Look up prelate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

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 word derives from Latin prælatus, the past participle of præferre, "to prefer," suggesting that the prelate is preferred over other clergy. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wiktionary is a Wikimedia Foundation project intended to be a free wiki dictionary (hence: Wiktionary) (including thesaurus and lexicon) in every language. ... Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. ... 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. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...

A prelature is the office of a prelate or the entire juridical entity which the prelate governs. Prelacy is the body of prelates as a whole, or a system of government, administration, or ministry by prelates.

The archetypal prelate is a bishop, whose prelature is his particular church. All other prelates, including the regular prelates such as abbots and major superiors, are based upon this original model of prelacy. A bishop is an ordained member of the Christian clergy who, in certain Christian churches, holds a position of authority. ... 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. ... A religious order is an organization of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with religious devotion. ... Abbots coat of arms The word abbot, meaning father, has been used as a Christian clerical title in various, mainly monastic, meanings. ...

Sometimes the clergy of a state church with a formal hierarchy are called prelates without having ordinary jurisdiction, which etymologically suggests that the prelate enjoys legal privileges and power as a result of clerical status. Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. ... See also civil religion. ... For the various types of hierarchy, see hierarchy (disambiguation) A hierarchy (in Greek: Ιεραρχία, it is derived from ιερός-hieros, sacred, and άρχω-arkho, rule) is a system of ranking and organizing things or people, where each element of the system (except for the top element) is subordinate to a single other element. ...

Personal prelatures

In the Roman Catholic Church, the personal prelature was conceived during the sessions of the Second Vatican Council in no. 10 of the decree Presbyterorum ordinis and was later enacted into law by Paul VI in his motu proprio Ecclesiae sanctae. The institution was later reaffirmed in the 1982 Code of Canon Law (Personal Prelatures cann. 294-297 [1]). Such a prelature is an institution having clergy and (possibly) lay members which would carry out specific pastoral activities. The adjective personal refers to the fact that, in contrast with previous canonical use for ecclesiastical institutions, the jurisdiction of the prelate is not linked to a territory but over persons wherever they be. The establishment of personal prelatures is an exercise of the theologically inherent power of self-organization which the Church has to pursue its mission, though a personal prelature is not a particular church like dioceses and military ordinariates are. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Catholicism. ... 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. ... Paul VI, Giovanni Battista Enrica Antonia Maria Montini (September 26, 1897 – August 6, 1978), served as Pope from 1963 to 1978. ... Name given to a certain type of Papal rescript, where the clause motu proprio (of his own accord) is used, signifying that the provisions of the rescript were decided by the pope personally and not by a cardinal or other advisors. ... Canon Law is the ecclesiastical law of the Roman Catholic Church. ... Canon law is the term used for the internal ecclesiastical law which governs various churches, most notably the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Anglican Commuion of churches. ... In law, jurisdiction from the Latin jus, juris meaning law and dicere meaning to speak, is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted body or to a person to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility. ... Theology is reasoned discourse concerning God (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογος, logos, word or reason). It can also refer to the study of other religious topics. ... 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. ... 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 military ordinariate is an ecclesiastical unit responsible for the pastoral care of Christians serving in the armed forces of a nation. ...

Many features of a personal prelature may seem similar to religious orders. For starters, the prelate governs the prelature with ordinary power and is selected according to the statutes of the prelature (can. 295), which could mean election by the members of the prelature or some other method. Also, the clergy of the prelature also are incardinated into the prelature itself as opposed to the local particular church (ibid). Catholic religious orders are organizations of laity and/orclergy in the Roman Catholic Church who live under a common rule. ... 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. ...

However, the laity and clergy of the prelature do not take the three vows which members of religious orders take. It is also possible for the clergy of the prelature to have a different relationship with the local ordinary than members of religious orders (can. 297) since, normally, religious orders are not exempt from the laws and the governance of the particular church where they live and work. Thirdly, the prelature defines its relationship with the laity dedicated to its mission, which could mean canonical membership or a relationship defined by mutual agreement (can. 296). Such a relationship is not possible in a religious order; dedicated laity would have to join it canonically and take vows. Finally, the prelate may be a bishop, which generally does not happen in a religious order. For these and other reasons, personal prelatures are clearly different from religious institutes and the consecrated life in general, as well as from associations and movements of the faithful. In religious organizations, the laity comprises all lay persons collectively. ... This article needs to be wikified. ...

In a nutshell: personal prelatures are fundamentally lay organizations operating in the world (members take no vows and live normal, everyday lives), whereas religious orders are religious organizations operating out of the world (members take vows and lead lives in accordance with their specific organization).

The first (and as of 2005, only) personal prelature is Opus Dei, which was elevated to a personal prelature by Pope John Paul II in 1982 through the Apostolic constitution Ut sit. In the case of Opus Dei, the prelate is elected by members of the prelature and confirmed by the Pope, the laity and clergy of the prelature are still under the governance of the particular church where they live, and the laity associated with the prelature (both men and women) are organically united under the jurisdiction of the prelate. 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Opus Dei (disambiguation). ... Pope John Paul II (Latin: ), born Karol Józef Wojtyła [1] (May 18, 1920 – April 2, 2005) reigned as Pope of the Roman Catholic Church for almost 27 years, from October 16, 1978 until his death, making his the second-longest pontificate. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... An Apostolic constitution (Latin constitutio apostolica) is a very solemn decree issued by the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. ...

A personal prelature is related to the only personal apostolic administration: the Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney, of Catholics in Brazil wishing to worship according to the Roman Missal of 1962. 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. ...