plebanus

Plebanus is a Latin ecclesiastical term that historically designated the priest of a parish in the Latin Church. The word is derived from the Latin suffix -anus added to plebs, meaning the people or the parish community, and is often rendered in English as "parish priest" or "pastor." In medieval and early modern Latin usage, a plebanus was the cleric entrusted with the spiritual care of a defined territorial unit, the parish, and with related duties such as celebrating the liturgy, administering the sacraments, and supervising church property and tithes. The precise status of a plebanus could vary by region and era: in some jurisdictions he was a legally distinct office, sometimes tied to patronage or endowment, while in others the role overlapped with that of the parochus or pastor.

Over time, many regions adopted the term parochus or pastor as the standard designation for the parish priest, and plebanus fell into more limited or historical use. Today, plebanus is mainly encountered in historical texts, Latin dictionaries, and scholarly discussions of church administration in earlier periods. In contemporary Catholic usage, the everyday designation is parochus (parish priest) or pastor, with plebanus appearing primarily for textual or antiquarian contexts. See also parochus; pastor.