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In the pre-Reformation church, a parson is the priest of an independent parish church, that is, a parish church not under the control of a larger ecclesiastical or monastic organization. The term is similar to rector and is in contrast to a vicar, a cleric whose revenue is usually, at least partially, appropriated by a larger organization. Today the term is normally used for some parish clergy of non-Roman Catholic churches, in particular in the Anglican tradition in which a parson is the incumbent of a parochial benefice: a parish priest or a rector; in this sense a parson can be compared with a vicar. The title ''parson'' can be applied to clergy from certain other Protestant denominations. A parson is often housed in a church-owned home known as a parsonage.〔Anthony Jennings, ''The Old Rectory: The History of the English Parsonage'', Continuum, 2009; ISBN 978-0-8264-2658-1〕 ==Anglicanism== William Blackstone's ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'' says that a ''parson'' is a parish priest with the fullest legal rights to the parish properties: :A parson, ''persona ecclesiae'', is one that has full possession of all the rights of a parochial church. He is called parson, ''persona'', because by his person the church, which is an invisible body, is represented; and he is in himself a body corporate, in order to protect and defend the rights of the church (which he personates) by a perpetual succession. He is sometimes called the rector, or governor, of the church: but the appellation of parson, (however it may be depreciated by familiar, clownish, and indiscriminate use) is the most legal, most beneficial, and most honorable title that a parish priest can enjoy; because such a one, (Sir Edward Coke observes) and he only, is said ''vicem seu personam ecclesiae gerere'' ("to carry out the business of the church in person") :: — Bl. Comm. I.11.V, p. *372 Legally, parish priests are separately given spiritual and temporal jurisdiction (they are instituted and inducted). The spiritual responsibility is termed the ''cure of souls'', and one holding such a cure is a curate, which was also given to parish assistants, or assistant curates. The title ''parson'', however, refers to the temporal jurisdiction over the churches and glebe. Depending on how the tithes were apportioned, a parson may be a rector or a vicar. A parish priest who received no tithes was legally a ''perpetual curate'' (to distinguish him from assistant curates). However, historically, many perpetual curates, as they were technically parsons (having temporal jurisdiction), preferred to use this latter title. This led to the term ''parson'' having three senses. It could refer to any clergyman who was in charge of the parish church (rectors, vicars or perpetual curates) without distinction; it could, through actual use, refer simply to perpetual curates, or it could, through popular use, refer to any member of the clergy, even assistant curates. An Act of Parliament in 1868, changed the way that parochial clergy were paid, and permitted perpetual curates to be called vicars. This led to the rapid abandonment of the title ''parson'' in favour of ''vicar'', to the extent that now, as previously for parson, the term ''vicar'' is often used for any cleric of the Church of England. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Parson」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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