Sacred Roman Congregations

SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS. - Permanent commissions of cardinals for the handling of the affairs of the Church.

I. THE SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS IN GENERAL.

I. HISTORICAL NOTIONS

The task of the supreme pontiff, as bishop of the whole Catholic Church, in the universal government expanded and intensified over the course of the centuries with the growth in the number and importance of the affairs that had to be referred to him.

As regards this organization, it is possible to establish three periods: from the 1st to the 10th century, the period of the presbyterium and of the synods; from the 11th to the 16th century, the period of the consistories; from the 16th century to our own day, the period of the C.

That even during the persecutions the pontiffs, assisted by their presbyterium, made up of all the Roman clergy, took decisions concerning both Rome and even distant Churches, is clearly shown by a letter of St. Cornelius, pope, of 251 to St. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage. Members of the presbyterium were undoubtedly also bishops, priests and deacons who happened to be passing through the City. For affairs of greater importance, and especially when it was a question of condemning an error or of deposing some guilty bishop, the supreme pontiff summoned around himself the neighboring bishops of the Roman province or, depending on circumstances, of other places in Italy or beyond, who could easily communicate with Rome. There was then the Roman synod or council.

Around the year 1000, when the Church was by then carrying on a wonderful activity of pacification and organization internally, followed later by a vigorous expansion externally, the Concistorium D.ni Papae (v. CONCISTORO) came to assume ever greater importance, composed, at least predominantly, of cardinals (v.), which began to assemble periodically. Alongside the consistory there was also established the Auditorium Papae for the handling of causes of lesser importance reserved to prelates. The increased importance of the affairs flowing to the Holy See, especially those of a benefice-related nature (which had become almost innumerable following the reservation of benefices during and after the Avignon period), made the consistory and the chancery unsuitable for dispatching the many and varied matters, for which reason a division of labor and of competence among the various cardinals became necessary, grouped into collegial bodies, for the most part permanent, which were called C.

The first C., that is, a group of cardinals permanently deputed to handle a given matter, was the S. Congregatio Inquisitionis, instituted by Paul III on 21 July 1542 (constitution Licet) for the defense of the faith, so threatened by the Protestant Reformation. Pius IV later entrusted to a group of eight cardinals, later increased to 12, the task of providing for the execution of the Tridentine canons, thus giving life to the C. of the Council. Two others were still created: by St. Pius V that of the Index, and by Gregory XIII that of the Affairs of Bishops. C. of a temporary character with limited authority were created according to special needs, such as that for the Affairs of Germany instituted by Pius V in 1568. But the one who truly created the C. R. organically was Sixtus V, with his constitution Immensa aeterni Dei (Bullarium Romanum, VIII, Turin 1863, pp. 985-99) of 22 Jan. 1588, in which he fixed those master lines that have substantially withstood the centuries. Not for this did Sixtus V abolish or in any way lower the prestige of the consistory, which he himself presided over every Wednesday, but he wished to ensure, by means of a rational division of labor, greater promptness and economy in the handling of matters on the part of specifically competent persons. The C. created or confirmed by Sixtus V were 15: 5 already existed, and these were those of the Inquisition, of the Index, of the Council, of the Affairs of Bishops, and that of the Regulars, created by Sixtus V himself on 17 May 1586; 6 concerned not the general administration of the Church, but that of the Papal State: the C. Navale, of the Roman University or Sapienza, of the Annona or Abundance of the Ecclesiastical State, of the Waters and Roads, for the regulation of taxes, besides the Supreme Tribunal of the Consulta; new, and concerning the government of the Church, were the C. Concistoriale, to which belonged the inquiry into those to be promoted to the episcopate and the High Vigilance over the dioceses, the C. for Rites and Ceremonies, that placed in charge of the Vatican Printing House, and finally the C. for the Segnatura di Grazia (on the constitution Immensa cf. Pastor, X, pp. 181-93).

II. THE MODIFICATIONS INTRODUCED BY THE CIC

With the Sapienti consilio of 29 June 1908 of Pius X, which was reproduced with few modifications by the CIC, the Roman C. have substantially assumed that form which they currently preserve and which can be described generically as follows.

It should be noted first of all that the term "congregation" is used with two different meanings. The first denotes the assembly of the cardinals, which takes place at fixed times and is also called a full or plenary congregation, indeed in ordinary language "plenary" (from the Latin plenaria comitia); the other, of which we intend to speak, denotes the individual dicastery or office with the cardinal prefect and the body of officials attached to it.

The seat of most of the C. has been since 1936 the palace erected for that purpose by Pius XI near S. Maria in Trastevere and S. Callisto, after the transfer from the Cancelleria. There the C. Concistoriale, of the Sacraments, of the Council, of the Rites, of the Religious, of the Seminaries and of the Universities of Studies have their rooms. The C. of Propaganda Fide, on the other hand, continues to reside in the historic palace of piazza di Spagna; the C. of the Eastern Church in the palace of the Convertendi, rebuilt on the via della Conciliazione; the Holy Office in the palace of the same name; finally the S. C. of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs continues to use the premises on the top floor of the Logge in the Vatican. The C. of the Ceremonial is also housed in the Vatican palace.

III. THE PERSONNEL

The personnel of the C. is divided into the two categories of major officials and minor officials. Belonging to the first category are: a) the cardinals, one of whom is prefect or secretary (he is called secretary in the three C., of the Holy Office, Consistorial and for the Eastern Church, because the prefect of those dicasteries is the pope); the others, in general no more than about twenty for each C., of whom about half reside in the Curia, participate and cast their vote in the plenary sessions; b) the secretary (assessor in the three aforementioned C.); c) the undersecretary (in some, the substitute).

The secretary (or respectively the assessor) is the true head of the office, director of the services. To the secretaries or assessors, by decree of the S. C. Cerimoniale of 31 Dec. 1930 (AAS, 33 [1931], p. 22), the title of Most Reverend Excellency was assigned.

Immediately after the secretary comes the undersecretary (substitute in the Consistorial and Eastern C.; with the exception of that of the Rites, which has a character of its own; the S. C. of the Sacraments has two undersecretaries; in the Holy Office, in place of the substitute, there is the father commissary, a Dominican, who has duties of his own). The secretary and the undersecretary (or respectively the assessor and the substitute) are appointed directly by the Holy Father, ordinarily after hearing the cardinal prefect of the C.

Minor officials are: the minutanti or study assistants, personnel of a conceptual grade, all priests (save rare exceptions) who hold a degree in theology or in canon law. According to the Sapienti consilio they should be admitted only following a regular written competition, but sometimes the pope dispenses from such an examination and directly appoints this or that minutante or study assistant (the first designation is adopted by Propaganda, the Eastern, and the C. for Extraordinary Affairs, while all the other C. have study assistants, some of whom are qualified as adjuncts, with duties practically little different from the others), on the proposal of the cardinal prefect with a letter signed by that same cardinal.

