Papal legate

A Papal Legate -from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus- is a personal representative of the Pope to the nations, or rather to some part of the universal church. He is empowered on the matters of unity of the catholic faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters.

Related Topics:
Legatus - Pope - Catholic faith - Ecclesiastical

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The legate is appointed directly by the Pope (head of the universal Catholic church), hence a legate is usually sent to a government, a sovereign or to a large body of believers (such as a national church) or to take charge of a major religious effort, such as a crusade to the Holy Land, or even against a heresy such as the Cathars). The authority of the Pope to appoint and choose the legates has been contested several times during the history.

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• The term legation is applied both to a legate's mandate and to the territory it concerned with (such as a state, an ecclesiastical province). The relevant adjective is legatine.

There are several ranks of papal legates, some existed in different times:

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• Apostolic legate
 
Papal legate: Legatus a Latere ►