A church dictionary

by Walter Farquhar Hook

Thus, by a constitution of Archbishop Langton, bishops shall be careful to reside in their cathedrals, on some of the greater feasts, and at least in some part of Lent, as they shall see to be expedient for the welfare of their souls.—Lynd. 130.

And by a constitution of Otho: What is incumbent upon the venerable fathers, the archbishops and bishops, by their office to be done, their name of dignity, which is that of bishop (episcopus) or superintendent, evidently expresseth. For it properly concerns them (according to the gospel expression) to watch over their flock by night. And since they ought to be a pattern by which they who are subject to them ought to reform themselves, which cannot be done unless they show them an example, we exhort them in the Lord, and admonish them, that, residing at their cathedral churches, they celebrate proper masses on the principal feast days, and in Lent, and in Advent. And they shall go about their dioceses at proper seasons, correcting and reforming the churches, consecrating and sowing the word of life in the Lord’s field. For the better performance of all which they shall twice in the year, to wit, in Advent and in Lent, cause to be read unto them the profession which they made at their consecration.—Athon, 55.

And by a constitution of Othobon: Although bishops know themselves bound, as well by Divine as ecclesiastical precepts, to personal residence with the flock of God committed to them, yet because there are some who do not seem to attend hereunto, therefore we, pursuing the monition of Otho the legate, do earnestly exhort them in the Lord, and admonish them in virtue of their holy obedience, and under attestation of the Divine judgments, that, out of care to their flock, and for the solace of the churches espoused to them, they be duly present, especially on solemn days, in Lent and in Advent, unless their absence on such days shall be required for just cause by their superiors.—Athon, 118.

Canon 42. “Every dean, master, or warden, or chief governor of any cathedral or collegiate church, shall be resident in the same fourscore and ten days conjunctim or divisim in every year at the least, and then shall continue there in preaching the word of God, and keeping good hospitality, except he shall be otherwise let with weighty and urgent causes, to be approved by the bishop of the diocese, or in any other lawful sort dispensed with.”

“To be approved by the bishop.”—By the ancient canon law, personal attendance on the bishop, or study in the university, was a just cause of non-residence; and as such, notwithstanding the non-residence, entitled them to all profits, except quotidians.—Gibson, 172.

Canon 44. “No prebendaries nor canons in cathedral or collegiate churches, having one or more benefices with cure, (and not being residentiaries in the same cathedral or collegiate churches,) shall, under colour of their said prebends, absent themselves from their benefices with cure above the space of one month in the year, unless it be for some urgent cause, and certain time to be allowed by the bishop of the diocese. And such of the said canons and prebendaries, as by the ordinances of the cathedral or collegiate churches do stand bound to be resident in the same, shall so among themselves sort and proportion the times of the year, concerning residence to be kept in the said churches, as that some of them always shall be personally resident there; and all those who be, or shall be, residentiaries in any cathedral or collegiate church, shall, after the days of their residency appointed by their local statutes or custom expired, presently repair to their benefices, or some one of them, or to some other charge where the law requireth their presence, there to discharge their duties according to the laws in that case provided. And the bishop of the diocese shall see the same to be duly performed and put in execution.”

So that, besides the general laws directing the residence of other clergymen, these dignitaries have another law peculiar to themselves, namely, the local statutes of their respective foundations, the validity of which local statutes this canon supposeth and affirmeth. And with respect to the new foundations in particular, the act of parliament of the 6 Anne, c. 21, enacteth, that their local statutes shall be in force, so far as they are not contrary to the constitution of the Church of England, or the laws of the land. This canon is undoubtedly a part of the constitution of the Church; so that if the canon interfereth in any respect with the said local statutes, the canon is to be preferred, and the local statutes to be in force only so far forth as they are modified and regulated by the canon.

There doth not appear to be any difference, either by the ecclesiastical or temporal laws of this kingdom, between the case of a rector and of a vicar concerning residence; except only that the vicar is sworn to reside, (with a proviso, unless he shall be otherwise dispensed withal by his diocesan,) and the rector is not sworn. And the reason of this difference was this: in the Council of Lateran, held under Alexander III., and in another Lateran council held under Innocent III., there were very strict canons made against pluralities: by the first of these councils, pluralities are restrained, and every person admitted ad ecclesiam, vel ecclesiasticum ministerium, is bound to reside there, and personally serve the cure; by the second of these councils, if any person, having one benefice with cure of souls, accepts of a second, his first is declared void ipso jure. These canons were received in England, and are still part of our ecclesiastical law. At the first appearance of these canons, there was no doubt made but they obliged all rectors; for they, according to the language of the law, had churches in title, and had beneficium ecclesiasticum: and of such the canons spoke. But vicars did not then look upon themselves to be bound by these canons, for they, as the gloss upon the decretals speaks, had not ecclesiam quoad titulum; and the text of the law describes them not as having benefices, but as bound personis et ecclesiis deservire; that is, as assistant to the rector in his church.

Upon this notion practice was founded and prevailed in England, which eluded the canons made against pluralities. A man beneficed in one church could not accept another, without avoiding the first; but a man possessed of a benefice could accept a vicarage under the rector in another church, for that was no benefice in law, and therefore not within the letter of the canon, which forbids any man holding two benefices.

The way then of taking a second living in fraud of the canon was this: a friend was presented, who took the institution, and had the church quoad titulum: as soon as he was possessed, he constituted the person vicar for whose benefit he took the living, and by consent of the diocesan allotted the whole profit of the living for the vicar’s portion, except a small matter reserved to himself.