When this is required, the activity of the minutanti is usually divided by geographical zones (thus notably at Propaganda, at the Consistorial, at Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, in part also at the Council, Eastern, Seminaries). Where it is not possible to adopt such a criterion, as at the Sacraments, competence is distributed by subject matter. Sometimes the geographical division is subordinated to the subject matter.

There are then the scriptores amanuensis, writers, who see to the transcription of letters and the drafting of rescripts. Archivists are assigned to the preservation and the searching of documents.

The sector of the cash office and of the taxation of the various rescripts and cases is handled by the cashier, by computists, by registrars, predominantly laymen, often called distributors or forwarders. To fix the amount of the tax on the rescript is, however, the task of the study assistant, who must also assign what is due to the agent (v. AGENTI PRESSO LE S. C.), when the case passes through the hands of this solicitor or mandatory, because the majority of bishops use the post directly. Today every C. sends day by day the proceeds collected to the administration of the goods of the Holy See, with the exception of the Holy Office and of Propaganda, which have autonomous administrations. Note, however, that Propaganda conducts every one of its cases "gratis quocunque titulo".

Among the lay personnel there figure furthermore the ushers, assigned to the order of the office, to cleaning, to the delivery of the cases in the C. and outside.

All officials, before taking up service, take an oath of fidelity and of observance of secrecy. Many cases are in fact secret (reserved, sub secreto, etc.); this obligation is greatest in the S. C. Consistorial and in the Holy Office: the violation of the secrecy of the Holy Office entails an excommunication from which only the supreme pontiff can absolve personally.

Although they are not officials of the C., the consultors of the S. C. (v.) carry out a very important task in them. A subspecies of these are the commissaries, members of the commissions instituted, for example, in the S. C. of the Sacraments and the Eastern, especially for the decision or for the defense of the bond in cases of matrimonial dispensation or of Holy Ordination. The commissaries for the decision assemble on fixed dates, three in number, under the presidency of the secretary or assessor, for the reading of their votes and for the relative decision.

The chief aim of the Sapienti consilio was to free the C. from contentious matters, which were assigned to the renewed S. Rota. Nevertheless, for the handling of certain causes, such as, for example, those in which the validity or nullity of a Sacrament such as Ordination and Matrimony is at issue, the consummation or non-consummation of the latter, the strictly judicial or contentious way cannot be applied except with strong restrictions and modifications, which safeguard the preeminent interests of the Sacrament; and therefore even after 1908 some C. — notably the S. C. of the Sacraments, the Holy Office, the S. C. Eastern — must dedicate much of their activity to the conduct of such processes.

The resolution of conflicts of competence among the various dicasteries, which the Sapienti consilio had entrusted to the S. C. Consistorial, today by virtue of can. 245 of the CIC belongs to a cardinalitial commission appointed from time to time by the Holy Father: something that has happened only very rarely.

IV. THE HANDLING OF AFFAIRS

As regards the handling of individual matters, it remains difficult to set out the practice of each individual dicastery in an overall picture, since this varies from Congregation to Congregation, according to the subject matter and the will of the prefect or the secretary.

It may nevertheless be said that obvious questions are dealt with at once by the minute-writer and by a letter or rescript signed by the prefect or even only by the secretary. Those, however, of a certain importance or which exceed the ordinary faculties of the office are referred to the congress, a meeting of the prefect, secretary, undersecretaries and study assistants, which should take place every week: and, after the minute-writer's report and the discussion, a decision is reached. All the graver matters must be referred to the congress, to be dealt with afterwards in the plenary sessions of the cardinals. The positions for the plenary session are all printed and delivered to the cardinals about ten or twenty days before the meeting. The cardinal ponens, however, instead of only the printed matter (which consists of the so-called foglio d'ufficio in Latin or Italian, containing in summary the facts of the case and a brief abstract) also has the complete original. In the plenary session the cardinals sit, presided over by the prefect of the Congregation, according to the order of their precedence, and the ponens reads or pronounces his reasoned vote, and the others do likewise in turn. The secretary records the votes themselves and reports on the discussion in the audience with the Holy Father, to whom the final decision belongs; and the pope, if he sees fit, confirms the decision taken by the cardinals by majority of votes and gives orders that it be carried out. The decisions of the plenary sessions may be admitted to new discussion upon the granting of the beneficium novae audientiae, a new presentation of the case in view of new elements that have emerged: if, however, the decision has been approved by the pope, for such new discussion an express permission of the pope himself is required, which is called "aperitio oris" (v.; cf. also TERMINOLOGIA DELLA CURIA ROMANA).

V. THE POWER OF THE SACRED CONGREGATIONS

As for the power of the Sacred Congregations, and the juridical value of their acts, it may be said that they are in themselves principally administrative and governmental organs, although at times they also perform judicial activities and issue true and proper laws. In promulgating the CIC, Benedict XV, by the motu proprio "Cum iuris" of 15 Sept. 1917, instituted a commission of cardinals for the authentic interpretation of the Code, which, however, before replying in matters of greater importance, must hear the Congregation to which the canon to be interpreted belongs. Benedict XV added: "The Sacred Congregations henceforth shall not issue new general decrees unless some grave necessity of the Church counsels it. Therefore their ordinary office will be to see that the prescriptions of the Code are religiously observed and to issue instructions, should occasion arise, that render the prescriptions of the Code clearer and more effective and appear almost as a commentary on them. Finally, should the good of the universal Church in the course of time require that a general decree be issued by some Congregation that conflicts with the Code, the Supreme Pontiff is to be informed of the discrepancy and, when the decree has been approved, the commission of the Code shall see to replacing or modifying the canons of the Code itself." This modification of the text of the CIC from 1917 to the present has occurred expressly only once, and not through a measure of a Sacred Congregation, but through a pontifical measure (motu proprio 1 Aug. 1948, which abrogated the second sentence of can. 1099 § 2: cf. AAS, 40 [1948], pp. 305-306); but in fact many parts of the CIC itself have in these years been more or less profoundly affected. Since according to can. 244 not only are the resolutions of the Sacred Congregations always approved by the Holy Father, but he must further be informed of any act "grave or extraordinary that the Congregation intends to perform," in fact, the pope in the fullness of his power authorizes, when necessary, the competent Sacred Congregation to legislate, judge and in any case provide within the sphere assigned to it.

Let it be recalled finally that according to can. 7 the Sacred Congregations come under the name of the Apostolic See immediately after the person of the Supreme Pontiff, of whom they are the first and immediate organ.

Vittorio Bartoccetti

II. THE INDIVIDUAL CONGREGATIONS IN PARTICULAR.

I. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS: CONGREGATION OF THE HOLY OFFICE

1. Historical notes

The C. of the Holy Office, until 1908 called the "Holy Roman and Universal Inquisition," was instituted by Paul III with the apostolic constitution Licet ab initio of 21 July 1542.

It must therefore not be confused with the tribunals of the medieval Inquisition (v. INQUISITION), nor with the Spanish Inquisition, which had different specific origins and purposes.

