ACTA SANCTAE SEDIS - Monthly periodical, begun in Rome in 1865 by the priest Pietro Avanzini, who was also its first director, under the title
Acta ex iis decerpta quae apud S. Sedem geruntur in compendium opportune redacta et illustrata, changed in 1870 to that of Acta Sanctae Sedis in compendium opportune redacta et illustrata. It reproduced the text of the most important acts of the Supreme Pontiff and of the various dicasteries of the Roman Curia. Each volume was furnished at the end with indexes, and sometimes with appendices that particularly illustrated one of the more important acts or treated interesting questions of canon law. This periodical ceased at the end of 1908, following the founding of the Acta Apostolicae Sedis (v.): the whole collection therefore consists of 41 volumes, in addition to some volumes containing the indexes of each decade, and to another, published in 1909 under the care of Monsignor Cesare Pecorari, with the general indexes of the whole collection. It did not have an official character; but by rescript of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide of 23 May 1904 (published in vol. 37 [1904], p. 4 of the periodical itself), it had been declared, for the future, «authentic and official, for the publication of the acts of the Holy See». The volumes from 37 to 41 are therefore authentic.
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