Quinquennial visitad limina

Aquinquennial visitad limina,or simply anad liminavisit,is the required visit ofCatholicresidential diocesanbishopsand certainprelateswith territorial jurisdiction (such asterritorial abbots) to thethresholds of the[tombs of the]ApostlesPeterandPaul,and to meet thepopeto report on the state of theirdiocesesorprelatures.

It is a formal trip usually made together by all bishops from a single region (viz., anepiscopal conference) to discuss with the pope issues specific to their regions. It is separate from other trips a bishop might make to the Vatican, such as to attend a synod. Thead liminavisit happens every five years, or quinquennially.

Liminais the accusative plural of theLatinnounlimen,meaning literally "a threshold; the head-piece or foot-piece of a doorway," and in atransferred sense,"a house", "dwelling", or "abode." The Latin prepositionadmeans "to", "toward", or "at."

History

In 1585Pope Sixtus Vissued the constitutionRomanus Pontifex,which set forth the norm for visitsad limina.On December 31, 1909,Pope Pius Xstated in aDecree for the Consistorial Congregationthat a bishop needs to deliver an account of the state of his diocese to the pope once every five years, starting in 1911.

The current requirements for thead liminavisit are the subject of canon 399–400 of the1983 Code of Canon Lawand canon 208 of the 1990Code of Canons for the Eastern Churches.

See also

• Glossary of the Catholic Church
• Index of Catholic Church articles

References

• Cárcel Ortí, María Milagros; Cárcel Ortí, Vicente (1990).Historia, Derecho y Diplomática de la visita "ad limina"(in Spanish). Valencia: Conselleria de Cultura, Educació i Ciència.ISBN978-84-7890-086-2.
• Ricciardi Celsi, Francesco (2005).Le relationes ad limina: aspetti della esperienza storica di un istituto canonico(in Italian). Torino: G. Giappichelli.ISBN978-88-348-5558-4.