Once the new heresies of Calvin and Luther had arisen, devastating the most flourishing Christian communities of Europe, Pope Paul III judged it impossible to delay the appointment of cardinal commissioners or inquisitors general, who were authorized to proceed against all apostates, heretics, persons suspected of heresy, their accomplices, supporters and followers, even without the intervention of the Ordinaries.

The inquisitors general could appoint a fiscal promoter, notaries, and delegates in the various nations or in individual dioceses. However, neither the cardinal inquisitors nor their delegates could receive abjuration or remit penalties, because this faculty was reserved to the pope.

The cardinal inquisitors could hear on appeal the cases decided in first instance by their delegates, and in that case absolve the guilty from censures and other ecclesiastical penalties. No one was exempt from their jurisdiction, but the sentence against cardinals and major prelates was pronounced by the pope in consistory (constitution of Pius IV of 12 Apr. 1563).

The examination and proscription of books were also entrusted to the inquisitors general, who were authorized by Pius IV, with the motu proprio "Cum inter crimina" of 27 Aug. 1564, to read, durante munere, any prohibited book, and to grant the prescribed license to others, but only by a resolution taken in the plenary congregation.

When the C. of the Index was instituted by Pius V in 1571 (v. below: Suppressed C.), the examination and proscription only of books infected with heresy were reserved to the inquisitors general. The Inquisition was the subject of many constitutions on the part of Pius IV and Pius V, who extended its competence, but it received a definitive organization, together with the C. of the Index, from Sixtus V, with the constitution Immensa aeterni Dei of 22 Jan. 1588.

Pius X, with the Sapienti consilio of 29 June 1908, suppressed the C. of Indulgences and attributed its entire competence to the Holy Office; he then reserved to the C. of the Council matters concerning the observance of the precepts of the Church, to the Consistorial [C.] the election of bishops, to the S. C. of Religious the dispensation from vows made in religious Orders or Congregations, to the S. C. of the Sacraments the legislation concerning the discipline of the Sacraments, except what refers to the Pauline privilege and to the dispensation from the impediments of mixed religion and disparity of worship.

Benedict XV, with the motu proprio "Alloquentes" of 25 March 1917, attributed to the S. Penitentiary the competence concerning the granting and use of indulgences, leaving only questions of a doctrinal nature to the Holy Office, to which the C. of the Index was annexed as a simple section. The CIC has modified neither its composition nor its competence.

At present the Holy Office is the first C. R. by reason of the importance of the questions it treats and decides: the appellation of Supreme, however, appears for the first time in the Annuario pontificio of 1927.

2. Personnel

The C. of the Holy Office consists of certain cardinals, inquisitors general, who meet in plenary assembly every Wednesday, under the presidency of the cardinal secretary: the prefecture is reserved to the pope (can. 247 § 1).

Immediately after comes the assessor, a prelate of rank equal to the secretaries of the other dicasteries. In former times the assessor was a secular priest, canonist counselor of the father commissary general.

Head of the investigative section of criminal cases is the father commissary, of the Order of Preachers, assisted by two companions (v. COMMISSARY).

The assessor and the commissary are major officials (Ordo Servandus, etc., c. VII, 1st), the others minor.

However, the assessor and the commissary, the fiscal advocate, since 1920 called promoter of justice, and the first companion of the father commissary take part in the particular congregation of Saturday, together with the cardinal secretary; they are appointed by the Holy Father, by letter of the Secretariat of State: therefore they too could be numbered among the major officials.

Of the consultors, some are such by reason of their office, such as the master general of the Preachers and the master of the Sacred Palace; the others are appointed by the Holy Father, who chooses them from among the most celebrated theologians and canonists residing in Rome. They gather every Monday under the presidency of the assessor, and, in his absence, of the father commissary or of the first companion.

The appointment of the qualificators, consultors for the examination and proscription of books, is also reserved to the Holy Father. The officials are the substitute of the Index, two sommists, the notary and the substitute notaries. There are finally the advocate of the accused, the defender of the Bond, the master of the house, economist of the C. and of the Palace, an archivist, two protocolists and some writers.

3. Competence

The Holy Office has exclusive competence concerning doctrine that regards Faith and morals and the validity of the Sacraments.

It judges and punishes heresy and all crimes that refer to it directly or indirectly, such as adherence to the Masonic sect and to the other societies condemned by the Church, and remits the related penalties. Reserved to it are the examination and proscription of books, the granting of permission to read prohibited ones, and the issuance of norms and instructions in this regard.

It judges, in a single instance or as a tribunal of appeal, priests and religious accused of solicitation (v.) in confession or of having committed acts of lust against nature or upon a person under the age of puberty, or of adherence to a non-Catholic sect; it handles cases pertaining to the Pauline privilege and to mixed marriages, and in general every matrimonial case in which one of the parties is non-Catholic; likewise only the Holy Office can authorize a non-Catholic to stand trial before the tribunals of the Church. Questions and cases concerning the nullity of Holy Ordination for substantial defect in the rite are referred to it (can. 1993 § 1).

Only the Holy Office can dispense from the impediments of mixed religion and disparity of worship, from the irregularities sanctioned in can. 985 nos. 1, 2 and 3 (marriage attempted by a cleric or a religious before the civil registrar), from the impediment referred to in can. 987 no. 1; it can absolve from excommunications reserved specialissimo modo to the Holy See, except that sanctioned in can. 2367, and remit the penalties inflicted in cann. 2335-36 (enrollment in the Masonic sect and the other condemned societies), 2363 (calumnious denunciation of a priest for solicitation in confession), 2371 (simony), 2372 (ordination received from an apostate, heretical or schismatic bishop), 2388 § 1 (attempted marriage on the part of a religious or priest before a civil registrar) and 2399 (simony concerning benefices, offices or ecclesiastical dignities), if the simony is of divine right.

Finally, exclusive competence is attributed to the Holy Office concerning the eucharistic fast of priests, whether secular or regular, in relation to the celebration of Holy Mass.

The competence of the Holy Office has no limits of territory or of persons, except for the cardinals withdrawn from its jurisdiction by Sixtus V in the constitution Immensa aeterni Dei; therefore religious too are judged by the Holy Office, and in first instance not by their own superiors but by the Ordinary of the place, excluding the vicar general.

The inquisitors and officials of the Holy Office are bound to observe the strictest secrecy on all questions that are treated in the sacred tribunal.

Arturo De Jorio

II. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS: CONCISTORIAL CONGREGATION

1. Origins and development

Among the Congregations established ex novo by the constitution Immensa of Sixtus V of 22 January 1588, there was the Congregatio pro Erezione Ecclesiarum et Provisionibus Consistorialibus, to which was assigned, by importance, the third place, immediately after the Congregations of the Inquisition and of the Segnatura di grazia, of which the pope was prefect. The name of this new Congregation was abbreviated to that of Congregatio Rebus Consistorialibus Praeposita, while awaiting the simpler one of Congregatio Consistorialis, which was to remain its name.

