with full legislative, executive, and judicial jurisdiction (can. 323) and is directly subject to the Roman pontiff. The prelate need not necessarily be invested with episcopal character. The rights and obligations of this juridical institution are equated with those of an abbey nullius (cf. cann. 319–28; 215, 2; V. ABATE; VESCOVO).
BIBL.: in addition to that of the entries cited: E. V. Kienitz, Die Rechtsstellung der gefreiten Abte und Prälaten, in Theol. und Glaube, 25 (1933), pp. 590–604.