RELIGIOUS SUPERIOR. - He is one who possesses the legitimate power to command the members of a religious society or part thereof.
I. In canon law, major and minor superiors are distinguished. Among the former are to be included all the supreme superiors of centralized religious institutes, the primate abbot of the confederated Benedictine monastic congregations, the presiding abbot of the individual Benedictine congregations themselves (v. BENEDETTINI), the provincial superiors, and others who, although they do not bear the same name, in fact possess the same ordinary powers; furthermore, all the vicars of these persons when they possess ordinary powers (can. 488, n. 8). It should be noted that in monastic religions, among the Canons Regular, and in sui iuris houses, both male and female, the local superior, whether called abbot or prior or by any other name, is a true major superior. Minor or local superiors are all those who in a centralized religion (v. RELIGIONE) command a house. Another canonical distinction must be made between major superiors who hold a permanent, continuous office and those who exercise authority only in particular circumstances. Such are the visitors of many religions, especially monastic ones; they must, however, possess ordinary, not merely delegated, powers. In the latter case they do not fall under the designation of r. s.; thus, for example, one delegated by the major superior to conduct a canonical visitation is not a major superior. A third distinction must be made between collegial and personal r. s. Among the former are the General Chapter, the Diet, and other assemblies that act as a single body with collegial responsibility. All other superiors are personal, that is, individually responsible even when they have a council, whose opinion they must seek, except when the superior and council perform acts as a college, as occurs in certain cases in which there is a collegial superior.
II. In religious communities, persons are legitimately constituted superiors either through free election or through appointment. This occurs especially in centralized religions—where only the major offices, those of supreme superior, councillor, procurator, and, generally, treasurer and secretary general, are filled by election in the General Chapters (v. CAPITOLO)—whereas for all other offices appointment by the major superiors is very frequent. At times, the provincial Chapters, although competent to elect their own provincial superior, must receive confirmation of their decision from the supreme government. The election or appointment of superiors has represented one of the characteristic rights of religions (can. 501 § 1) from their beginning; nevertheless, since the Roman Pontiff is also the supreme superior of all religions, he has the power, personally or through the competent Roman Congregations, to impose r. s. who naturally have the same rights and duties as those elected or appointed by the religion (can. 499). The manner, juridical conditions, and qualities required for election or appointment depend upon the CIC and the constitutions. The common conditions for being a supreme superior are set forth in can. 504: one must be legitimate-born, have ten years of profession, and be forty years of age in order to be a supreme superior, or thirty in order to be a major superior; and, in general, possess all the moral qualities of prudence and governance necessary for such offices. The term of office of all r. s. is limited in time, unless the constitutions of the religion expressly provide otherwise (can. 505). Minor local superiors, moreover, may not remain in office for more than six years in the same house without a prior dispensation from the Holy See (can. 505). For superiors of women’s religions in Italy (whether centralized religions or monasteries), the instruction of the S. Congr. of Religious of 9 March 1920 (AAS, 12 [1920], p. 365) must also be taken into account; according to it, a superior general or local abbess may not be re-elected for a third consecutive six-year term without postulatio and confirmation by the Holy See.
III. The rights and duties of r. s. are directly proportionate both to their territorial scope and to the limitations established by canon law and the constitutions, especially in centralized religions, where the distinction between supreme, provincial, and local superiors is of the greatest importance. The fundamental right and duty of every r. s. is to employ every means of authority, prudence, and charity so that the subjects may attain the religious holiness to which they have consecrated themselves, and so that the religion, province, or house over which they preside may achieve the special ends proper to the institute, approved by the Holy See. The power, even when dominative, by which r. s. command is undoubtedly public in nature, both because they govern bodies of a universal nature, in many respects similar to dioceses, and because this power derives from the same supreme public source of every authority, namely, the Roman Pontiff, who gives religions their juridical status. In exempt religions it is also a power of jurisdiction that confers upon their major superiors the rank of prelates and Ordinaries according to canon law (cann. 110, 198, 501 § 1); supreme superiors possess, as a general right proper to them, the power to command over all the provinces, regions, and houses of the religion and over each and every member of the religion itself (can. 502). From the moment of his election, the supreme r. s. also becomes the exclusive representative of the religion as such, with the power to bind it, act on its behalf, and answer for it in both canon and civil law. Among the principal rights and duties are to be recalled: admission to and regulation of professions (can. 572); assignment of members to the various offices; convocation of General Chapters; canonical visitation (v.); temporary dispensations from observance of the merely disciplinary constitutions; preparation of the five-year and annual reports (can. 510); care for the formation of novices; and so forth. In religions divided into provinces, acts for which canon law speaks of major superiors, and expressly of supreme superiors, fall within the competence of the provincial superiors, unless the individual constitutions specifically provide otherwise. The power of local superiors in centralized religions is subordinate to the constitutions of each institute, with the general exclusion of authority in the more important matters of both governance and administration. Superiors of monasteries or sui iuris houses, on the other hand, are true Ordinaries, and therefore possess all the authority that the CIC attributes to Ordinaries (can. 198 § 1).