Already from the 12th century the Holy See had reserved to itself the examination and decision of the erection of dioceses, until then left to the initiative and discretionary power of the bishops of the provinces concerned. Later, from the 14th century, the popes reserved to themselves the provision for the promotion of bishops under the threefold form of free appointment, confirmation of capitular election, or canonical institution following presentation.

Both the erection of dioceses and the appointment of bishops naturally entered into the attributions of the consistory, together with the other causae consistoriales, that is, those most important both from the administrative and from the judicial side.

Sixtus V, in creating the Consistorial Congregation, had proposed to give the consistory a technical council or an organ specifically qualified on the matters to be treated, and without modifying the previous attributions he declared: «In consistorio secreto iuxta formam in hanc diem servatam proponantur». The new Congregation, however, was soon to undergo modifications of no negligible importance.

Innocent XI (1676-89), with the aim of providing in particular for the dioceses of Italy, established the Congregation for the election of bishops, assigning to it his auditor as secretary. This new Congregation in turn underwent various modifications and was subsequently reconfirmed by Benedict XIV (constitution Ad Apostolicae servitutis, 17 October 1740) and by Leo XIII (constitution Immortalis memoriae, 21 September 1878), to take later, in 1900, the title of Commissio Cardinalitia de eligendis Episcopis Italiae.

While the provision of residential sees in Italy remained in fact committed to the auditorate, that of the residential sees abroad, outside the mission territories, at the beginning of the 19th century, was entrusted to the Congregation of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs (Pius VII, 18 June 1814).

Pius X, by motu proprio of 17 December 1903, in order to unify the discipline of the appointment of residential bishops in Italy, suppressed the cardinalitial commission de eligendis Episcopis Italiae, together with the ancient Congregation for the Examination of Bishops, established by Clement VIII in 1592; and their respective competences were attributed to the Congregation of the Holy Office.

There followed the reform of the Roman Curia, carried out by the constitution Sapienti consilio, of 29 June 1908, of the same pontiff Pius X. Until that time the competence over bishops, in places placed under the common law, was distributed among the Consistorial Congregation, for the appointment of titular bishops, the Holy Office for the appointment of residential bishops in Italy, and the Congregations of Bishops and Regulars and of the Council, which had cumulative competence over the diocesan government of bishops (the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars had arisen, at least from the beginning of the 17th century, from the fusion of the Sacred Congregation on the Consultation of Bishops and the Sacred Congregation on the Consultation of Regulars, established respectively by Pius V with a brief of 13 February 1572, and by Sixtus V with a brief of 17 May 1586; it seems, however, that the first of these two already existed under Gregory XIII).

The necessity and usefulness of reuniting the various branches of the ancient trunk was felt. The reform of Pius X provided for this. The CIC did nothing but preserve, apart from some particular, the figure so well defined by the Sapienti consilio.

2. Competence

The present competence of the Consistorial Congregation is identical in substance to its original one in its twofold object: bishops and dioceses (CIC, can. 248). However, whereas formerly the Consistorial Congregation performed only the preparatory and executive acts for episcopal appointments, and once the appointment was made the bishops passed under the competence of the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars and that of the Council, now instead the Consistorial Congregation has personal and complete jurisdiction over bishops, prepares the acts of provision, chooses the candidates and proposes them to the Holy Father for approval and appointment, follows the activity of the bishops, exercises vigilance and tutelage over the government of their dioceses and over the economic state of the episcopal mensas, examines the diocesan reports submitted by them to the Holy See every five years, and grants them the quinquennial faculties. This holds, however, only for the Latin dioceses of common law.

It also appoints, with the approval of the Holy Father, coadjutors, auxiliaries, apostolic administrators, apostolic visitors, as well as particular Ordinaries, such as the Military Ordinary.

As regards dioceses, including prelatures and abbeys nullius, the competence concerns the erection, union, division, suppression of dioceses, the rectification of diocesan boundaries, the establishment of cathedral or collegiate chapters and other measures pertaining to the constitution, conservation and state of dioceses. But it has come to be notably broadened as regards extent, since in recent times not a few territories, formerly dependent on the Congregation of Propaganda Fide, have been subjected to the common law and therefore to the Consistorial Congregation.

When, however, for the appointment of residential bishops, of coadjutors with the right of succession, of military and palatine Ordinaries, and for the erection of dioceses in places where the common law is in force, it is necessary to treat with civil governments, by diplomatic means, in accordance with concordats or conventions, the competence belongs to the Congregation of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, while the drafting of the executive acts and jurisdiction over diocesan government remain with the Consistorial Congregation.

Besides dioceses, the apostolic delegations existing in the territories subject to it (Great Britain, United States, Canada, Mexico and the Philippines) depend directly on the Consistorial Congregation.

Another task pertaining to it is that of preparing the acts for the secret consistory: a task that has now become secondary, given that by now only the publication or preconization of the new appointments of bishops approved beforehand takes place in it; and, in order to preserve in part the ancient tradition, the simple proclamation of the appointments already approved and published after the previous consistory is also given there. Accordingly the Consistorial Congregation prepares, also for the other Congregations concerned, the lists of these promotions, together with the note of the postulations of the sacred pallia. It also sends out the invitation to the bishops for participation in the semi-public consistory and in the solemn ceremony of the canonization of saints.

Finally it provides for the spiritual assistance of emigrants, insofar as this falls indirectly within diocesan government, and for the discipline concerning the emigrant clergy (motu proprio of Pius X, Cum omnes, of 15 August 1912).

It should then be recalled that the section of Seminaries, formerly united to it, was separated from it and erected into an independent Congregation together with that of Studies, by the motu proprio of Benedict XV Seminariorum clericorum, of 4 November 1915.

The faculty then, attributed to it by the Sapienti consilio, of settling controversies or doubts of competence among the dicasteries of the Roman Curia, is assigned by the CIC (can. 245) to a cardinalitial commission, to be designated, case by case, by the pontiff, as has already been said.

3. Constitution

The Consistorial Congregation preserves the constitution fixed by the Sapienti consilio.

It has as prefect the supreme pontiff; as immediate superior a cardinal with the title of secretary; as members several cardinals, among whom by right are the cardinal secretary of the Holy Office, the cardinal prefect of the C. of Seminaries and Universities of Studies, and the cardinal Secretary of State.

The major officials, who assist the cardinal secretary, are the assessor and the substitute.

The assessor pro tempore is, as before, secretary of the Sacred College and, during the conclave, exercises the functions of Secretary of State and of secretary of the conclave (const. Vacantis Apostolicae Sedis of Pius XII, 8 Dec. 1945, n. 19; const. Sapienti consilio, I, 2, 6). He is also by right a consultor of the C. of Seminaries and Universities of Studies.

Besides the major officials, there are the minor officials, assigned to the sections and offices; finally there is a college of consultors, among whom are consultors by birth the assessor of the Holy Office, the secretary of the C. of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs and the secretary of the C. of Seminaries and Universities of Studies.

