Territorial abbey

A territorial abbey (or territorial abbacy) is a type of particular church within the Roman Catholic Church.

Description

Normally an abbot is the superior of an abbey (a monastery), and exercises authority over a religious family of monks or canons. His authority extends only as far as the monastery's walls, or only to the monks who have taken their vows in his monastery. A territorial abbot - also called an abbot nullius diœceseos, Latin "belonging to no diocese", or abbreviated abbot nullius - functions additionally as the ecclesiastical ordinary for the Catholics and parishes within a defined territory around the monastery, in much the same way a bishop does for a diocese.

History