ACTA SANCTAE SEDIS

ACTA SANCTAE SEDIS - Monthly periodical, begun in Rome in 1865 by the priest Pietro Avanzini, who was also its first director, under the title of

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 published the text of the most important acts of the Supreme Pontiff and of the various dicasteries of the Roman Curia. Each volume was finally furnished with indexes, and sometimes with appendices that particularly illustrated some of the most important acts or treated interesting questions of canon law. This periodical ceased at the end of 1908, following the foundation of the Acta Apostolicae Sedis (v.): the entire collection therefore consists of 41 vols., in addition to some tomes containing the indexes of each decade, and another, published in 1909 under the care of Msgr. Cesare Pecorari, with the general indexes of the entire collection. It did not possess an official character; but by a rescript of the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide of May 23, 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." Therefore, volumes 37 to 41 are authentic. Pio Ciprotti