All those who belong to it are bound, by oath, in addition to the common secrecy, to the particular secrecy called that of the Holy Office, in all that concerns the appointment of bishops and of the other Ordinaries, as well as the erection or union of dioceses. The secrecy is perpetual and holds also toward persons belonging to the same C. and bound by the same secrecy, but not habitually resident in Rome.

The same perpetual secrecy is imposed by the C. on the ecclesiastics whom it approaches for information on candidates to the episcopate.

4. Procedure

The form of procedure, at present, is only administrative, never judicial. It varies according to the importance of the affairs. For the more important ones, such as the provision of sees, whether residential or titular, and the erection of dioceses, the relevant processes and acts are first of all prepared.

The ancient canonical process, in external form, on the promovendi, has no longer been in use since 3 Nov. 1908 and was expressly abolished, also for abroad, by the consistorial decree of 29 Feb. 1924: it is replaced by the secret and careful inquiry, carried out by the C. directly and, abroad, through the nuncios and apostolic delegates, which better guarantees the secrecy, security and reliability of the information. The examination of the promovendi is likewise abolished, from the same date of 3 Nov. 1908.

Once the preliminary investigation is completed, the discussion takes place in a general or plenary C., in which the cardinals belonging to the dicastery participate; when the question concerns at the same time another C., in particular that of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, proceedings are held in agreement and, when necessary, in mixed plenary session.

Affairs of ordinary importance are for the most part dealt with in the congress of the officials, headed by the cardinal secretary, and are decided by the same cardinal, by virtue of the habitual faculties that belong to the C.

All the deliberations of the general C., like the matters which are given effect ex audientia Sanctissimi, are referred for approval to the Holy Father by the cardinal secretary in the customary weekly audience.

Vincenzo Santoro

III. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS: CONGREGATION FOR THE EASTERN CHURCH

1. Historical notes

The origins of this C. are indistinguishable, until 1862, from those of the S. C. of Propaganda Fide. In fact, to the C. that he founded in 1573, under the name Congregatio de Rebus Graecorum, Gregory XIII entrusted the task of maintaining and propagating the Catholic faith among the Christians of the East. Clement VIII (1592-1605), broadening the scope of this C., entrusted to it, under the name Congregatio super Negotiis Fidei et Religionis Catholicae, the care of propagating the faith, also in the Latin 1.7.2. Finally, with the apostolic letter Inscrutabili of 22 June 1622, Gregory XV erected the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, to which was entrusted the care of all Catholic missions, both in the East and in the West.

The particular needs of the Churches of the East led Urban VIII to establish, within the same general C. of Propaganda Fide, two commissions or, as they were then called, C.: one Super dubiis Orientalium (1627), and another Super correctione Euchologii Graecorum (1636), which became, in 1717, by order of Clement XI, a stable and distinct C., Super correctione Librorum Orientalium. Because of the multiplication of Oriental affairs, which demanded every day more special care and specific knowledge, Pius IX, with the const. Romani Pontifices of 6 Jan. 1862, instituted within the same C. of Propaganda Fide a special C. with the title Congregatio de Propaganda Fide pro Negotiis Ritus Orientalis, presided over by the prefect of the C. of Propaganda Fide himself, but with its own secretary, distinct consultors, officials and archive. With the motu proprio "Dei providentis" of 1 May 1917 (AAS, 9 [1917], pp. 529-31), Benedict XV, welcoming a desire expressed several times by Oriental dignitaries, and wishing to give to the Orientals a new sign of the Holy See's benevolence toward them, made this C. independent, creating the new Congregatio pro Ecclesia Orientali, of which he reserved the prefecture to himself and his successors.

On 20 June 1925, Pius XI constituted within this C. a special Commissio pro Russia (AAS, 18 [1926], p. 62), which, on 6 Apr. 1930, was made independent (AAS, 22 [1930], pp. 153-54), then, on 21 Dec. 1934 (AAS, 27 [1935], pp. 65-67), was annexed to the C. for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, with competence limited to the faithful of the Latin rite dwelling in Russia.

At the C. for the Oriental Church a special commission, instituted by rescripts of audience of 24 March and 5 May 1928, deals with matrimonial cases, and another (audience of 8 Feb. 1930) with liturgical matters.

2. Competence

In accordance with can. 257 §§ 1 and 2 of the CIC, "all affairs, of whatever kind, concerning the persons, the discipline and the rites of the Oriental Churches, including mixed affairs, that is, those which, by reason of their object or the persons involved, concern the Latins as well, are reserved to this C." Consequently, this C., with regard to the Churches of the Oriental rite, has all the faculties that the other C. have for the Churches of the Latin rite, without prejudice however to the right of the C. of the Holy Office, in accordance with can. 247ᵃ. The competence of the C. for the Oriental Church is personal, inasmuch as it extends to all the faithful ascribed to an Oriental rite, wherever they may be; it is also territorial, inasmuch as it is exercised in the regions in which a hierarchy of the Oriental rite is constituted. From its competence there must be excluded, besides what falls within the competence of the S. C. of the Holy Office, the attributions of the S. C. of Seminaries and Universities of Studies which concern the athenaea, faculties and universities (Pius XI, const. Deus scientiarum Dominus, 24 May 1931, art. 4 ff., in AAS, 23 [1931], p. 248), as also the competence proper to the tribunal of the S. Penitentiary, both for the internal forum (reply of 26 July 1930, in AAS, 22 [1930], p. 394) and for the use of indulgences (notification 21 July 1935, in AAS, 27 [1935], p. 379).

To this S. C. there seems to be attributable — unlike the other C., in general, after the publication of the new CIC (cf. the motu proprio of Benedict XV, Cum iuris canonici, of 15 Sept. 1917, n. 2) — a true legislative power. It certainly possesses, besides administrative power, judicial power as well (can. 257 § 3).

With the motu proprio of Pius XI, Sancta Dei Ecclesia, of 25 March 1938 (AAS, 30 [1938], pp. 154-159), in order to unify the regime and the work of the apostolate in all the countries of the East, full and exclusive jurisdiction was granted to the S. C. for the Oriental Church over all the faithful, hierarchies, works, institutions and pious societies, whether of the Latin or the Oriental rite, in the following regions: Egypt and the Sinai peninsula, Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, southern Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, the Dodecanese, Iràn, Iràn, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Transjordan, Asiatic Turkey and Turkish Thrace. The S. C. for the Oriental Church, with regard to the Latins dependent on it by virtue of the aforementioned motu proprio "Sancta Dei Ecclesia", obtains and exercises those powers that the S. C. of Propaganda Fide had and exercised over them before.

IV. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS: CONGREGATION OF THE DISCIPLINE OF THE SACRAMENTS

This dicastery holds the first place after those presided over personally by the Supreme Pontiff, and it was created ex novo by the constitution Sapienti consilio of 29 June 1908.

