VICARIO PARROCCHIALE. – He is the priest who takes the place of the parish priest in the exercise of the care of souls. There are five kinds of V. p.
The actual or perpetual V. person; the economus V. parish; the substitute V. governs a parish during the absence of the incumbent or while an appeal is pending, if the incumbent was removed by a sentence not yet having the force of res judicata; the assistant V. assists a parish priest who is incapacitated; the cooperator V. parish, the number of the faithful, or another cause independent of the person of the parish priest. These offices, except the first, are ordinarily held ad nutum, since they are not consolidated into benefices. By way of exception, there are true benefices intended for the office of cooperator V. in the entire care of souls and conferred, for the most part, like parishes: they are called autonomous vicariates, although their autonomy is incomplete, since the person appointed has not broken the bond of subordination to the parish.
I. THE CURRENT OR PERPETUAL VICAR
When a parish is united pleno iure, that is, assigned to a college, a Chapter, a monastery, or any other juridical person, the so-called habitual care belongs to the latter, while the parish priest has only the current care; hence he is called the current or perpetual V.The distinction between the two concepts of care, traces of which are already found in canon law before the Council of Trent, was developed following the Tridentine provisions, which obliged bishops to put an end to the care of souls administered in solidum by juridical persons, where responsibility, being divided and non-organic, is less keenly felt, and to entrust it to physical persons (sess. VII, cap. 7, de reform.).
After that, the Chapters entrusted the parish duties either to a member of the college or to one or more subordinate vicars; but they reserved to themselves another form of direction which included, together with the juridical and economic representation of the church, supervision over the parish priest, and which came to be called habitual care: a potential status that was translated de iure and de facto into the current care exercised by others. But since the dividing line between the one and the other was not always clearly drawn, this opened the way to encroachments and legal doubts.
Therefore, the CIC, while leaving apostolic privileges and special agreements stipulated when the parish was erected intact, reserves to the juridical entity, in addition to the right to present the holder of the current care, high liturgical supervision and the administration of the parish’s patrimony, and assigns to the V. full autonomy in the exercise of the care of souls (can. 471 § 4). He is consequently equated with the parish priest in all pastoral rights and duties; and, whereas previously he could be removed, today he is irremovable like the parish priest properly so called (can. 741 § 3), without prejudice to removability in the case of religious V.
II. THE VICAR ECONOMUS
He is the priest appointed by the Ordinary to govern a vacant parish, with the prior consent of the religious superior regarding the choice of the person, if the parish is regular. The economus has all the spiritual rights and all the duties of the titular parish priest; but he may not prejudice the rights of the parish priest or of the benefice. He is assigned, by way of salary, a fixed share of the benefice revenues, in addition to the stole fees. On leaving office, he must hand over the archives and render an account of the debit and credit of his administration to the new parish priest or to the economus who succeeds him, in the presence of the V. foraneo or of another priest designated by the Ordinary (can. 473).III. THE SUBSTITUTE VICAR
The titular parish priest or the economus who is about to be absent for more than a week proposes to the Ordinary the priest who is to replace him. Once approved, the latter acquires full powers for the care of souls, including in matrimonial matters, unless the Ordinary or the absent parish priest has imposed limitations, and he is designated as the substitute vicar. If the titular parish priest is compelled by a grave and sudden cause to be absent for more than a week, the substitute immediately acquires this extent of authority and retains it until the Ordinary, who must be informed in writing of the absence and substitution as soon as possible, orders otherwise (cann. 465 §§ 4–5, 474; Pont. Comm., 14 July 1922; 20 May 1923). The replacement of a parish priest absent for less than a week falls under the ordinary rules of delegation. The parish priest appointed to replace a removed parish priest pending an appeal is appointed directly by the Ordinary and is equal in powers to the economus vicar.IV. THE ASSISTANT VICAR (adiutor)
When the parish priest becomes wholly or partially unable to perform his duties because of a permanent physical condition or insufficient capacity, the bishop, if he does not deem it appropriate to proceed with removal, appoints an assistant vicar, whose juridical position varies according to the duties entrusted to him. If he is granted full authority to replace the completely incapacitated titular parish priest, he has all the spiritual rights and all the duties proper to the parish priest, except for the Mass pro populo. If, on the other hand, he is entrusted with a limited substitution, the scope of his powers is defined by the letter of appointment (can. 475). V. ILV. COOPERATORE
Il CIC riserva all'Ordinario il diritto di assegnare liberamente i cooperatori alle parrocchie, in cui l'intensità del lavoro di cura di anime richiedesse aiuto, previo il parere del parroco. Le competenze del V. cooperatore si desumono da tre fonti: dagli statuti diocesani, dalle lettere di nomina e dalla commissione del parroco. È però obbligato in linea di massima a supplire negli uffici il parroco e a coadiuvarlo in universo paroeciali ministerio, fatta eccezioneper la Messa pro populo (can. 476 § 6). Solo il V. cooperatore è abile a ricevere la delegazione generale ad assistere ai matrimoni e quando l'avesse può suddelegarla nei casi singoli. Come per i matrimoni così anche per il resto la potestà giurisdizionale del V. cooperatore è sempre delegata e mai ordinaria, a meno che egli non sia investito del beneficio vicariale a norma del can. 477 § 2.