PROCURATORE GENERALE. – In canon law, this is the religious who ordinarily conducts the affairs of the religious society to which he belongs with the Roman Curia, and who has the honorary right to represent it before the Holy See.
I. HISTORY
Its origin lies in the procurator ad lites whom the religious Orders appointed in disputes with other ecclesiastical juridical persons. Subsequently, the procurator ad lites also became procurator ad negotio, but only for affairs pertaining to the entire Order or to the general curia, not to the provinces or individual houses. Among the principal affairs of the general curia was also the collection and custody of the tribute that the individual parts of the Order owed to the general government; this task was likewise entrusted to the procurator, who consequently became the treasurer of the general house, thereby giving rise, later, to the present office of the general treasurer (cf. Constitutiones et statuto generalia instituti oratorii s. Philippi Neri, Vicenza 1943, art. 82, II). When many Orders established their general curia in Rome, the procurator also began to represent the Order before the S. Sede. The obligation of a p. g. was imposed by the S. Sede upon the individual Orders and Congregations at different times and in different circumstances; a general order was issued by the S. Congr. of Bishops and Regulars in the instruction of 22 gg. 1814. The institution of the p. g. subsequently developed along very different lines in the particular law of each institute, as may be observed from comparative religious law.II. CURRENT DISCIPLINE
Can. 517 § 1 requires all male religious institutes of pontifical right to have a procurator in Rome. According to the admonition of the S. Congr. of Religious of 4 June 1920 (AAS, 22 [1920], p. 301), he must be a member of the religious institute he represents. By common law, the general procurator has the faculty of conducting the affairs of the religious institute with the Holy See. This right, however, is not exclusive today, both because can. 611 allows all religious free correspondence with the Holy See, and because the law always grants the supreme Superior, or even merely the major or local Superior, the right to conduct his own affairs directly with the Holy See. Certain Roman dicasteries, such as the Holy Office, even today deal only with the Superior general, whereas the other Congregations, especially the S. Congr. of Religious, customarily conduct almost all the affairs of the religious institute with the general procurator. Matters pertaining to the internal forum are naturally excluded. Another ordinary right of the general procurator is the representation of his religious society. Today, however, this right is reduced to a purely ceremonial and honorary representation, since only the Superior general has the faculty to assume obligations concerning the entire institute (can. 502). Nor, under civil law, does the status of general procurator indicate a delegation to assume legal responsibilities: for this purpose, the general procurator too requires a special mandate from the Superior general.The right to conduct affairs with the Holy See is today, under common law, extended not only to the affairs of the Institute as such, but also to its parts—provinces and houses—and even to those of individuals. In ancient times, the parts of a religious institute could have their own procurator; and in certain Orders even today, for the general procurator to conduct an affair concerning a part of the society, he must have the permission of the Council. The CIC prescribes that, once appointed, the general procurator may not be removed without prior notice to the Holy See (can. 517 § 2). In the comparative law of religious institutes, essentially two types of general procurator are discerned. The first is that of the general procurator who belongs to the general council, at times being the first of the councillors and the vicar of the Order (Regula... s. Francisci et Constitutiones Fratr. Min. Capuccin., Roma 1931, art. 165); alternatively, he may become a member of the Council and, in the absence of other general councillors, may also administer certain goods (Regulae et Constitutiones Fratr. Discalceat. Ord. B. Mariae V. de monte Carmelo, Roma 1940, n. 141; Constitutiones Fratrum S. Ordinis Praedicatorum, ivi 1929, art. 507); in the order of precedence, he comes before the other councillors. The second type, now more common, is codified above all in the Constitutions of religious institutes with simple vows: the general procurator is elected in the General Chapter (Const. pro Missionariis Cong. Piliorum Immaculati Cardis B.M.V., Madrid 1924, art. 21); he conducts with the Holy See the affairs entrusted to him by the Superior general, with or without the vote of the general Council (Const. Societatis Verbi Divini, Città del Vaticano 1944, art. 458); he is not a member of the general Council, unless expressly invited, with a consultative vote only (Const. et Regulae Cong. Missionariorum Oblatorum S.mae et Imm. B. V. M., Roma 1928, art. 493); in precedence, he follows the councillors (Cost. dell'Istituto Missioni Consolata, Torino 1950, art. 179).
In some religious institutes the general procurator is appointed by the Superior general and is ad nutum of the latter (Cost. della Società di s. Francesco di Sales, Torino 1923, n. 82).