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• vicar-general
  vicar-general

  noun

  a priest deputized by a bishop to assist him in the administration of a diocese.
• vicar general
  vicar general

  noun

  an official, usually a layman, appointed to assist the bishop of a diocese in discharging his administrative or judicial duties

vicar-general

American  

[vik-er-jen-er-uhl] / ˈvɪk ərˈdʒɛn ər əl /

noun

• vicars-general
  plural

1. Roman Catholic Church. a priest deputized by a bishop to assist him in the administration of a diocese.

2. Church of England. an ecclesiastical officer, usually a layperson, who assists a bishop or an archbishop in the discharge of his judicial or administrative duties.

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vicar general British  

noun

1. an official, usually a layman, appointed to assist the bishop of a diocese in discharging his administrative or judicial duties

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• vicar-generalship
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• vicars-general
  plural

Etymology

Origin of vicar-general

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vicar-general vicar general vicars-general

Monsignor Stephen Doktorczyk, vicar-general for the Diocese of Orange, said McElroy’s leadership skills have been impressive.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 22, 2022

The project has personal significance for the Rev. Alex Karloutsos, longtime vicar-general for the archdiocese.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 8, 2021

Rossi was for years the vicar-general to DiNardo, the Catholic archbishop of Galveston-Houston and president of the U.S. bishops conference who has been leading the U.S. hierarchy’s response to the sexual abuse scandal.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 21, 2019

John F. Donovan, vicar-general of the Maryknoll Fathers last week, looking back over Bishop Walsh's long career.

From Time Magazine Archive

In the preamble, the father vicar-general declares that they who were to guide others in the way of perfection should first travel it themselves, doing virtuous works that they might teach others.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 30 of 55 Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century, Volume XXX, 1640 by Antonio Alvarez de Abreu

The Rev. James Anguiano, moderator of the Curia and vicar general of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, delivered a homily in Spanish and English.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2024

Police attacked the protesters, among whom were some priests, said a clerical official, Eugine H. Pereira, the vicar general of the archdiocese.

From Reuters ● Nov. 28, 2022

Added Monsignor Stephen Doktorczyk, vicar general for the Diocese of Orange, California: “There’s a saying that God works through the sacraments, but he is not limited to the sacraments.”

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 16, 2022

Salvatore Genchi, the vicar general of Catania, as he held a copy of the ban in his office behind the city’s basilica.

From New York Times ● Oct. 16, 2021

Francis, having received the resignation of his vicar general, on his return from his visitations, deferred the choice of his successor till the assembly of the chapter which was held on Whitsunday.

From The Life and Legends of Saint Francis of Assisi by Father Candide Chalippe

One evening Gaston de Nueil was seated between a dowager and one of the vicars-general of the diocese, in a gray-paneled drawing-room, floored with large white tiles.

From The Deserted Woman by Ellen Marriage

These changed feelings and this welcome were due to the two vicars-general and to old Grossetete.

From The Village Rector by Katharine Prescott Wormeley

I spent a few days in a provincial town, where, in the absence of the bishop, I passed my evenings with three clergymen, his vicars-general, persons who would have done honor to any church.

From The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 03 (of 12) by Edmund Burke

Formerly Brazil constituted an ecclesiastical province under the metropolitan jurisdiction of an archbishop residing at Bahia, with 11 suffragan bishops, 12 vicars-general and about 2000 curates.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 4 "Bradford, William" to "Brequigny, Louis" by Various

His lordship, the bishop, condescended to wish the joy of it, and intrusted me with the design he had formed of honoring the assembly of his vicars-general, by making him our colleague.

From The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints January, February, March by Alban Butler