The Apostolic Chamber (Camera Apostolica) — With the term C.A., which from the beginning of the 11th century prevailed over other similar terms such as fiscus, palatium, arca, saccus, was meant the administrative body of the Roman Church.
The revenues and possessions of the Church were once entrusted to the college of deacons, who in this task were assisted by the colleges of notaries and defensores; but the organization gradually changed as time progressed and in particular when the entire Curia took on a new aspect, as a consequence of the Investiture Controversy and the new tasks it was assuming. When in 1073 Pope Gregory VII was elected—he had been archdeacon—the office of archdeacon ceased without leaving a trace, and instead there appeared that of the camerarius, who managed the C.A. and acquired primary importance in the Curia. Cardinal Cencio de Savelli, who was indeed called camerarius and who later became Pope Honorius III, felt the need to compile in 1192 the Liber Censuum, a kind of ledger in which are listed, province by province, the contributions that ecclesiastical institutions, countries, and individuals were obliged to pay to the C.A. To this list he also added a collection of illustrative documents (ed. P. Fabre and L. Duchesne, Le liber censuum de l'Église Romaine, 2 vols., Paris 1910, with rich notes), which was later expanded. At this point the C.A. was a financial and administrative body that had charge of all affairs, rights, and material interests and the governance of the temporalities of the Roman Church. When, during the 13th century, the cardinals constituted in a college had their own nucleus of goods and revenues, they also had their own C.A., distinct from the C.A., headed by their own camerarius whom the pope chose from among them.
The Camerarius domini papae was the pope’s particular advisor in administrative affairs and was also the keeper of money, precious objects, provisions, and whatever arrived in the storehouses of the Curia; he controlled receipts and expenditures and kept regular records of them. All the lower-ranking personnel attached to the Curia reported to the C.A.: bakers, cellarers, farriers, porters, armed men, guards, and even condottieri with their troops. Also reporting to it were the collectors whom the camerlengo (as the camerarius was commonly called) appointed in individual countries for the collection of tributes owed to the Holy See. The entire management of the papal mint also fell under the jurisdiction of the C.A. When the camerlengo was absent on some mission, the pope appointed a lieutenant or vice-camerlengo to act in his place.
The camerlengo, who at first was a high prelate usually vested with episcopal dignity, was regularly appointed cardinal, and with this promotion did not cease in office; indeed, in the second half of the 15th century it was conferred only upon a cardinal. Such a fact, however, had the consequence of broadening the duties and responsibilities of subordinate officials.
Well understanding that for the good administration of the Church’s temporalities there should be no interruption or periods of uncertainty, Gregory X had established, in the Council of Lyon on 7 July 1272 (Ubi periculum), that the camerlengo should continue in sede vacante to have custody of the C.A. To this disposition was added that of Clement V (Clementines, cap. 2: Ne Romani), by which the office of camerlengo was not to cease with the death of the pope. Pius IV (const. « In eligendis ») established that the cardinal camerlengo, together with the three cardinals heads of orders, should provide for the governance of the conclave and ensure its closure.
The camerarius availed himself in the discharge of his manifold activities of the work of certain clerics, later called clerics of the C.A. Their number, at first not well defined, was fixed at seven by Eugenius IV (const. Inter cetera gravia). Innocent VIII (const. Cum sicut accepimus) and Alexander VI (const. Etsi ex pastoralis) granted them the faculty to judge, even summarily, causes concerning the collection of things and goods belonging to the C.A., and entrusted them with the governance of many cities subject to the temporal dominion of the Holy See and with the faculty to inspect every year all the lands of the Papal State. The last pontifical document concerning the clerics of the C.A. is the const. Ad incrementum decoris of Pius XI, dated 15 Aug. 1931, in which are set forth: their appointment and taking possession, their functions, and their privileges.
The office of vice-camerlengo, having become permanent, enjoyed all the attributions, jurisdictions, and honors proper to the camerlengo, and to it was attributed, at first however not permanently, the governance of Rome; indeed, after Sixtus V, the vice-camerlengo was the ordinary governor of Rome.
In addition to a judicial competence in civil matters, the vice-camerlengo, as governor of Rome, had a very extensive one in criminal matters, to which indeed various pontifical norms referred (const. Etsi pro cunctarum of Leo X, const. Universi agri of Paul V), including preventive police and surveillance functions to maintain public tranquility and prevent crimes: functions which he carried out with a body of sbirri, led by a bargello. Assisting the vice-camerlengo in the exercise of these jurisdictions were a civil lieutenant, two criminal lieutenants, and various other officials. While exercising all these jurisdictions and functions, the vice-camerlengo always participated in the social activity of the C.A.
The camerlengo, who at first entrusted the office of treasurer to a cleric of the C.A., later made such an appointment permanent, and thus the office of
The office of the General Treasurer, whose authority was progressively enlarged by the popes, became indispensable for the administration of the property of the Holy See and for overseeing the sub-collectorships scattered throughout the Catholic world. This office required an authority capable of controlling the receipts and expenditures of funds—that is, the state of the treasury—while maintaining direct contact with the *mercatores Romanum Curiam sequentes*, namely the bankers who served as depositaries and money-changers. The General Treasurer was thus required to render an account every six months to the Apostolic Camera of all money received and spent, and in turn could summon before himself all collectors, sub-collectors, and officials to account for their actions.
