Curatus

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A cleric who is responsible for the spiritual care of a congregation
2. an ecclesiastical position involving oversight of religious duties and community engagement
3. a title denoting a priest who assists a senior clergyman in a parish or church setting

Etymology: "Curatus" is Latin for "one who takes care of" or "guardian," from "curare," "to take care of," which itself comes from "cura," "care." The Latin noun was used in a general sense of a person entrusted with the care or management of something, and it eventually became a term for a clergyman with responsibility for the care of souls. In English, "curate" first appears in the sense of a clergyman who had the cure of souls, meaning a parish priest responsible for pastoral care. Over time, the title came to describe the assistant clergyman who works under a rector or vicar, while the senior priest held the formal responsibility for the parish. This is the sense the word carries today. The same Latin root gives English "cure," which originally meant care or spiritual charge before it came to mean healing a disease. A curate, in other words, is named for the same care that was once the sense of "cure."

Synonyms: curate, priest, clergyman, minister, pastor