CATHEDRAL
440
CATHEDRAL
in a certain sense, be said to be its first parish priest
were it not that this title implies jurisdiction of an in-
ferior kind and confined to a portion of the diocesan
territory. Moreover, the bishop does not personally
and immediately exercise the duties of the parochial
cure of souls (euro anirnarvm). Originally, the cathe-
dral was the only parish church for the entire diocese,
and later, after the establishment of rural parishes,
for the episcopal city. In Christian antiquity it was
only in large cities like Rome that certain ministerial
functions were habitually discharged in presbyterial
churches; these iituli or "titles", however, were al-
ways dependent on the bishop (see Parish, Cardi-
nal). But in a general way, the division of cities
into distinct and independent parishes does not date
beyond the eleventh century (M. Lupi, He parochis
ante annum millesimum, 1788). Once this division
was made it was quite natural that the cathedral
should retain as parish territory the district immedi-
ately surrounding it. Indeed, there are very few
cathedrals that are not at the same time parish
churches, although in this regard the law prescribes
nothing. The cure of souls does not, then, devolve
on the bishop, but on the chapter, which exercises it
through a vicar chosen either from its own number or
from outside. A chapel in the cathedral church is
frequently set apart for parochial ministrations, this
custom being very general in Spain and Italy. But
the ancient Christian discipline has not entirely disap-
peared, and it is interesting to observe how. in many
places, certain ceremonies are reserved to the cathe-
dral, especially the administration of baptism. In
Florence, Siena, Pisa, and other cities, the parish
churches have no baptismal fonts, and all children,
unless in urgent cases, must be baptized in the cathe-
dral, or, rather, in the baptistery. It is to be noted
that the revenues, accounts, and administration of
the cathedral parish are entirely distinct from those
of the cathedral as such. As the principal church of
the diocese and the residence of the chief pastor, the
cathedral is pre-eminent among all the other churches
of the diocese — no matter what their privileges in
other respects — even over those that may have re-
ceived from Rome the title of minor basilica; hence it
is that the clergy of the cathedral church when walk-
ing in large processions take precedence of those of
all the other churches of the city and diocese, collegi-
ate churches included.
Canonists compare to a spiritual marriage the union of a bishop with his church, and although this expres- sion may be truer with respect to the Church as under- stood in the moral sense than to the cathedral, it is nevertheless not inappropriate. They say that the bishop should love his cathedral, adorn and embellish it. and never neglect it. Metaphors apart, the bishop receives his cathedral as his "title" (titulus) or right; he is its governor (rector) and its head. He should take possession of it by a solemn entrance into his episcopal city and by the ceremony of enthronement (inthrnnisatio) as prescribed in the Roman Pontifical andthe "Caeremoniale Episcoporum" (I.e. ii) in so far, at least . as custom will permit . Except when the visi- tation of his diocese or some other just cause necessi- tates his absence, he should reside near his cathedral, attend services there, pontificate (i. e. perform the more solemn services) on the days specified in the above-mentioned "Caeremoniale Episcoporum", preach and teach Divine truth, and find there a last resting-place. Theoretically, the diocesan clergy are
the clergy of the cathedral delegated by i lie bishop to minister in his stead to the distant members of his flock. Hence the clergy of the diocese should feel at home in their cathedral and in its sanctuary find by right their place whenever occasion arises. There is much, indeed, to bind the diocesan clergy to their mother church, since it is there that the general ordi- nations regularly take place, that by Tridentine law
the thcolooolis should expound the Holy Scripture for
the benefit of all the clergy (Cone. Trid., Sess. V. c. i.
de ref.), and that the seminarians participate in the
services of the Church feasts and learn the ecclesias-
tical ceremonies (Sess. XXIII, c. xviii, de ref.). In
order that all the clergy may, in a way, belong to the
cathedral, the obligation is imposed upon them of
celebrating the two feasts proper to the cathedral, its
patronal feast and the anniversary of its dedication,
just as they would observe these feasts for their own
particular churches. The patronal feast of the cathe-
dral, i. e. the commemoration of the religious mys-
tery or the saint for whom it has been named — or
indeed of its two patrons, if it have two, a-que princi-
pales — must be duly solemnized as a first-class double
with octave, the regular clergy only being dispensed
from the octave. Although the observance of the an-
niversary of the dedication is also of obligation for all
the clergy, there is this difference: the priests of the
episcopal city celebrate it as a second-class double
with octave, white only those regulars who reside in
the episcopal city are obliged to celebrate it, and they
observe it as a second-class double without octave
(General Decree of 9 July, 1895, in Decret. authent.
S. Cong. Rit.. n. 3863).
A cathedral cannot subsist without resources, i. e. without temporal possessions. Canonically speaking, these are provided by the establishment of a fund (dotatio) for the support of the cathedral. Strictly speaking, the latter should not be established unless sufficient resources are assured for the performance of Divine worship and the maintenance of the cathe- dral clergy (III, tit. 48, de eccles. Eedificandis vel reparandis) . The same law applies to all other churches. In the thirteenth century, when the de- cretal legislation arose, the endowment of a church, benefice, or monastery was not conceivable except by an allotment of land, whose fruits or revenues con- stituted the necessary means of support for the in-' stitution or persons in question. To-day such en- dowment, when not maintained by the State or municipality, is in the form of personal estate and is seldom adequate, so that both cathedral and parochial churches depend largely on the annual contributions of the faithful. The repairs, renovation, and rebuild- ing of cathedrals are the object of many decisions of the Sacred Congregation of the Council. The cathe- dral property either belongs to the Church in full right or is claimed by the State, the municipality, etc. In the first case the cost of the repairs falls principally on the bishop, but not on him alone. First, the income of the Fabrica, i.e. the funds destined to the support of the edifice, like the Fabbrica of St. Peter's or the Opera at Siena and elsewhere, is used to defray these expenses; second, the episcopal revenue properly speaking (mensa episcopalis) is drawn upon, i. e. when it is large enough to suffer a drain without undue in- convenience to the bishop; third, the canons and other beneficed ecclesiastics of the cathedral are assessed proportionately to the amount of their income; an assessment may then be levied upon the diocesan clergy, and finallv an ecclesiastical tax may be im- posed upon the faithful. When these different means are either impracticable or insufficient, foundations for Masses may be temporarily suspended (Pallottini, op. cit., § I, per totum; Benedict XIV, Inst, eccl., C.)- The aforesaid measures, however, suppose an organization of ecclesiastical benefices which are now about extinct; at present the practical method is an appeal to tin' generosity of the clergy and the faithful.
It may be. however, that the cathedral is held to be property of the State or city, in which case, if either has pledged itself to care for the building, the respon- sibility of the bishop or clergy ensues only in default of the former (Permaneder-Kiedl, Die kirchliche Bau- last, Munich, 1890). The question sometimes arises as to whether the bishop has any claim upon the tern-
