General Council (Canon Law)

In the Roman Catholic Church, the General Council is the name for a high advisory body that supports a church superior or the head of a church association or other church organization in his or her leadership tasks.

The general councils of religious orders , secular institutes , societies of apostolic life , personal prelatures or comparable ecclesiastical divisions, institutes and associations regularly consist of several elected or appointed members who participate in the management of the association and are sometimes also endowed with the right to have a say or to be heard .

Pontifical Mission Societies and certain dicasteries (such as the Pontifical Commission for Latin America ) also have general councils as governing, coordinating and advisory bodies.

The Vatican City General Council is the office of supreme advisor to the government of the Vatican City State on legislative and other matters. The advisors subordinate to him are called councilors of state.

General council in religious orders

The task of the members of the general council of a religious institute, which is always made up of several members, is primarily to support the highest superior ( general superior) in tasks connected with the management of the association. They have in the cases provided for by general law or their own law and whenever the superior general asks to give their advice or their vote.

As a rule, the members of the general council, referred to as general councilors or general assistants, are elected or proposed by the members of the community at the order's chapter . Like that of the Superior General, their office is usually limited in time, but re-election is permitted. In some orders it is customary for the general councilors to live in the generalate during their term of office .

In the meetings of the General Council, which take place several times a year, important matters of the Order are discussed and voted on. The chairperson is the general superior or the deputy head of the institute (vicar general). In some matters (such as the dissolution of a convention or the admission of candidates to profession ) the superior general is bound by the vote of the general council ( collegial principle ), in other cases the general council has a right to be heard, but not a co-determination Voting in the committee is only indicative. The general councilors can also take on more extensive management tasks and accompany or represent their superiors, for example, during visitations.

In larger orders, which are divided into provinces , a so-called extended general council often meets once a year. This discusses the affairs of the order provinces and consists of the general superior , the general councils and the provincial superiors of the various order provinces.

General Councils of the Apostolic Organizations for International Church Cooperation

The Roman Catholic mission agencies are subordinate to the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples , whose task is to spread the faith ( Propaganda Fidei ). Since 1922 the secretary of the Propaganda Congregation (deputy of the Cardinal Prefect ) has also been the general president of all national mission agencies (including missio ), which are grouped into four transnational branches (the actual Pontifical Mission Societies ). Each mission agency has a national director or president and its own general secretariat, to which a general council (delegate) belongs. The General President is assisted by a General Council, which is composed of the country representatives residing in Rome (General Councils) and the directors / presidents of the affiliated national works.

To promote relations with the dioceses of Latin America , many bishops' conferences have their own episcopal commissions, such as the ADVENIAT episcopal campaign in Germany. These national commissions work with the Pontifical Commission for Latin America (CAL), which has close ties with the Latin American Council of Bishops ( CELAM ). For this purpose there is the General Council of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America (COGECAL), which is formed by CAL, CELAM, the Presidents of the National Episcopal Commissions, the President of the International Association of Superiors and the President of the Confederation of Religious of Latin America .

General Council of the Vatican State

In the Constitution of the Vatican State , the General Council ( Consigliere Generale della Città del Vaticano ) is mentioned in Article 13. It is the office of the Pope's supreme adviser on matters of legislation and government in Vatican City . Together with the Councils of State ( Consiglieri di Stato della Città del Vaticano ), at whose meetings he chairs, he advises the Pontifical Government Commission on the drafting of laws and other matters. According to the instructions of the President of the Commission, he can also exercise functions in the coordination and representation of the state. The General Council is appointed by the Pope for five years and is directly responsible to him.