Canon law experts see the pro-prefect as subordinate to the prefect

A prefect is clearly above a pro-prefect. This is what the emeritus Würzburg canon lawyer Heribert Hallermann writes. It should be noted that “a pro-prefect is neither a prefect nor a co-leading prefect; Rather, he is subordinate to the prefect,” wrote Hallermann on Friday in the online portal of the magazine “Communio”.

On Monday, Pope Francis appointed the religious Simona Brambilla as Prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. She holds one of the highest positions in the Catholic Church.

In addition, Francis elected Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime as pro-prefect of the authority – an office that did not previously exist in this form. The number two person in a Vatican office is actually a secretary.

Model for shared leadership?

Hallermann is now also criticizing this: What the tasks of a pro-prefect are is unclear due to the lack of a legal basis: “What a pro-prefect is, where he is to be classified in the hierarchy of a dicastery and what his exact tasks are are not defined anywhere .” .”

Apart from the Pope, hardly anyone knows what tasks and competencies this office actually includes and how it should be classified in relation to the office of prefect, according to the canon lawyer. We therefore warn against seeing the appointment as a license for diocesan bishops or bishops’ conferences to share leadership. Unlike the Pope, they are bound by canon law and its regulations.