General Curia

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The General Curia (also generalate , general house , generalate house ) is the seat of the general government and the central administrative seat of a religious order or a comparable institute of consecrated or apostolic life in the Roman Catholic Church . In the General House resides usually the superior general or the superior general with their closest associates and assistants, including the Vicar General or the Vicar-General (Deputy General or the General's). The generalates of most institutes of pontifical law have their seat in Rome .

Typical administrative offices in religious communities, the owners of which mostly work and often live in the generalate, include general secretary (office management of the curia and general assistance), general procurator (authorized representative of the order at the Holy See ) and those responsible for the Finances of the order (usually called general economist, general cellarer or general administrator); also sometimes the order's own vice-postulators (if the order conducts beatification or canonization processes for members or donors).

Usually there is a convent or community in the Generalate House. The meetings of the General Council , which acts as an advisory and co-decision-making body in the governance of the Order, often take place in the Curia. The members of the General Council (sometimes also called General Assistants) do not necessarily have to belong to the Curia Convention. Also, the superior general does not necessarily have to be the superior of the generalate convention . Rather, this office is often provided by another member of the convention or community, so that the former is free to carry out the duties of the order's leadership. If the religious community is divided into provinces , the members of the generalate convention are usually members of the province in which the convent is located.