Papal legate

The ( Apostolic ) Legat represents as an ambassador of the Holy See the Pope's authority and acts on its behalf. The name derives from the Latin title Legatus ( ex officio send ) from. He preserved medieval royal courts in the interests of the Pope and also spoke of excommunications. Legate could also meet church organizational decisions, for example, set up dioceses and archdioceses.

Honorary title

The Archbishops of Salzburg, Gniezno, Cologne and Prague lead the honorary title of legate born (Latin legatus natus ). They are therefore entitled to the cardinal purple ( but only within their own archdiocese / diocese ) to wear, if they are not cardinals anyway. The Archbishop of Salzburg, however, must - carry the Legatenpurpur anywhere - due to his dignity as Primate Germaniae.

History

The Roman bishops settled since the 4th century by apostolic legate or ambassador with special orders from local and general synods, such as 314, the Synod of Arles, represented. Between the 4th to 8th centuries the popes dispatched legates constant, a so-called apocrisiary, to the imperial court in Constantinople Opel. Every now and then was also used in the Exarchate of Ravenna a legacy that should represent the interests of church and state. In parts of the early modern papal state legates were also used as governor of the papal central authority, provided that these parts of the country had not been given a fief. The best-known example of this are the so-called former papal legations of Bologna, Ferrara and Ravenna, which had been the Pippi niches donation in legitimate possession of Rome.

In addition to the diplomatic legates also Apostolic Vicars were used, which were equipped in special ecclesiastical provinces as a kind of " upper Metropolitan " with extraordinary papal authority. From this later the function of the primate ranked immediately behind the patriarchs developed. Another important role played by the Missionslegaten that have been entrusted to a state area with very specific tasks. These here is Augustine of Canterbury for Anglo-Saxons and Boniface for Germania.

In the 11th and 12th century, the papal legates were elevated to cardinals and added to the College of Cardinals. This high ecclesiastical rank was an appreciation and underlined the importance of the tasks, but it also led by the powers that the legate tion states, according to canon law, to conflict. The embassy beings saw its first heyday in the 16th century, Pope Gregory XIII. (1572-1585) had to enforce the reforms agreed by the Council of Trent (1545-1563) used permanent legates, who worked as liaisons to the Curia in addition to their diplomatic assignments. It originated Nunciatures with fixed seat and intended to be permanent, the first facilities were in Venice, Vienna, Cologne, Graz and Lucerne. The papal Nuncios sometimes developed a momentum of its own so high that they outvoted the Metropolitan partially. As is known, originated by the Gallican, the Febronianism, Emser punctuation and the Munich Nunciature of dispute in 1785. At the 1815 Congress of Vienna, held the papal Nuncios were equal footing with the government and diplomatic ambassadors.

After the Second Vatikanischem Council

On the basis of the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, Pope Paul VI. (1963-1978) define the tasks and the service of the papal legate to the papal bull Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum of 21 November 1964. The special thing is that now also qualified laymen can be used in papal missions.