Military ordinariate

History

The Sacred Consistorial Congregation established military vicariates in its 1951 instruction Sollemne semper. The Second Vatican Council (1965) encouraged bishops to establish military vicariates to provide for the spiritual care of Catholics serving within military institutions. The importance of cooperation between a military vicariate and the diocesan bishops was noted at the same time.

Until 1986, they were called "military vicariates" and had a status similar to that of apostolic vicariates, which are headed by a bishop who receives his authority by delegation from the Pope. The apostolic constitution Spirituali militum curae of 21 April 1986 raised their status, declaring that the bishop who heads one of them is an "ordinary", holding authority by virtue of his office, and not by delegation from another person in authority. It likened the military vicariates to dioceses. Each of them is headed by a bishop, who may have the personal rank of archbishop. If the bishop is a diocesan, he is likely to delegate the daily functions to an auxiliary bishop or a lower cleric.

The personal ordinariates for Anglicans entering the Catholic Church announced on 20 October 2009 are similar in some ways to the existing military ordinariates. But the jurisdiction of military ordinariates is cumulative to that of the diocesan bishops.