Coat of arms of a territorial abbot

A territorial abbot or Abbot nullius heads a territorial abbey or territorial abbacey, which is a type of particular church within the Roman Catholic Church similar to a diocese as it provides central ecclesiastical administration for an area but is instead headed by the abbot (regular prelate, in chief of a monastery) rather than by a diocesan bishop (secular prelate) and is named after that abbey rather then after the residential city ('episciopal see'). Download high resolution version (1000x975, 180 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (1000x975, 180 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... A Particular Church , in Roman Catholic theology and canon law, is any of the individual constituent ecclesial communities in full communion with the Church of Rome and thus make up the Catholic Communion. ... The name Catholic Church can mean a visible organization that refers to itself as Catholic, or the invisible Christian Church, viz. ... Pope Pius XI blesses Bishop Stephen Alencastre as fifth Apostolic Vicar of the Hawaiian Islands in a Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace window. ... Abbots coat of arms The word abbot, meaning father, has been used as a Christian clerical title in various, mainly monastic, meanings. ... Monastery of St. ... A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ...

This is also called an abbey nullius, for abbey nullius diœceseos — or for short abbatia nullius, Latin 'of no diocese', or outside of a diocese's jurisdiction.

History

The practice arose in part because abbeys have traditionally sometimes served as missions: a monastery was sometimes erected in territories where Christianity was first being preached or in remote and poor areas or areas still being settled. As the monastery was the only ecclesiastical presence, and as the monks sometimes served as a parish clergy in parishes near the monastery, the abbot, though having received only the priesthood in the sacrament of Holy Orders, was invested with the same authority under Canon law as a diocesan bishop for a given territory around the abbey. With the exception of actually ordaining new priests himself, the abbot so empowered could do everything else a diocesan bishop would for his subjects, including incardinate (that is, enroll under his jurisdiction) even non-monastic clergy for service in parishes. Roman Catholic deacon candidates prostrate before the altar of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles during a 2004 diaconate ordination liturgy Holy Orders in the modern Roman Catholic Church and in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, Assyrian, Old Catholic, and Independent Catholic Churches, includes... Canon Law is the ecclesiastical law of the Roman Catholic Church. ...

Territorial abbeys still exist in some parts of the world: in sparsely settled or missionary areas, and in Europe where some ancient abbeys nullius still retain their rights.

Though territorial (like other) abbots are elected by the monks of their abbey, a territorial abbot can only receive the abbatial blessing and be installed under mandate from the Pope, just as a bishop cannot be installed as ordinary of a diocese without such a mandate. The current Pope is Benedict XVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger), who was elected at the age of 78 on 19 April 2005. ...

After the Second Vatican Council, more emphasis has been placed on the unique nature of the episcopacy and on the traditional organization of the church into dioceses under bishops — many officials who had been given the privilege of wearing episcopal vestments, even though they were not bishops, lost this right, for instance. As such, abbeys nullius have been phasing out in favor of the erection of new dioceses or absorption of the territory into an existing diocese. A few ancient abbeys nullius still exist in Europe, and one in Brazil. The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, or Vatican II, (Vatican two) was an Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church opened under Pope John XXIII in 1962 and closed under Pope Paul VI in 1965. ...

List of territorial abbacies

In April 2006, there were only ten, all Latin rite, in fact titular sees and in Europe:

• Cluny (in Burgundy; now united with Autun diocese) is the only one in France; historically Cluny was the mother house of the Congregation of Cluny as result of the Cluniac monastic reform of the 11th Century, primarily in that it removed many Benedectine abbeys under its jurisdiction from local feudal allegiances (hence establishing their independence) and had new one founded; it became extremely rich and influential within and beyond the Church.

The other nine are all in Italy: Cluny nowadays The town of Cluny or Clugny lies in the modern-day département of Saône-et-Loire in the région of France, near Mâcon. ... Autun is a town in the Saône-et-Loire département in Burgundy, France. ...

• Farfa (united with Sabina – Poggio Mirteto diocese) in Italy
• Fontevivo (united with Parma)
• Pomposa (united with Ferrara – Comacchio)
• San Columbano Abbey (united with Piacenza – Bobbio)
• San Martino al Monte Cimino (united with Viterbo)
• San Michele Arcangelo di Montescaglioso (united with Matera – Irsina)
• San Salvatore Maggiore (united with Rieti)
• Santa Maria di Polsi (united with Locri – Gerace)
• Santissimo Salvatore (united with Messina – Lipari – Santa Lucia del Mela)

Historically there have been more, such as Farfa Abbey (Italian: Abbazia di Farfa) is a large medieval abbey in the town of Farfa in the Italian province of Rieti, once very important with numerous dependencies and possessions thruout the northern Lazio. ... Parma is a medieval city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, with splendid architecture and a fine countryside around it. ... Viterbo is an ancient city and comune in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of Viterbo province. ... Rieti is a town in the Latium, Italy. ...

• St. Alexander Orosci, enclaved in the Albanian diocese of Alessio
• Pinerolo, a prince-abbacy in Piedmont later transformed into a bishopric.

Pinerolo is a town in Italy, 40 km southwest of Turin on the River Chisone. ... Piedmont (Italian: Piemonte) is a region of northwestern Italy. ...

Sources and references

• List of Current Territorial Abbacies by Giga-Catholic Information
• This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia. passim