Sebastian Gebhard Messmer

“ Administrator.—The term Administrator in its general sense signifies a person who administers some common affairs, for a longer or shorter period, not in his own name or in virtue of the ordinary jurisdiction attached to a certain office, but in the name and by the authority of a superior officer by whom he is delegated. ”

“ Among these parish administrators may be classed the so-called perpetual or permanent curates of parishes which are under the jurisdiction of some convent or monastery, and of which the rector or curate is appointed not by the bishop of the diocese, but by the superior of such convent. The case is far more frequent in Europe than in America. The charge of the parish is considered to be with the monastery, and the curate is merely the administrator of the parish for the convent. ”

“ The Holy See having supreme jurisdiction over all institutions within the Church, may appoint administrators for any ecclesiastical institution, according to its own judgment, without recourse or appeal against its action. ”