History
The Book of Common Prayer (1662) of the Church of England refers to the clergy as "bishops and curates" in the text of the prayer of intercession for Holy Communion. It uses the word "curate" in its original sense to refer to all clergy entrusted with a cure of souls.
Originally a bishop would entrust a priest with the "cure of souls" (pastoral ministry) of a parish. When, in medieval Europe, this included the legal freehold of church land in the parish, the parish priest was a "perpetual curate" (curatus perpetuus), an assistant would be a (plain) curate (curatus temporalis). The words perpetuus and temporalis distinguish their appointments but not the length of service, the apparent reference to time is accidental. A curate is appointed by the parish priest and paid from parish funds. A perpetual curate is a priest in charge of a parish who was (usually) appointed and paid by the bishop.
As the church became more embedded into the fabric of feudal Europe, various other titles often supplanted "Curate" for the parish priest. "Rector" was the title given to a priest in possession of the tithe income. This right to the income was known as a "Living". The title of rector comes from regere—"to rule". Those parishes where a monastery had appropriated the rights to the tithe income, a portion of this income was set aside for a priest to occupy the parish, essentially acting on behalf of the monastery, in other words vicariously – hence "vicar". In some cases, a portion of a tithe for a vicar could exceed the income of some rectors, depending on the value of the livings being compared.
In England and Wales, when a new parish was created from a larger rectoral or vicarious parish, the incumbent, or parish priest was sometimes styled as the "perpetual curate". The term "parson" came to be used to refer to all perpetual curates whether or not they received the higher positions of "vicar" or "rector". This led to those perpetual curates who had no higher position preferring to be styled "parson" so as to distinguish themselves from assistant curates. This happened to the extent that the term "curate" came to mean "assistant curate". The British Parliament passed an act in 1868 which authorised all perpetual curates to use the title "vicar". This reinforced the notion that a curate is an assistant parish priest or deacon. Although widely called "curates", however, they are still legally assistant curates. This English usage is used throughout the Anglican Communion and in some English-speaking Roman Catholic churches. The house provided for an assistant curate is sometimes colloquially referred to as a "curatage".
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