The CIC (can. 249) confirms almost without modification the competence assigned to the S. C. in 1908.

As its title indicates, it deals with matters concerning the administration and the protection of the Sacraments, except for what falls within the competence of the Holy Office, for questions of faith and for what concerns the Pauline privilege and mixed marriages, as well as of the S. C. of Rites as regards sacramental ceremonies.

Before 1908 the matters with which the S. C. deals belonged for the most part to the S. C. of the Council and also to the Dataria and the Penitentiary.

In reality the greater part of its activity revolves around Matrimony. One office of it (precisely the III) handles dispensations from matrimonial impediments, which are very frequent, especially for consanguinity and affinity; whereas before 1908 such dispensations were granted to the well-off by the Apostolic Dataria and to the poor by the Apostolic Penitentiary.

The same office also deals with the convalidations and sanations in root of marriages initially null because of some impediment or defect of form, with the legitimation of offspring, and in general with whatever concerns marriage to be contracted.

Extremely busy, especially in these last years, is office II, which studies and resolves the cases relating to the dispensation of ratum non consummatum marriages.

The diocesan curias of the entire Catholic world (except only those of the Oriental rites, which come under the Congregation of the same name) must, before opening an investigation into such cases, obtain the faculty from the S. C., to which they then transmit for decision the acts of the relevant process. In order to be able to study such causes, which are conducted in administrative form and without the intervention of advocates, given their growing number, the S. C., after issuing the extensive instruction Catholica doctrina of 7 May 1923 (AAS, 15 [1923], p. 389 ff.), created special commissions of consultors which meet frequently to decide whether or not it is appropriate to propose to the Holy Father the granting of the dispensation in individual cases. Some of these causes are decided in the plenary session of the cardinals, which is ordinarily held every month.

It belongs, moreover, solely and personally to the Supreme Pontiff, after a report by the cardinal prefect of the C. or the secretary, to grant or not grant the dispensation, by which, in virtue of his ministerial power, he dissolves ab extrinseco those marriages which in themselves would be intrinsece indissoluble.

Other cases handled by office II are cases of the presumed death of a spouse, of separation, etc.

In 1939 a special office of vigilance and statistics on the matrimonial tribunals of the entire Latin Church was created within the S. C. It is the task of this office, directed by an undersecretary, to ensure that in the tribunals which handle cases of nullity of marriage the norms of the instruction Provida of 15 Aug. 1936 (AAS, 28 [1936], pp. 313-61) are observed and that the rights of the Sacrament are justly protected. Special vigilance is exercised over the regional tribunals of Italy created by the motu proprio "Qua Cura" of 8 Dec. 1938 (AAS, 30 [1938], pp. 410-13), as well as over the observance of the instruction Sacrosanctum of 29 June 1941 (AAS, 33 [1941], pp. 297-318) concerning the procedures to be carried out before the celebration of marriages and the keeping of parish books, with the aim of eliminating as far as possible the celebration of null marriages.

The first office deals with all the remaining Sacraments except Matrimony. In the first place the work of this office is absorbed by what concerns holy ordinations, on which the instruction Quam ingens was issued on 27 Dec. 1930 (AAS, 23 [1931], pp. 120-29) concerning the diligence to be observed before admitting clerics to Orders, with the obligation of special interrogations or scrutinies.

Furthermore the office deals with dispensations from the age prescribed for the priesthood, from the other moral or physical impediments to Orders, etc. The same office decides the cases of nullity of ordinations or of the related obligations, after the processes in that regard, authorized from time to time by the S. C., have been conducted in the individual diocesan curias, according to the Regulae Servandae imposed by the decree of 9 June 1931 (AAS, 23 [1931], pp. 457-92).

A broad field for the first office is then whatever refers to the Holy Mass with the faculties of binating or trinating, of celebrating at unusual hours or at sea, in the home, and therefore the granting of private oratories for priests and for laypeople. There follows the Eucharistic worship, on which the instruction Nullo unquam was issued on 26 May 1938 (AAS, 30 [1938], pp. 198-207), De sanctissima Eucharistia sedulo custodienda, with the principal aim of eliminating the danger of profanations of the Most Holy Sacrament; when these occur, the bishops are obliged to report to the S. C. for the ascertainment of any responsibilities and the adoption of appropriate measures.

Numerous are the dispensations from the Eucharistic fast for the simple faithful who would not be able, because of illness, to approach Communion (not for priests celebrating Holy Mass, for in that case the competence belongs to the Holy Office, nor for religious men or women, for whom their own C. provides).

As regards the discipline of the other Sacraments, the occasions for intervention are rarer, but even for them there is no lack of notable documents, such as the very recent decree Spiritus Sancti munera of 14 Sept. 1946 (AAS, 38 [1946], pp. 349-58), by which, with a bold innovation, the faculty of conferring the sacrament of Confirmation was granted to all parish priests, when the diocesan bishop cannot conveniently be had, for infants and adults in danger of death.

As for the personnel of the S. C., it is governed by a cardinal prefect; it then has a secretary and, unlike all the others, two undersecretaries, one of whom deals principally with administration and the other, assigned to the office of vigilance over the tribunals, with whatever concerns marriage. Particularly high is the number of consultors and commissioners of this C.

V. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS: CONGREGATION OF THE COUNCIL

1. Origin and principal vicissitudes

It was instituted by Pius IV with the motu proprio «Alias nos», 2 Aug. 1564, for the purpose of giving effect to the decrees of the Council of Trent, which had happily concluded on 4 Dec. 1563: whence the name of C. of the Council. Its original origin goes back to 30 Dec. 1563, when Pius IV appointed a special cardinalitial commission with the task of providing for the prompt and exact execution of the conciliar decrees; this commission was then confirmed and erected into a true and stable dicastery by the aforementioned motu proprio «Alias nos». Shortly afterwards, Pius IV also granted to the C. the faculty of interpreting the disciplinary decrees of the Council of Trent; and St. Pius V confirmed and enlarged this faculty, further granting it special attributions for the settlement of causes and controversies concerning the interpretation and application of the conciliar decrees. All this obtained full confirmation and approval from Gregory XIII. Sixtus V, with the constitution Immensa, 22 Jan. 1588, confirmed the C., determining its competence more exactly, attributing to it other faculties, and designated it with the title: Congregatio pro executione et interpretatione Concilii Tridentini.

Closely connected with the C. of the Council were four other C., which may rightly be called almost appendages of it, namely: 1) the S. Congregatio super residentia Episcoporum, instituted by Urban VIII (constitution Episcoporum officium, 8 Feb. 1634), brought back into force and furnished with special faculties by Benedict XIV (constitution Ad universae, 3 Sept. 1746); 2) the S. Congregatio iurisdictionis et immunitatis ecclesiasticae, instituted as a true C. by Urban VIII in 1620, vivae vocis oraculo, which, after various vicissitudes, was provisionally united by Leo XIII to the S. C. of the Council; 3) the S. Congregatio super statu Ecclesiarum, erected by Benedict XIV (constitution Decet, 23 Nov. 1740); 4) the S. Congregatio super revisionem synodorum provincialium, created as a particular C. by Pius IX on 1-3 June 1849, vivae vocis oraculo.

