New Advent
 Home   Encyclopedia   Summa   Fathers   Bible   Library 
 A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z 
New Advent
Home > Catholic Encyclopedia > C > Commissariat of the Holy Land

Commissariat of the Holy Land

Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — all for only $19.99...

In the Order of Friars Minor the territory or district assigned to a commissary, whose duty it is to collect alms for the maintenance of the Holy Places in Palestine committed to the care of the Friars Minor; also, in a more restricted sense, the convent where the aforesaid commissary resides. The commissary, who is always a member of the order, receives his appointment by letters patent from the minister general, to whom he is bound to transmit every year a detailed account of the alms received. These aims may not, under any circumstances, without express permission of the Holy See, be applied to other purposes, however pious and meritorious, under grave ecclesiastical penalties. The alms taken up by the bishops at the annual collections for the Holy Land are conveyed to the custos in Jerusalem through the commissary in whose district the dioceses of the bishops are situated. There are at present forty commissariats throughout the Christian world. The most ancient is that of Naples, founded in 1333, when Robert of Anjou redeemed the Holy Places from the Sultan of Egypt. In English-speaking countries there are seven — three in the united States, one in Canada, one in Great Britain, one in Ireland, and one in Australia. The Commissariat of the United States was founded in 1882, and the commissary resides in the new convent of Mount St. Sepulchre, Washington, D.C. In 1902, commissariats were erected in California and at St. Louis.

Sources

Conspectus Omnium Missionum Ord. FF. Minorum exhibitus Capitulo Gererali Romæ habito die 30 Maii, 1903 (Rome, 1903); Regula et Constitutiones Generales Fratr. Minorum (Rome, 1897); several Bulls and Briefs issued at different periods by the Holy See, of which the following are the principal SIXTUS V, Nostri pastoralis (13 Dec., 1589); PAUL V. Cælestis Regis (22 Jan., 1618); URBAN VIII, Alias a felicis (18 June, 1634) in Bull. Rom., XV, 320 sqq.; BENEDICT XIV, Emanarunt nuper (20 Aug., 1743) in Bullar. Benedict. XIV (Prato, 1845), I, 313; Pius VI, Inter cætera (31 July, 1778) in Bull. Rom. Cont. (Turin), VI, pt. I 505; LEO XIII, Salvatoris (26 Dec., 1887). See also S. C. S. Officii (28 June, 1876); S. C. Prop. Fide (20 Feb., 1891) in Collectanea S. C. Prop., n. 1632, 1638.

About this page

APA citation. Cleary, G. (1908). Commissariat of the Holy Land. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04164a.htm

MLA citation. Cleary, Gregory. "Commissariat of the Holy Land." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04164a.htm>.

Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Douglas J. Potter. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.

Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster at newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.

Copyright © 2023 by New Advent LLC. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

CONTACT US | ADVERTISE WITH NEW ADVENT