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Encyclopedia of Religion entry forAbbessA designation of the superior of a community of nuns. The Abbess corresponds to the Abbot (q.v.), but the office is not so ancient. It was probably instituted in the time of Pope Gregory the Great (c. 591). Generally, only a professed nun could be elected, and the Council of Trent fixed the age at not less than forty years, at least eight years of which must have been spent in a convent. Like the Abbot, she has the ring, staff, and abbatial cross. Sometimes she commands the obedience of the monks of a related monastery (e.g. in the order of the Brigittines and of Fontevrault). She often possessed, under the ordinary, ecclesiastical patronage; but she could not choose confessors, dismiss a nun, etc. See Cath. Dict. citations: Encyc. of Rel., Canney
article created 2006-04-12 , last updated 2006-04-12 |
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