Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 4.djvu/649

 CURATOR

571

CURATOR

determines their salary and may remove them from one mission to another. By a particular reply of the Congregation of the Council, 14 August, 186.3, it is e.xpressly provided that this custom, derogatorj' to the common law, shall be observed until the Apostolic See makes other provision.

The bishop can assign to the curate a salary from the income of the church. If the income of the church is not sufficient the parish priest is not to suffer; but according to the common opinion, the bishop, as far as he can, must provide from other sources for the curate. By common law the stole fees (q. v.) belong to the parish priest, therefore the bishop cannot make them part of the salary of the curate. Still, the Council of Trent says that the bishop can assign a salarj^ from the fruits of the benefice, or other- wise provide; hence it seems to some that he might use the stole fees as part of the salary of the curate. The custom of each diocese is a sure guide on this point; in any case, there is always the opportunity of appeal to Rome in a case of more than ordinary diffi- culty. Tlie authority of the curate is gathered from his letter of appointment, the diocesan statutes, and legitimate custom. Its actual limitations may also be gathered from the manuals of canon law most used in the various Catholic countries. As a general rule, curates are not moved without good reason from the churches which they serve; such a reason should be the promotion of the curate, the good of a particular parish, or the general good of the diocese. This latter is fairly comprehensive and gives the bishop a wide discretion. Bishops are advised to act as far as pos- sible, in a manner agreeable to the parish priest or rector.

In England the synods of Westminster provide that in each mi.ssion one priest is appointed to be the first (primux), with the duty of attending to the cure of souls and the administration of the church or con- gregation. Alms given for Masses are the property of each individual priest. Stole fees are not always dealt with in the same way in each mission. It is recommended that a course be followed which is most conducive to lightening the burdens of the mission. Curates ought to inform the head priest as often as they are absent from the presbytery, even for a day; they should not be absent for a Sunday or a Holy Day of obligation without the leave of the bishop or vicar-general, except in case of urgency, in which case the curate, on leaving home, ought as soon as possible to inform the bishop of said urgency, and should leave a suitable priest to supply his place. Curates must not consider that they are freed from work merely because they are not charged with the administration of a mission. It is their duty, under the rector, to help hun by preaching, by hearing confessions, by teaching children the catechism, by visiting the sick and administering to them the sacraments, and by fulfilling .all the other duties of a missionary. Rarely should (-unites take meals elsewhere than in the pres- hj-tery at the common table; much less should this become habitual. In Ireland the synods of May- nooth forbid any curate to incur a debt of over £20; should he tlo so, he is liable to censure. If disputes ari.se between the parish priest and the curate, the matter is to be referred to the bi.shop. and in the meantime the curate is to abide by the decision of the parish priest. Every week the curate is to meet the parish priest in order to receive from him instructions as to the arrangements for the coming week (it is to be noted that in some parts of Ireland the curate resides apart from the parish priest). Absence from the parish, even for one night is to be notifieil to the parish priest; absence for three days is to lie notified to the bishop, .\bsence for five days requires the written permission of the bi.sliop, as does also ab.sence on Sunday or a Holy D.ay of obligation. Certain Other statutes are incorporated in the synods of

Maynooth which apply equally to curates and parish priests. Thus, no person is to be declared excom- municated unless the bishop has given his written authority for such proceedings. Priests are on no account to make personal remarks about their parish- ioners in church. All parochial moneys received are to be entered in a book which Ls kept by the parish priest. Sick priests, before they receive the Sacra- ment of Extreme Unction, are "to hand over to the vicar forane or other responsible priest, the pyx, holy oil vessel, registers, and all other things which pertain to the church; should the priest die, his colleagues are to take the utmost care that all papers, letters, etc. are locked up and so safeguarded from the danger of falling into the hands of unauthorized lay people.

The Second Council of Quebec deals in detail with the ecclesiastical status (rights and duties) of curates in French Canada (see Discipline du Diocese de Que- bec, Quebec, 189.5, pp. 211, 252, and Gignac, Coni- Send. jur. eccl. ad usum Cleri Canad., ibid., 1901, 'e personis, .398 sqq.). In the United States alsoi and in other English-speaking countries, the statutes of various dioceses and the legislation of some prov- incial synods (e. g. Fifth New York, 1886) regulate in similar detail the duties of a curate, e. g. the continu- ous residence that his office calls for (see Reside.ncf., Oblig.itign of) and other statutory priestly obliga- tions. Apropos of the relations between parish priests and their curates, many modern diocesan and provincial synods repeat with insistence the immemo- rial principles that govern the exercise of ecclesiastical authority in all that pertains to the cure of souls (cura animoru/n), viz.: on the part of the parish priest, paternal benevolence and mildness of direction, due recognition of the priestly character of his assistants, equitable distribution of the parochial duties and bur- dens, good example in religious zeal and works, wise counsel of the young and inexperienced, practical guidance in all that pertains to the spiritual and even the temporal welfare of the parish ; on the part of the curate, willing obedience to his superior, due consulta- tion in all matters of importance, filial co-operation, respect for the parLsh priest's office and pricsily repu- tation, a peaceful and even patient attitude when the curate seems wronged, and recourse to the diocesan authority only when charity has exhausted her sug- gestions (.Synod of Miinster, 1897, 147 sqq., in Lauren- tius, op. cit. below, pp. 170-71). Similar advice and suggestions are found in many modern writings on the priesthood (e. g. the works of Cardinals Manning, Gibbons, Vaughan, and those of Mach, Keating, etc.). (See Competency; Congrua; P.\^uish; Pahish Priest; Vicar; Chaplain; Priest.)

Smith, Elements of Ecclesiastical Law (New York. 1SS7); LAURENTIU8, InstitxU. juris eccl. (FreibuFK. 19031, nn. 210-11; Wernz, Jus Decretal. (Rome, 1899), II, nn. 837-39; Bar<;il- UAT, Pralecl. juris can. (24lh ed., Paris, 190S); Boi'ix, De parocho (Paris, 18.55); Helkert, Traite dcs vicainx paroissiaux m Analecia juris ponlif. (1861). 8.-J8 sqq.; De.necbourg, Etude canoniquc sur Ics vicaires paroissiaux (Paris. 1871); Archiv f. kath. Kirchenrecht (1878) XXXIX. .3; (1879). -XLII, 410.— For the office and condition of curates in tiie ('hurch of Eng- land, see Phili.imore. The ^Ecclesiastical ljau?s of the Church of England (London. 1873. 1876); Makower, Constitution of The Church of England (London, 1896); and Cripps. A Practical Treatise on the Law lielating to the Church and Clergy (6th ed., London, 1886).

David Dunford.

Curator (Lat. mrarc), a person legally appointed to administer the [jroperty of another, who is un.ablc to undertake its management himself, owing to age or physical incompetence, boilily or mental. Curators are often confounded with tutors, but they differ in many respects. Tutors are appointed principally for the guardianship of persims, and only .secondarily for the care of property; while curators are deputed mainly and sometimes solely for temporal concerns and only incidentally as guarilians of persons. Be- sides, a tutor is appointed for minors, while a curator