With the constitution Sapienti consilio, 29 June 1908, with which Pius X reformed the Roman Curia, the S. C. of the Council also came out entirely transformed, retaining the name as a simple historical memory. To it Pius X united the S. C. Lauretana, erected by Innocent XII (constitution Sacrosancta Redemptionis, 10 Aug. 1698) for the custody and administration of the patrimony belonging to the Holy House and the Basilica, furnishing it with very ample faculties, including contentious and criminal jurisdiction. The CIC reproduces almost to the letter and fully confirms the reform of Pius X; it makes no mention, however, of the C. Lauretana, which today no longer exists.

2. Constitution

From the very beginning it was composed of a determined number of cardinals, appointed directly by the pope. One of them directed the proper functioning of the dicastery, presided over the meetings and reported on them to the supreme pontiff; only later did he receive the title of prefect.

The C. had a secretary and several officials for the dispatch of business. Once the sphere of competence was enlarged and the number of causes increased, a very well-ordered organization came into being. Even before the reform of Pius X, special mention is deserved by the auditor, the defender of the bond, the theologian and the canonist, charged with giving their opinion in matrimonial causes and in those concerning sacred ordination and religious profession.

According to the constitution Sapienti consilio, this C. consists of several cardinals appointed by the pope, one of whom, immediately designated by the pontiff, serves as prefect. The ordinary functioning of the dicastery is entrusted to the secretary, assisted by the undersecretary, who are major officials. Then come the minor officials, that is, the study assistants, the writers, the protocolist, the cashier, etc. There is also a college of consultors, appointed by the pope, who give their vote or opinion. The CIC has introduced no modification on this point.

3. Competence

Various epochs must necessarily be distinguished. At first, as was said, the C. was charged with overseeing the practical execution of the disciplinary decrees of the Council of Trent. Then it was also charged with examining the decrees of provincial councils, the reports on the state of the dioceses that the bishops presented to the Holy See on the occasion of the ad limina visit, and with responding to their various requests and questions, and with watching over the discipline of the clergy and of the Christian people. Since the conciliar decrees touched almost the whole of ecclesiastical discipline, it soon had to occupy itself with the rights and duties of bishops, parish priests, capitulars, benefices, ecclesiastical goods, the alms of Masses, matrimonial causes and several others, granting opportune dispensations, indults and privileges. Therefore the power of this C. was interpretative, gracious, administrative and judicial. Pius X radically modified this dicastery, and the CIC in can. 250 reproduces in substance the Pian reform.

Its competence regards only the Latin Church, excluding places dependent on the C. of Propaganda Fide. It embraces in general everything that relates to the discipline of the secular clergy and of the Christian people. In particular, moreover, it must oversee the exact observance of the precepts of the Christian life; regulate what pertains to parish priests, canons and other beneficiaries, to confraternities and pious associations of any kind (even if they depend on religious or are erected in their churches), to pious legacies, pious causes, stipends of Masses, ecclesiastical goods (except those belonging to seminaries and episcopal mensas), to benefices and minor offices, to diocesan tributes, to the fees of episcopal curias, etc. It can dispense from the various canonical laws; exempt from the conditions required for the provision of benefices, when the conferral belongs to the Ordinary; admit to composition the unjust holders of ecclesiastical goods, even those belonging to religious; permit the faithful to acquire ecclesiastical goods usurped by the civil authority. Furthermore, it is competent concerning ecclesiastical immunity and precedence, without prejudice to the right of the C. of Religious and of the Ceremonial C.; concerning the celebration and recognition of councils and episcopal conferences; concerning the handling of causes pertaining to the various matters of its own competence, but only in an administrative or disciplinary way. To this C. are annexed two special offices, namely the catechetical and the administrative.

4. Procedure

Before the reform of Pius X, the C. of the Council used to handle affairs in two ways: per summaria precum and in folio. The expression per summaria precum means that the petition presented to the C. was summarized and set out in a brief compendium. The expression in folio meant that the secretary drew up a careful written report of the cause or question proposed, in order to submit it to the examination and discussion of the cardinals. The first method was used for affairs of lesser importance, the second for matters of greater consequence and particular gravity. The distinction goes back to 1649, when the practice began of drafting the official report, that is, the "sheet," which was very brief and was not customarily printed. From 1679 the said report began to be drawn up in a fuller and more careful manner, and to be printed. Moreover, the same causes in folio were handled and decided iuris ordine servato or else ex officio, that is, œconomice, according to the greater or lesser importance and according to the will of the parties. The principal documents concerning the special procedure of this C. are: 1) the decree Ut debitus, 9 Aug. 1693, of Innocent XII; 2) the edict Non si debba, 17 Sept. 1695, of the same Innocent XII; 3) the regulation of 6 Sept. 1831; 4) the instruction of the C. of the Council of 22 Aug. 1840 for matrimonial causes; 5) the instruction of the same C. of 17 Sept. 1847, republished with few and slight modifications in 1884.

According to the discipline currently in force, the C. handles affairs of lesser importance in the congresso and those more important and difficult in the plenaria. The congresso is made up of the prefect, secretary and undersecretary, and the study assistants also take part in it in order to report on the various cases entrusted to them. The plenaria is made up of the cardinals, who have a deliberative vote, and they decide by an absolute majority of votes.

Important is the official publication, that is, one made ex officio by the secretary, which bears the title: Thesaurus resolutionum S. Congr. Concilii. It consists of 167 volumes, from 1718 to 1908, that is, up to the publication of the official commentary of the Holy See, namely the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.

Felice Maria Cappello

VI. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS: CONGREGATION OF RELIGIOUS

It is the central organ of the Holy See for the direction of religious throughout the world.

1. History

On the models of Congregations already erected by previous popes, Sixtus V, with the motu proprio "Romanus Pontifex" of 27 May 1586, created the S. C. for the Consultations of Regulars (A. Bizzarri, op. cit. in bibl., p. xxiv). With subsequent decrees (among them one of 13 June 1586) he defined its constitution and competence more precisely, until on 22 Jan. 1588 with the bull Immensa he completed the work, establishing, in the definitive organization of the Curia, also the C. on the Consultations of Regulars (§ Nec sane minus), and declared it competent in all questions concerning the religious state throughout the world (Bull. Taur., VIII [1944] p. 985).

