 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations .(October 2015) |
A provost is a senior official in a number of Christian churches.
| This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations .(October 2015) |
A provost is a senior official in a number of Christian churches.
The word praepositus (Latin for 'set over', from praeponere, 'to place in front') was originally applied to any ecclesiastical ruler or dignitary. It was soon more specifically applied to the immediate subordinate to the abbot of a monastery, or to the superior of a single cell, and it was defined as such in the Rule of St Benedict. The dean (decanus) was a similarly ranked official. Chrodegang of Metz adopted this usage from the Benedictines when he introduced the monastic organization of canon-law colleges, especially cathedral capitular colleges. The provostship (praepositura) was normally held by the archdeacon, while the office of dean was held by the archpriest. In many colleges, the temporal duties of the archdeacons made it impossible for them to fulfil those of the provostship, and the headship of the chapter thus fell to the dean.
The title became prevost in Old French, before being adopted as provost in English. Prévôt is the equivalent in modern French.
In the Nordic countries, a provost (Danish and older Norwegian provst, modern Norwegian prost, Swedish prost (under the current system kontraktsprost), Icelandic prófastur (from the Old English prōfast), Finnish rovasti) is the leader of a provsti (Nor. prosti, Ice. prófastsdæmi, Swe. kontrakt), an administrative territorial unit within the Lutheran national churches which comprises several parishes (sogn, Ice. sókn, Swe. församling (previously socken)), comparable to a Catholic deanery. The provost is the immediate superior of the parish priest (Da. sognepræst, Nor. sogneprest, Ice. sóknarprestur, Swe. församlingspräst) but is normally also a parish priest in one of the local parishes. Several provstier form a diocese (stift (all languages) or bispedømme, Ice. biskupsdæmi, Swe. biskopsdöme).
Until the 19th century the parishes were not only religious districts, but also the core territorial units in the state administration, and the modern municipalities were based upon them; in the same way that the parish priest was normally the foremost government official in most parishes (corresponding to the modern municipalities), the provost was not only a regional religious leader, but one of the highest-ranking government officials within a larger region comprising multiple parishes, in many cases arguably the highest-ranking government official alongside the governor. In the church hierarchy in Denmark and Norway the rank of provost was broadly comparable to the secular rank of governor (amtmand), while the higher rank of bishop corresponded to stiftamtmand (governor of a larger region traditionally based on a diocese or stift).
While the modern spelling is Propst, in an historical context the spelling Probst may also occur. Historically, the title is also found among military chaplains, both Roman Catholic and Protestant (e.g. Feldpropst in Prussia).
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Northern Germany uses the title Propst for pastors who are the leaders of a church district (Propstei).
The Polish derivative proboszcz is the official title denoting a head of a parish (a parish priest, rector, parson or pastor), either Catholic, Orthodox, or Lutheran.
In England, the title of provost in cathedrals was almost completely replaced by that of dean, although sometimes when a bishop nominated himself as dean of his own cathedral, a provost was appointed as his deputy.
In cathedrals which were also parish churches; however, especially the newly created cathedrals of the 19th and 20th centuries, the senior priest (who was also the parish priest) continued to be known as the provost. This title was used by the head priests of Birmingham Cathedral, Blackburn Cathedral, Bradford Cathedral, Chelmsford Cathedral, Coventry Cathedral, Derby Cathedral, Leicester Cathedral, Newcastle Cathedral, Portsmouth Cathedral, St. Edmundsbury Cathedral, Sheffield Cathedral, Southwark Cathedral, Southwell Minster, and Wakefield Cathedral, but all were redesignated deans in 2000.
In the Scottish Episcopal Church this tradition continues. The leading priests of the cathedrals, with the exception of the Cathedral of The Isles on Cumbrae, are called provost.
The usage is preserved in the title of the heads of some colleges in England formerly administered by the Church.
