WordNet
n. the head of a religious order or congregation [syn: general]
Wikipedia
A Superior General or General Superior is the leader or head of a religious institute in the Roman Catholic Church. The Superior General usually holds supreme executive authority in the religious order, while the general chapter has legislative authority.
The figure of Superior General first emerged in the thirteenth century with the development of the centralized government of the Mendicant Orders. The Friars Minor ( Franciscans) organized their community under a Minister General, and the Order of Preachers ( Dominicans) appointed a Master General.
Due to restrictions on women religious, especially the obligation of cloister for nuns, congregations of women were not initially able to organize with their own Superior General. In 1609, Mary Ward was the superior general of a religious institute that imitated the Jesuit model, but the institute was not accepted by the Roman Curia. It was in the nineteenth century that religious congregations of women were able to organize with a General Superior and the role is now very common. Mother Teresa, for example, was the Mother General of the Missionaries of Charity.
In canon law, the generic term Supreme Moderator is used instead of Superior General. Many orders and congregations use their own title for the person who holds this position. Some examples are:
- Abbot general
- Custos-general
- Master general
- Minister General
- Mother General
- Prior General
- Rector general
- General Director / Directress
In many cases there is an intermediate level between the Superior General and the superior of the individual monasteries or of equivalent communities, often named the provincial superior.
Usage examples of "superior general".
As for General Harivarman himself, I've already sent courier relays out to inform the Superior General of my order-inform him of the assassination of the Empress, and the possible implications-and I hope to have some reply from the SG in a few days.
Not without some clear directive from the Superior General himself.
If you tell me as Superior General that you want to attempt an exorcism, and that you want me to communicate with her, I'll do it-but on my own, never, never will I give in to her.
The new Superior General has recommended that I rest, but that's impossible.
He was no longer their Superior General, though he maintained his quarters in the Motherhouse.
Mr Martin and the younger Marine lieutenant, Jackson, who admired him for his good looks, his comparative wealth, and his connections: without mentioning any names he explained to them the difference, as he saw it, between bosun-captains and gentleman-captains, the first being those who paid great attention to mechanical duties, the province of mere mariners, the second being the true soul of the Navy, high-spirited men who left such things to their inferiors, reserving all their energies for a superior general direction and for battle, in which they led their men (who respected, almost worshipped them) incomparably well.