VICARIUS DELEGATUS. — Apostolic vicars, by the nature of their ecclesiastical jurisdiction, did not have the power to appoint a vicar general as did the bishops of a diocese.
Before the 1917 Code of Canon Law, Benedict XIV, by the constitution *Ex sublimi* of 26 January 1753, had granted to the apostolic vicars of the Indies, who did not have a coadjutor with future succession, the faculty to appoint a vicar general who, in the event of a vacancy in the see, would take over the governance with the jurisdiction and faculties specified in the same constitution. The same Supreme Pontiff, by the constitution *Quam ex sublimi* of 8 August 1755, extended the faculty mentioned above to all apostolic vicars (cf. *Colleganea S. Congr. de Prop. Fide*, Rome 1907, nos. 387 and 396). This vicar general, however, corresponded rather to the pro-vicar mentioned in can. 309 of the 1917 Code.
Even after the publication of the 1917 Code, neither the apostolic vicars nor the apostolic prefects were granted the faculty to appoint a vicar general *sede plena* (cf. can. 294). The prevailing opinion was that the type of jurisdiction—ordinary but vicarious—did not allow for such a faculty, which was moreover excluded by can. 198 §1. It was perhaps thought that such a figure was unnecessary because apostolic vicars and prefects could delegate very broad faculties directly to missionaries. Indeed, by virtue of can. 199, ordinaries may delegate their ordinary jurisdiction both in particular cases and for all causes. This faculty of general and permanent delegation had already been recognized by the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith on 9 December 1822 (*Colleganza S. Congr. de Prop. Fide*, no. 777). But this delegate could not be called a vicar general.
The new organization of missionary activity made necessary a figure similar to that of the vicar general also for apostolic vicariates and prefectures. By a letter of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith dated 8 December 1919, Benedict XV, after remedying the nullity of acts of jurisdiction performed by those missionaries who may have acted as vicars general, granted “to the ordinaries of the missions the power to appoint a *vicarius delegatus* if they deem it necessary, to whom in practice all the spiritual and temporal jurisdiction is granted which, according to the Code, a vicar general may exercise in a diocese” (*Sylloge S. Congr. de Prop. Fide*, Rome 1939, no. 76).
Regarding the number and office of the *V. d.* in each mission, the prescriptions of the 1917 Code apply (can. 366 and 399). The same faculty was also granted to ecclesiastical superiors of autonomous or *sui iuris* missions (*Sylloge S. Congr. de Prop. Fide*, no. 146). The following names were proposed for the vicars granted to the ordinaries of the various dioceses: *V. d.* for apostolic vicars, *prefectus delegatus* for apostolic prefects, and *superior delegatus* for ecclesiastical superiors of autonomous missions. The common title of *V. d.* for all then prevailed.
Immediately after the publication of the 1919 letter, discussion began as to whether the *V. d.* enjoyed delegated or ordinary power. The Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, in a letter of 16 November 1937, declared such power to be ordinary; consequently, the rights and obligations of the *V. d.* are equal to those of the vicar general. The *V. d.*, however, does not enjoy the honorary privileges of a titular protonotary apostolic (can. 370 §2), because the instructions and responses of Propaganda never refer to the cited canon nor have expressly granted the privileges in question. The *V. d.* does, however, enjoy the right of precedence; and, contrary to can. 309 §2, the governance of a quasi-diocese *sede impedita* falls to the *V. d.* according to can. 429 §1. Generally, there is only one *V. d.* in each quasi-diocese, but by centenary custom or apostolic indult, two or more *V. d.* may be appointed for different regions (can. 366 §3).