A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop himself, although he is also appointed as vicar general. The coadjutor bishop is, however, given authority beyond that ordinarily given to the vicar general, making him co-head of the diocese in all but ceremonial precedence. In modern times, the coadjutor automatically succeeds the diocesan bishop upon the latter's retirement, removal, or death. Catholic Church In the Catholic Church, a coadjutor is a bishop with papal appointment as an immediate collaborator of the diocesan bishop in the governance of a diocese, with authority to substitute for the diocesan bishop in his absence and right to automatic succession to the diocesan see upon death, resignation, or transfer of the incumbent diocesan bishop. The diocesan bishop must appoint the coadjutor as vicar general and must "entrust to him before others" acts that require a special mandate. The coadjutor holds the title of "Coadjutor" of the see, and the coadjutor of an archdiocese has status as an archbishop. In recent years, the Vatican has stopped the former practice of assigning titular sees to coadjutors of dioceses. Some sui juris Eastern Catholic Churches also appoint coadjutors, but the manner of choosing them follows the norm of the particular law of each church for election or appointment of its bishops. Thus, the patriarchal or major archiepiscopal synods of the larger sui juris ritual churches typically elect coadjutors, with papal assent, while the pope typically appoints coadjutors in the smaller sui juris ritual churches personally. The coadjutor of an eparchy, archieparchy, or metropolis has the respective status of an eparch, archieparch, or metropolitan. Particular churches that are not dioceses also may have coadjutors. Perhaps one of the more widely known examples is the appointment of Fernando Arêas Rifan as Coadjutor of the Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney in 2002, less than a year after the reconciliation of the former Priestly Union of Saint John Mary Vianney formed this particular church. In modern church practice, the normal reason for appointment of a coadjutor is to begin an orderly transition with declining health or expected retirement of a diocesan bishop. For example, Bishop Dennis Marion Schnurr of the Diocese of Duluth, Minnesota, was named