In the Roman Catholic Church, an apostolic administrator is a prelate appointed by the Pope to serve as an ordinary for an Apostolic Administration, which is a territorial jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church, similar in function but lower in status then a diocese, but are usually to be found where the number of Catholics in a particular region or country is very low. The apostolic administrator is usually a bishop with a titular see. Catholic Church redirects here. ... A prelate is a member of the clergy who either has ordinary jurisdiction over a group of people or ranks in precedence with ordinaries. ... The Pope (from Greek: pappas, father; from Latin: papa, Papa, father) is the head of the Catholic Church. ... Pope Pius XI, depicted in this window at Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, Honolulu, was ordinary of the universal Roman Catholic Church and local ordinary of Rome. ... Catholic Church redirects here. ... When first appointed auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Honolulu in Hawaii, Joseph Anthony Ferrario became a titular bishop of the titular see of the ancient Egyptian city of Cusae. ...

The Apostolic Administration can either be an area that is not yet a diocese (a stable apostolic administration) or for a diocese that either has no bishop (an apostolic administrator sede vacante) or, in very rare cases, has an incapacitated bishop (apostolic administrator sede plena). Pope Pius XI blesses Bishop Stephen Alencastre as fifth Apostolic Vicar of the Hawaiian Islands in a Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace window. ... Pope Pius XI blesses Bishop Stephen Alencastre as fifth Apostolic Vicar of the Hawaiian Islands in a Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace window. ... A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ... Sede vacante in the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church is the vacancy of the episcopal see of a particular church. ...

Apostolic administrators of stable administrations are equivalent in law with diocesan bishops, which means that they can do just about anything a diocesan bishop can do.

Administrators sede vacante or sede plena, though, only serve in their role until a newly chosen diocesan bishop takes possession of the diocese and are restricted by canon law in what they can do to the diocese they temporarily administer. In Western culture, canon law is the law of the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. ...

Normally when a diocese falls vacant a vicar capitular/diocesan administrator is chosen locally, but the Pope, having full governmental power, can preempt this choice and name an apostolic administrator instead. Sometimes a retiring bishop is designated to be apostolic administrator until his successor takes office. A vicar capitular is a provisional ordinary of a Roman Catholic diocese. ...

Present cases

In April 2006, there were only nine Apostolic administrations, each administered by a Bishop unless otherwise mentioned:

• only Southern Albania (established in 1939; suffragan of Tiranë–Durrës) is of of the Albanian rite

Eight of the Roman rite, mainly in the former Soviet block:

• Atyrau in Kazakhstan (which was until 1997 one single apostolic administration), suffragan of the Metropolitan (till 2003 itself and apostolic administrator) of Astana; administered by a Monsignor who is not a bishop
• Caucasus, exempt, established in 1991, for two (predominantly Othodox) former constitutive Soviet Republics: Georgia (the cathedral is in its capital Tbilisi) and Armenia
• Estonia, one of the former Baltic Soviet republics, established in 1924 (split off from Riga archiocese in Latvia), with a cathedral in the capital Talinn
• Kyrgyzstan, (mainly Islamic) former constitutive Soviet republic in Central Asia, exempt, since 2006 (promoting a mission sui juris created in 1997)
• Prizren, a former diocese in Serbia and Montenegro (in 1969 absorbed by Skopjei present macedonia), restored in 2005, exempt, vacant
• Uzbekistan, (mainly Islamic) former constitutive Soviet republic in Central Asia, exempt (promoting since 2005 the former mission sui juris created in 1997)
• Harbin in the PR China, exempt, established in 1935, with a cathedral, vacant since 1946
• the only non-(post) communist was the (mainly Muslim) island state of the Comoros (established in 1975; still includes Mayotte, which split off politically by remaining under French administration), exempt, under a non-monsignor
• Diocese of Campos, Brazil, in the territory of which exists the Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney of traditionalist Catholics headed by Bishop Fernando Arêas Rifan.

Atyrau is a city in Kazakhstan. ... Astanas flag Astanas coat-of-arms Map showing Astanas location in Kazakhstan New buldings in Astana Astana climate Astana (Kazakh, Russian: Астана), estimated population of 600,000 (2004 and growing fast), has been the capital of Kazakhstan since 1998. ... Monsignor is an ecclesiastical honorific used by certain priests and bishops of the Roman Catholic Church. ... The Entholinguistic patchwork of the modern Caucasus - CIA map The Caucasus, a region bordering Asia Minor, is located between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea which includes the Caucasus Mountains and surrounding lowlands. ... Riga (Latvian: Rīga), the capital of Latvia, is situated on the Baltic Sea coast on the mouth of the River Daugava, at . ... County Harju County Mayor Jüri Ratas Area 159. ... View of Prizren Prizren (Serbian Cyrillic Призрен; Albanian Prizreni) is an historic city located in Kosovo at 42. ... Harbin (Simplified Chinese: 哈尔滨; Traditional Chinese: 哈爾濱; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ha-erh-pin; Russian Харби́н Kharbin) is a sub-provincial city and the capital of the Heilongjiang Province in north-east China. ... The Peoples Republic of China (PRC) is a communist state, comprising most of the cultural, historic, and geographic area known as China. ... Pope Pius XI blesses Bishop Stephen Alencastre as fifth Apostolic Vicar of the Hawaiian Islands in a Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace window. ... Antônio de Castro Mayer, who was born on 20 June 1904 and ordained a priest on 30 October 1927, was Bishop of the Diocese of Campos in Brazil from 3 January 1949 until his resignation on 29 August 1981. ... A traditional Tridentine Mass Traditionalist Catholic and traditional Catholic are terms used to refer to Roman Catholics who want to see the worship and customs of Roman Catholics return to those prevailing before the reforms of the 1960s. ... Fernando Arêas Rifan is a Roman Catholic bishop, and Apostolic Administrator of the Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney in the diocese of Campos, Brazil. ...

Sources and references

(incomplete)

• GigaCatholic