Plurality of Vicars General?

Against the background of the appointment of "the second" vicars general in a Czech diocese and a Moravian archdiocese, the text briefly deals with the history of the institution of vicar general as well as the difference of its current model in the Code of Canon Law from that in the past. It analyses the connection between the possibility of appointing various episcopal vicars and the possibility of appointing more vicars general. It points out the necessity of the correctly considered interpretation of a  legal text and reaches the conclusion that the appointment of more vicars general in the framework of the current code is possible only in those cases where it is impossible or improper for pastoral reasons to appoint just one episcopal vicar. On the other hand, it is necessary in accordance with the law to appoint an episcopal vicar for the specific administratrative area, defined in terms of territory, persons, or subject matter.

Keywords: Vicar general; Episcopal vicar; Plurality; Code of Canon Law; Interpretation; Moderator of the curia