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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 (e.g., the Very Rev. John Smith), because "Reverend" is an honorific adjective, not a title. [1]
In the Catholic Church, the style is given, by custom, to priests who hold positions of particular note. These include: vicars general, episcopal vicars, judicial vicars, ecclesiastical judges, vicars forane (deans or archpriests), provincials of religious orders, rectors or presidents of cathedrals, seminaries or colleges/universities, priors of monasteries, or canons. Monsignors of the grade of Chaplain of His Holiness are styled as the Very Reverend Monsignor, while honorary prelates and protonotary apostolics are styled the Right Reverend Monsignor. Now, apart from legitimate custom or acquired right, newer monsignors are simply styled The Reverend Monsignor. The style is also accorded in the Dominican Order to holders of the title of Master of Sacred Theology. [2]
In the Eastern Orthodox churches, the style is used for archimandrites, for monastic clergy and protopresbyters. for married clergy. [3]
In the Anglican Communion, [4] the style is used with certain senior priests in a diocese. The senior priest of a cathedral, whether a dean or a provost, is usually styled as the Very Reverend regardless of whether the priest is also the rector of the cathedral parish, or whether the cathedral is a parish church. In the Episcopal Church USA, the dean of a seminary or divinity school is also styled in this form, as is the priest who is either appointed by the local bishop or elected by fellow priests as the leader of a deanery, which is a geographic subdivision of a diocese. In some Episcopal dioceses convocation is used in lieu of deanery. The Provosts and Deans of Dioceses in the Scottish Episcopal Church (who do not head a cathedral chapter) and the Anglican Church of Canada (who do) are also styled as the Very Reverend.[ citation needed ]
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In some mainline Protestant churches with a Presbyterian heritage, the style is used for former Moderators of the General Assembly, such as:
By custom, the Dean of the Chapel Royal, the Dean of the Thistle and (if a Church of Scotland minister) the principal of St Mary's College, St Andrews, are also styled The Very Reverend.
The Reverend is an honorific style given before the names of certain Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. The Reverend is correctly called a style, but is sometimes referred to as a title, form of address, or title of respect. The style is also sometimes used by leaders in other religions such as Judaism and Buddhism.
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".
Monsignor is a form of address or title for certain members of the clergy in the Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian monsignore, meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" can be abbreviated as Mons. or Msgr. In some countries, the title "monsignor" is used as a form of address for bishops. However, in English-speaking countries, the title is unrelated to the episcopacy, though many priests with the title later become bishops.
In Christianity, a minister is a person authorised by a church or other religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance to the community. The term is taken from Latin minister. In some church traditions the term is usually used for people who have been ordained, but in other traditions it can also be used for non-ordained.
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.
A provost is a senior official in a number of Christian churches.
The Right Reverend is an honorific style given to certain religious figures and members of a clergy.
The Cathedral Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, commonly known as St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, is a cathedral of the Scottish Episcopal Church in the West End of Edinburgh, Scotland; part of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Ecclesiastical titles are the formal styles of address used for members of the clergy.
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.
Walter Allison Hurley is a Canadian-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church.
Keith Newton is an English priest and prelate of the Catholic Church. Newton was named as the first ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham from 15 January 2011 to 29 April 2024, however he is not a Catholic bishop. Prior to his reception into the Catholic Church in 2011, Newton had been a priest and bishop of the Church of England; his last Anglican office was as Bishop of Richborough in the Province of Canterbury from 2002 to 31 December 2010.
William Gordon Reid is an Anglican priest and former Dean of Gibraltar and Vicar General of the Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe.
Edward Lowry Henderson was a priest in the Church of England and the Scottish Episcopal Church.
Ignatius Anthony Catanello was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. From 1994 to 2010 he served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn.
Timothy Christian Senior is an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He was an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania from 2009 to 2023, as well as rector and later chancellor of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. In 2023 Pope Francis named him bishop of the Diocese of Harrisburg in Pennsylvania.
A rector is, in an ecclesiastical sense, a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations. In contrast, a vicar is also a cleric but functions as an assistant and representative of an administrative leader.
Dorsey Winter Marsden McConnell is an American Anglican bishop who is the Acting Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney in the Scottish Episcopal Church. He had served as bishop diocesan in the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh from 2012 to 2021, having succeeded Robert Duncan who was deposed for abandoning communion with the Episcopal Church as part of the Anglican realignment of disaffected theological conservatives in 2008.
Nicola McNelly is a British Anglican priest. From 2012 to 2017, she was the Provost of St John's Cathedral, Oban in the Scottish Episcopal Church. Since 2017, she has been Rector of St Cuthbert's Episcopal Church, Edinburgh.
Franco Maria Giuseppe Agnesi is an Italian Catholic bishop, Auxiliary Bishop of Milan since 24 May 2014.
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