After the Protestant Reformation, usually following pre-Reformation traditional usage, and in connexion with certain churches, some Protestant pastors bore the title of provost. In these cases it was merely an honorific rank, without any special place in the church hierarchy. Such usage occurred, for example, in the Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union and its successor Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg.
In certain Landeskirchen within the Evangelical Church in Germany, the title is still used for a pastor officiating as chairperson in a provostry (e.g. in the Lutheran Evangelical Lutheran State Church in Brunswick, Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Mecklenburg and in the united Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau, and the Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony). In the above-mentioned Lutheran churches, a provostry is equal to a deanery, and, in the two united churches, it is a unit comprising several deaneries.
Moreover, in the united Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia, the provost is the theological leader of the consistory.
In the Catholic Church, Provost is a title of a prelate, with a rank equivalent to that of a bishop.[ citation needed ]
In a society of apostolic life such as an Oratory of St Philip Neri, the provost is the major religious superior of his particular oratory. It is customary among Oratorians to call the provost "THE father" as he is primus inter pares, and a father in the place of the founder, Philip Neri. In some dioceses it may be an honorary title given to senior priests, while in others it may be granted to vicars in charge of coordinating the pastoral care in a portion of territory and with a certain authority over the parish priests who fall under that particular jurisdiction.
In Germany, the heads of certain chapters under the Catholic Church are still known as provosts (German: probst or propst), while propstei or propstei(pfarr)gemeinde is an honorary designation for some important, old Roman Catholic churches in Germany; most honorary titles date back to the 20th century. Parish priests who are provosts have the privilege of wearing a prelate's dress (black-purple) and using a pectoral cross hung by a ribbon.
In the Archdiocese of Milan, the figure of the provost has historically been an important office in the administration of the archdiocese.
The earliest documented testimonies of praepositi date back to the 12th century and refer not only to the city of Milan, but above all to the rest of Lombardy which belonged to the Ambrosian diocese: the provosts were in fact the head of the parishes that constituted the territory of the Duchy of Milan. One of the most important prepositural offices, for example, is that of Lecco, which in the past was a very important strategic position for commercial traffic with northern Europe and for the military defense of the duchy.
The provosts were based in the capopievi of cities and officiated in the main church of the city; as with the rest of the archdiocese, they followed the Ambrosian Rite for the celebration of the liturgy (except in parishes which for historical reasons followed the Aquileian Rite). In some historical periods they were directly appointed by the papal curia.
They also had the right to appoint the canons of their colleges and to assign for the benefit of the rents of land owned by their parish. Moreover, within the territory of their competence, they established vicariates entrusted to other priests which later revolved into rural parishes.
In the case of the provosts without ecclesiastical jurisdiction over a territory, these were mainly located in the city of Milan where they were placed at the head of the oldest or most outstanding basilicas of the city. Since the provost also had the role of prefect of the chapter, the Milan cathedral also had its own provost.
Following a diocesan synod presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Colombo in 1972, the pievi were suppressed, and the title of provost became as an exclusively honorary title preserved within the archdiocese to be granted to distinguished parish priests.
The heads of Augustinian and Dominican friaries are termed "provost or prior" (praepositus vel prior), and those of Cistercian monasteries "provost or warden" (praepositus vel custos). The superiors of the oratory are also known as provosts, as noted above.
In some religious orders, especially those under the patronage of royalty or nobility, the ecclesial management of the order is placed under the jurisdiction of a provost.
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or more curates, and who operates from a parish church. Historically, a parish often covered the same geographical area as a manor. Its association with the parish church remains paramount.
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
The Church of Sweden is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.4 million members at year end 2023, it is the largest Christian denomination in Sweden, the largest Lutheran denomination in Europe and the third-largest in the world, after the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania.
A vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior. Linguistically, vicar is cognate with the English prefix "vice", similarly meaning "deputy". It also refers to a senior priest in the Church of England. The title appears in a number of Christian ecclesiastical contexts, but also as an administrative title, or title modifier, in the Roman Empire. In addition, in the Holy Roman Empire, a local representative of the emperor, such as an archduke, could be styled "vicar".
The Church of Norway is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church became the state church of Norway around 1020, and was established as a separate church intimately integrated with the state as a result of the Lutheran reformation in Denmark–Norway which broke ties with the Holy See in 1536–1537; the King of Norway was the church's head from 1537 to 2012. Historically the church was one of the main instruments of royal power and official authority, and an important part of the state administration; local government was based on the church's parishes with significant official responsibility held by the parish priest.
A Prelate of Honour of His Holiness is a Catholic prelate to whom the Pope has granted this title of honour.
A dean, in an ecclesiastical context, is a cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, and many Lutheran denominations. A dean's assistant is called a sub-dean.
William Edwin Franklin is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, He served as an auxiliary bishop of Archdiocese of Dubuque in Iowa from 1987 to 1993, and as bishop of the Diocese of Davenport, also in Iowa, from 1993 to 2006.
In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion as well as some Lutheran denominations, a rural dean is a member of clergy who presides over a "rural deanery" ; "ruridecanal" is the corresponding adjective. In some Church of England dioceses rural deans have been formally renamed as area deans.
A deanery is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of a dean.
The Very Reverend is an honorific style given to higher-ranking members of a clergy. The definite article "the" should always precede "Reverend" when used before a name, because "Reverend" is an honorific adjective, not a title.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia is a Lutheran Protestant church in Latvia. Latvia's Lutheran heritage dates back to the Reformation. Both the Nazi and communist regimes persecuted the church harshly before religious freedom returned to Latvia in 1988. In contrast to Estonia, where state atheism reduced the once 80% Lutheran majority to barely 10% by 2011, the Latvian Lutheran church saw its membership drop to around 20% but has recovered and now includes approximately 30% of the population. The church reports having 250,000 members according to the Lutheran World Federation.
The Archdiocese of Turku, historically known as Archdiocese of Åbo, is the seat of the Archbishop of Turku. It is a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, and its see city is Turku.
The Anglican ministry is both the leadership and agency of Christian service in the Anglican Communion. Ministry commonly refers to the office of ordained clergy: the threefold order of bishops, priests and deacons. More accurately, Anglican ministry includes many laypeople who devote themselves to the ministry of the church, either individually or in lower/assisting offices such as lector, acolyte, sub-deacon, Eucharistic minister, cantor, musicians, parish secretary or assistant, warden, vestry member, etc. Ultimately, all baptized members of the church are considered to partake in the ministry of the Body of Christ.
The Church of the Faroe Islands, also known as the Faroese People's Church, is the established church and the largest religious organization in the Faroe Islands. It is an Evangelical Lutheran church, continuing the Lutheran tradition established during the Protestant Reformation. The church is one of the smallest state churches in the world. Prior to becoming independent on 29 July 2007, it was a diocese of the Church of Denmark, also a Lutheran church. As of 2023, 77.0% of the Faroe Islanders belonged to the state church.
The Diocese of Görlitz is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic church in Germany. The current ordinary is Wolfgang Ipolt
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria is a Lutheran church of the Scandinavian tradition in Russia. It is the second largest Lutheran church in Russia, with 90 congregations and 15,000 members, and is active mostly in Ingria and Karelia.
The Church of Greenland, consisting of the Diocese of Greenland is the official Lutheran church in Greenland under the leadership of the Bishop of Greenland. Paneeraq Siegstad Munk became Bishop in 2020.
Robert Byrne, C.O. is a prelate of the Catholic Church in England. He was the 14th Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Birmingham and the titular bishop of Cuncacestre. He is the first Oratorian to be appointed a bishop in England since 1874.
Gregory James Studerus is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Newark in New Jersey since 2020.
| Authority control databases: National |
|---|
