Puntatori

PUNTATORI. - This is the name given to those who in each Chapter, cathedral or collegiate, must be elected, with the task of marking those chapter members who do not attend choir when it is prescribed.

Each Chapter appoints one or more of them in accordance with its own statutes. Those appointed swear an oath to carry out the duty faithfully, either before the Chapter or before the president of the Chapter itself. The bishop may appoint, on his own account, another punctator in addition to those appointed by the Chapter. If the punctators have not been appointed, or in any case are not present in choir, the eldest of the canons present takes their place (CIC, can. 395 § 4).

The office of the punctators is not perpetual; indeed, since it is an odious office, it would be advisable that they be designated in turn and for a relatively short time (six months or a year). Any cleric of that particular Chapter may be a punctator; some authors maintain that a cleric who is not a chapter member may also be one; however, the sacristan or the penitentiary canon never will be. Those who, though materially present in choir, do not take part in the prayers or in the common singing, or frequently absent themselves from it, are also considered absent. The reasons for temporary absences from choir must be communicated to the punctator, who in turn notes them in the register of punctatures. This register is authoritative in court.

Michele Federici