Abbé

It is also the title used for lower-ranking Catholic clergy in France who are not members of religious orders.

[2] A concordat between Pope Leo X and King François I of France (1516)[3] gave the monarchs of France the right to nominate 255 commendatory abbots (abbés commendataires) for almost all French abbeys, who received income from a monastery without needing to render service, creating, in essence, a sinecure.

[2] Their clothes consisted of black or dark violet robes with a small collar, and they were tonsured.

[4] Since such abbés only rarely commanded an abbey, they often worked in upper-class families as tutors, spiritual directors, etc.

[4] Clerical oblates and seminarians of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest also have the honorific title of abbé.