VICAR GENERAL. — The priest lawfully appointed to represent the bishop in the exercise of his jurisdiction throughout the diocese.
In the fourth century, as their ministry intensified, bishops needed collaborators to assist in governing the diocese. To this end, they entrusted the task to the cleric of highest standing among the clergy, the archdeacon (v. ARCIDIACONO), who emerged as the bishop’s vicar in diocesan governance. By the seventh century, the archdeacon’s authority had become so entrenched that concerns arose about potential abuses. By the thirteenth century, the archdeacon had reached the height of his influence, with his dignity considered inferior to that of the bishop only because he lacked the fullness of the power of order. His prominence was further reinforced by the division of dioceses into districts, each headed by an archdeacon. Although multiple individuals might hold this dignity within a diocese, each exercised ordinary, personal jurisdiction autonomously within his assigned district.
Faced with the archdeacons’ extensive jurisdictional powers, bishops began to resist, seeking to limit their authority, which often overlapped with their own. They countered the archdeacons’ dominance by creating dependent officials—namely, the vicars general (v. g)—to oversee the ordinary governance of the diocese, and officials to administer justice. Regarding the former, bishops delegated their jurisdiction to removable ecclesiastics, distinguished as vicarius principalis sive urbanus or vicarius forensis, depending on whether they assisted the bishop in the city or in rural areas. This gradual innovation undermined the archdeacons’ position to such an extent that by the second half of the sixteenth century, the title of archdeacon had become little more than a chapter dignity.
Thus emerged the office of the vicar general, whose origins can be traced to the thirteenth century. References to it appear in the Decretals of Gregory IX (cap. 14, X, de off. iud., I, 31) and are later frequently cited and regulated in the Liber Sextus of Boniface VIII (cap. 2, 3, de off. vic., I, 13; cap. 1, de off. ordin., I, 16; cap. 2, de consuetud., I, 4) and in the Clementines (cap. 2, de reser., I, 2). The Council of Trent further strengthened the vicar general’s powers by stripping the archdeacon of all jurisdictional authority, reducing him to an honorary dignity within the chapters (sess. XXIV, cap. 20, de reform.; sess. XXV, cap. 3, de reform.).
Today, the Code of Canon Law (CIC) regulates the office of vicar general, among other provisions related to it, in Book II under the title “De potestate episcopali deque iis qui de eadem participant,” where it is comprehensively addressed in cann. 366–371. Residential bishops, abbots, and prelates *nullius* may choose a vicar general, though the appointment is not obligatory but optional, to be made only if deemed necessary for the proper governance of the diocese. Contrary to a long-standing custom, particularly in France, the CIC explicitly excludes the possibility of a bishop appointing more than one vicar general (can. 366 § 3), unless necessitated by the diversity of rites among the faithful or the vastness of the diocese. However, the bishop may appoint a substitute, called a vice-gerent or pro-vicar.
The vicar general is a cleric freely appointed and removable *ad nutum* by the bishop. The requirements for holding this office are: ordination to the priesthood and membership in the secular clergy, unless a religious order or congregation has charge of a diocese, in which case the vicar general may belong to that order or congregation; at least thirty years of age; a doctorate or licentiate in theology and canon law, or at least full knowledge of these disciplines; and proven probity, prudence, and experience. The office of vicar general cannot be held by the penitentiary canon, to avoid concurrent jurisdiction over the same persons in both internal and external forums. Nor may it be held by the bishop’s blood relatives, especially in the first or second degree (including mixed degrees), or by clerics who have cure of souls, except in cases of necessity.
The vicar general is the bishop’s general representative and collaborator in the exercise of the power of jurisdiction, specifically in administrative and disciplinary matters of the diocese (not in the exercise of the power of order, for which the bishop is assisted and represented, if necessary, by an auxiliary bishop). By virtue of his office, the vicar general exercises the same powers of jurisdiction in spiritual and temporal matters as are ordinarily attributed to the bishop. Thus, he also administers ecclesiastical property, except, according to some authors, the episcopal table. The vicar general’s powers are not unlimited, as there are certain matters reserved to the bishop, and others for which the law requires the vicar general to have a special mandate from the bishop, such as the granting of excardination and incardination (can. 113), the granting of dispensations from impediments (can. 958 § 1, n. 2), and the establishment of offices (can. 1414 § 3). However, the bishop may, in the letters of appointment, grant the vicar general general powers over matters for which the law otherwise requires a special mandate.
The vicar general exercises ordinary vicarious power, as, although he does so by virtue of his office—meaning the law itself confers it upon him—he acts in the bishop’s name. As the bishop’s representative in the exercise of the power of jurisdiction, the vicar general takes precedence over all other ecclesiastics in the diocese, except those holding episcopal dignity, unless he himself holds such a dignity.
The office of vicar general ceases, in addition to the death of the incumbent, by his resignation, by revocation by the bishop for just cause, or by the vacancy of the episcopal see.