Vic·ar n.
1. One deputed or authorized to perform the functions of another; a substitute in office; a deputy. [R.]
2. Eng. Eccl. Law The incumbent of an appropriated benefice.
Note: ☞ The distinction between a parson [or rector] and vicar is this: The parson has, for the most part, the whole right to the ecclesiastical dues in his parish; but a vicar has generally an appropriator over him, entitled to the best part of the profits, to whom he is in fact perpetual curate with a standing salary.
Apostolic vicar, or Vicar apostolic. R. C. Ch. (a) A bishop to whom the Roman pontiff delegates a portion of his jurisdiction. (b) Any ecclesiastic acting under a papal brief, commissioned to exercise episcopal authority. (c) A titular bishop in a country where there is no episcopal see, or where the succession has been interrupted.
Vicar forane.
Vicar-general. (a) Ch. of Eng. The deputy of the Archbishop of Canterbury or York, in whose court the bishops of the province are confirmed. --Encyc. Brit. (b) R. C. Ch. An assistant to a bishop in the discharge of his official functions.
Vicar of Jesus Christ R. C. Ch., the pope as representing Christ on earth.
◄ ►
vicar apostolic
n : a titular Roman Catholic bishop in a non-Catholic area