Centralised Corporate Polity

A church's polity may describe its ministerial offices or an authority structure between churches.

The government of the congregation is very simple. It consists of the superior general, and four assistants, aided by the procurator general and secretary general.

These several provinces, as well as all the foreign missions, are under the central control of a superior general, who resides in Paris, and who is aided by two assistants and four consultors, all chosen by the general chapter of the congregation.

The head of the entire Congregation is called the Superior General. He has ordinary and proper jurisdiction over all the Provinces, Vice-Provinces, Regional Vicariates, houses, members, and goods of the Congregation.

At the head is the corrector general, who formerly was elected every three years, but since 1605 every six years.

(2) ordinary, as vested in the superior-general elected for life by the general chapter, and assisted by a council of four assistants and a bursar-general, named for a term of years, renewable by the same authority.

The spiritual and temporal government is vested in a superior general assisted by twelve assistants, like him elected for life.

According to this constitution, of which subsequent modifications by decrees of general chapters have been authorized by the Holy See, the congregation is governed by a superior general, always a priest, who is elected for life by the general chapter, and who is aided by four assistant-generals, two of them priests, and two brothers.

Its government is in the hands of general officers and of chapters.

The central authority, residing at Rome, was vested in a master-general, later called commander, a general chapter held each year at Pentecost, and the visitors delegated by the chapter.

Innocent VI, who approved this change (1356), also confirmed the union of their monasteries into one congregation governed by a superior-general and a general chapter.

All offices in the order are elective and continue for three years, except that of general and assistant- generals which are for six years.

These assemblies of the provincials are held every three years for the election of a new general, whose term of office is limited to that period, only one re-election being allowed to each incumbent of the office.

Thus the order became purely Austrian, under the supreme authority of the Emperor of Austria, who reserves the dignity of Grand Master for an archduke of his house.

The first of the fourteen grand masters, who ruled the Order of Montesa until the office was united with the Crown by Philip II in 1587, was Guillermo d'Eril.

Pius V codified the statutes and privileges of the order, but reserved to himself the right to confirm the appointment of the grand master as well as of the beneficiaries (1567).

The Piarists are exempt from episcopal jurisdiction and subject only to the general, who is elected every six years and has four assistants.

To correct this, Bernard de Saint-Romain, the third commander general (1271), codified the decisions of the general chapters.

The administration of the order was carried on somewhat after the pattern of Cluny, that is all monasteries were subject to the Abbey of the Holy Ghost at Sulmona, and these dependent houses were divided into provinces.