Fundamental to the competencies of the General Treasurer of the Apostolic Camera is the constitution *In conferendis praecipuis* of Sixtus V, dated 23 January 1590. According to this constitution, the Treasurer could settle and reconcile disputes concerning ecclesiastical property, revenues, income, goods, and rights pertaining to the Apostolic Camera; and, upon payment, absolve those who had incurred censures or penalties for non-payment. For a time, moreover, under the pontificate of Benedict XIV, the General Treasurer also held the offices of Superintendent of the Papal Customs, Castellan of the fortress of Castel Sant’Angelo, and General Commissioner of the Sea.
Since fiscal operations frequently gave rise to litigation—arising, for example, from disputes between taxpayers and collectors, embezzlement by collectors, refusal to pay, extortion by officials, and protests—the Apostolic Camera itself established a tribunal to adjudicate such matters summarily. This tribunal was presided over by a magistrate known as the General Auditor of the Apostolic Camera, assisted by a Vice-Auditor, and it judged both civil and criminal cases in first instance; appeals lay to the Camerlengo.
The General Auditor of the causes of the Apostolic Camera, already under Innocent VIII (*Constitutio Apprime ad devotionem*), adjudicated cases and could impose ecclesiastical penalties on those who disobeyed apostolic mandates (the personal trial against Lucrezio was conducted before this tribunal) or failed to pay debts (*Constitutio Ad eximia devotionis* of Pius IV). This office was suppressed in 1558, and its functions were entrusted to the Regent of the Apostolic Camera; in 1561, however, Pius IV, by the constitution *Ad eximia devotionis*, restored it, abolishing the short-lived office of Regent.
Other officials of the Apostolic Camera included: the Advocate of the Poor (one of the consistorial advocates), who served as gratuitous defender of the indigent and, by participating in prison inspections, ensured that prisoners were not burdened by judges, executioners, or jailers; the General Commissioner of the Apostolic Camera, charged with intervening in the handling of affairs and overseeing the Camera’s interests; and the Procurator of the Treasury, who was to initiate causes concerning the advantage of the Treasury and act as public prosecutor in criminal cases.
It is readily understood that, to draw up its public acts, the Apostolic Camera included among its members notaries who also served as secretaries and chancellors of the Camera itself.
When the Apostolic Camera, on the eve and morning of the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, assembled in the Chamber of Tribute to receive the tribute of vassal states, the Procurator of the Treasury had the right to protest against those who were delinquent and, before the pope, to deliver a protest oration.
In the judicial sphere, too, the competencies of the Apostolic Camera expanded to the point of forming, with the assembly of all its members, a tribunal known as the Full Apostolic Camera or simply the Camera’s Tribunal. Its jurisdiction extended to causes directly or indirectly concerning the papal treasury, or relating to collections, duties connected with the chapters of contracts, fiscal affairs, or the lapse and caducity of ecclesiastical fiefs. It also heard appeals from the sentences and decrees of the Governor of Rome, the Apostolic Camera, the General Treasurer, and the Clerks of the Apostolic Camera (so called because, among other duties, they presided over or held prefectures of the Annona, the *gratia*, streets, riverbanks, archives, prisons, the mint and stamp office, gold and silver, customs, and commissioners of tribute and the sea). Finally, it judged in third instance cases involving compulsory removals, building regulations, and servitudes. As is evident, the judicial character of this tribunal was distinctly temporal and lay.
Under Pius IX, the Apostolic Camera underwent profound modifications. By the motu proprio of 12 June 1847, he established the Council of Ministers, including among its members the Cardinal Camerlengo as Minister of Commerce, Fine Arts, Industry, and Agriculture.
With the end of the papal temporal power, however, the Apostolic Camera ceased all plenary activity.
At present, the Apostolic Camera consists of the Cardinal Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, the Vice-Camerlengo, the General Treasurer, the General Auditor, a college of eight clerical prelates, and two notaries of the Camera. Its functions are defined in canon 262 of the Code of Canon Law, which refers to the constitution *Vacante Sede Apostolica* of Pius X, dated 25 December 1904, now superseded by the constitution *Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis* of Pius XII (8 December 1945). By this constitution, the Cardinal Camerlengo, during a vacancy of the Apostolic See, has charge and administration of the temporal goods and rights of the Holy See, with the assistance of the cardinal heads of departments. Upon receiving, through the Master of the Apostolic Camera, news of the pope’s death, he must proceed to the Vatican Palace to take possession of it, exercise its government, take possession and exercise government of the Lateran Palace and of Castel Gandolfo, and affix seals to the private apartments of the deceased pontiff, making provision, after consulting the cardinal heads of departments unless the deceased pope had made other arrangements, for the proper preservation of the body. At the beginning of the conclave, the Camerlengo must ensure that all conclavists take the prescribed oath of secrecy and that none communicate with the outside, thereby safeguarding the enclosure of the conclave. The duties of the Clerks of the Apostolic Camera during the conclave pertain to the custody of the various parts of the Vatican Palace, the *Piombo* of the Chancery, the Secretariat of Briefs, and the Dataria.
CAMERIERS SECRETS OF HIS HOLINESS:
See FAMIGLIA PONTIFICIA.