vicar apostolic

American  

noun

vicars apostolic plural

1. Roman Catholic Church. a titular bishop serving either in a district where no episcopal see has been established, or in one where the succession of bishops has been interrupted.

2. Ecclesiastical History. an archbishop, bishop, or other ecclesiastic to whom the pope delegated a portion of his jurisdiction.

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vicar apostolic British  

noun

1. RC Church a titular bishop having jurisdiction in non-Catholic or missionary countries where the normal hierarchy has not yet been established

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• vicars apostolic
  plural

Etymology

Origin of vicar apostolic

First recorded in 1760–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vicar apostolic

Catholicism's first missionary bishop in 1927, when he was consecrated vicar apostolic of Kongmoon.

From Time Magazine Archive

Most notable recent exile was Bishop Gaetano Mignani, vicar apostolic of Kian in Kiangsi, deported for allowing the publication of two pamphlets exposing the government drive.

From Time Magazine Archive

It became my duty to discuss the question of church property with the papal nuncio and vicar apostolic.

From Autobiography of Andrew Dickson White — Volume 1 by White, Andrew Dickson

Towards the commencement of the year 1844, couriers arrived at Si-wang, a small Christian community, where the vicar apostolic of Mongolia had fixed his episcopal residence. 

From Travels in Tartary, Thibet, and China During the years 1844-5-6. Volume 1 [of 2] by Huc, Evariste Regis

Nobody cares very much, however, except a vicar apostolic, who urgently requests forty or fifty marines or sailors "to protect our persons and our chattels."

From Indiscreet Letters From Peking Being the Notes of an Eye-Witness, Which Set Forth in Some Detail, from Day to Day, the Real Story of the Siege and Sack of a Distressed Capital in 1900—The Year of Great Tribulation by Putnam Weale, B. L. (Bertram Lenox)