The C. was, at the beginning, distinct from that called "of the Consultations of Bishops," but after various vicissitudes, in 1601 the two C. found themselves, under Clement VIII, united into a single one named the S. C. of Bishops and Regulars, which came to have a very vast competence, and remained alive until the reform of Pius X. To promote particular reforms in the religious orders, ever more numerous, the popes succeeding Sixtus V created, within the Curia, other organisms, which at times came to have the same competence as the C. of Bishops and Regulars, with evident conflicts of competence and of speed in the solution of questions. In fact Innocent X, with the bull Instaurandae of 15 Oct. 1652 (Bull. Taur., XV [1853] p. 696), constituted a new C. of cardinals, under the title "S. C. concerning the state of Regulars," with the task of reforming all the religious orders of Italy according to the decrees of Urban VIII, especially by the suppression of small convents. The C. was confirmed by Clement IX with the bull Iniuncti of 11 Apr. 1668 (Bull. Taur., XVII [1855] p. 657), but Innocent XII with the decree Debitum Pastoralis of 4 Aug. 1698 suppressed the C. of Innocent X and created another, naming it "S. C. for the Discipline of Regulars," to which he gave every competence over the discipline of all religious orders even outside Italy (Bull. Taur., XX [1857] p. 825). Pius IX, again with the intention of causing the existing religious orders to flourish anew, with the bull Ubi primum arcanum of 17 June 1846 instituted the "S. C. on the state of the Regular Orders" (Acta Pio IX, I, Rome 1854, p. 46). Although often the same prefect and secretary governed the various C. charged with religious discipline, nevertheless the multiplicity and the indeterminacy of competence also with respect to the other C. made a prompt reform necessary in this sector, above all because the religious orders with simple vows had become very numerous in all dioceses, giving rise to new and broader problems of ordering the religious life in its internal and external relations. A first reorganization was carried out by Pius X with the motu proprio "Sacrae Congregationi" of 26 May 1906 (AAS, 39 [1906], pp. 203-204), with which, abolishing the C. of the Discipline of Regulars and that on the state of the Regular Orders, he transferred all their competence to the S. C. of Bishops and Regulars. The definitive arrangement was then completed by the same Pope, together with that of the whole Roman Curia, with the constitution Sapienti consilio of 29 June 1908 (AAS, 1 [1901], p. 7), with which, separating the competence of the C. of Bishops and Regulars, the part concerning bishops and dioceses was assigned to the S. C. Consistorial and of the Council, while the competence relating to religious orders was attributed to the new S. C. charged with the affairs of Religious. The CIC reproduces the reform of the Sapienti consilio.

2. Competence

It is established by can. 251 § 1: whereby it "has the right to deal, in an exclusive manner, with the government, discipline, studies, goods, privileges of religious of both sexes, whether they have solemn or simple vows, and of those who live in common in the manner of religious, even without public vows, and of secular Third Orders, saving the rights of the S. C. of Propaganda Fide." § 3 of the same canon adds: "Reserved to this S. C. is the granting of dispensations from the common law for religious faithful, saving what is laid down by can. 247 § 5 concerning the dispensation from the eucharistic fast of priests celebrating, which belongs to the Holy Office." According to the canon, therefore, the following categories of persons are subject to the C. of Religious: a) All religious of both sexes, that is, those faithful who emit public vows, whether simple or solemn, temporary or perpetual, of poverty, chastity, obedience in a religious order (v. RELIGIONE). It should immediately be noted that religious are subject to the S. C. both as individuals and as a moral person, whereby it becomes competent also over the novices, postulants and aspirants of a religious order, inasmuch as all these form part of the religious moral person. Persons outside the order to whom the religious order renders its services, e.g., in hospitals, shelters, boarding schools, etc., not forming part of the moral person, are not subject to the S. C.; nevertheless when the places where the religious orders exercise their ministries are private religious property, it cannot be excluded that for certain questions such persons may indirectly enjoy concessions made to the religious orders.

b) Also subject to the S. C. are those faithful who, without having public vows, nevertheless live in common in the manner of religious under the government of a superior, emitting an oath or promise of obedience, poverty, chastity; these are the so-called societies living in common without vows, of which can. 673 speaks. The observations made above are to be applied also to this category of persons.

c) Also the secular Third Orders, that is, those associations of faithful who, living in the world, tend toward a holier life under the direction of a religious Order, following a rule approved by the Church (can. 702), are subject to this C., unlike the other pious unions, confraternities of faithful which depend on the C. of the Council, can. 250 § 2. It is to be observed that the Third Orders are subject as moral persons, since, as individuals, tertiaries remain simple faithful, subject to the various dicasteries of the Roman Curia.

d) With the constitution Provida Mater Ecclesia of Pius XII of 2 Feb. 1947 (AAS, 29 [1947], p. 114, art. 9), the Secular Institutes also come to be subject to the C., that is, those societies of faithful who profess the state of complete Christian perfection, without emitting public vows and without the obligation of a continued common life in the manner of societies living in common.

The scope of the competence of the S. C. over the categories of persons mentioned is extremely vast: it comprises every possible question that reflects any situation or interest whatsoever (the decree of the Pontifical Commission for the Interpretation of the CIC, dated 24 March 1919, in AAS, 11 [1919], p. 251, states this clearly) of those same persons, whether as individuals or as societies, unless the contrary is expressly stated by law. In particular the CIC recalls the regime of persons, that is, everything concerning their erection, constitution, approval and suppression; furthermore everything concerning the election, governance, transfer and removal of superiors. The S. C. also has the supervision of everything concerning the internal and external discipline of religious orders or societies, hence their manner of life, questions on the observance or interpretation of vows, promises, oaths, etc. Within the scope of the competence of the S. C. there also fall the organization of the studies of religious, and the regulation and supervision, in accordance with the CIC, over the administration of the property of religious. On 24 March 1919 the Pontifical Commission for the Interpretation of the CIC established the exclusive competence of the S. C. over the reduction of the obligations of pious causes which, although not donated to religious orders, are at present erected or transferred in churches owned by or in the indefinite use of religious orders (AAS, 11 [1919], p. 251). The granting of the privileges that religious may have, and of dispensations from the common canonical norms or from the constitutions approved by the Holy See, and the sanctioning of invalidities or irregularities committed form an integral part of the competence of the S. C. (AAS, 11 [1919], p. 251; 15 [1923], p. 29).

The competence is nevertheless limited by that of other Roman dicasteries which have exclusive competence in determined matters. The Holy Office has exclusive competence in what regards faith or morals, including in religious orders, such as the repression of certain particular crimes enumerated by the CIC, cann. 2314, 904, 2368; also the dispensation from the eucharistic fast for religious priests who celebrate belongs solely to the Holy Office, can. 247. The S. C. of Propaganda Fide has ordinary competence over missionary religious orders in missionary matters and questions; it has however in fact also competence over certain missionary religious orders under both aspects, religious and missionary; and by special concession it also has competence over religious orders of diocesan right in mission territories (can. 252). The S. C. Consistorial acquires exclusive authority over religious made bishops (can. 248). The S. C. of the Sacraments is the only one competent to examine trials concerning priestly ordinations, including those of religious (AAS, 15 [1923], p. 39), whenever they are challenged on account of coercion suffered, or for any other reason except defect of form, in which case the Holy Office is competent (can. 249); before that, however, the S. C. of Religious grants the dispensation from vows. It is the practice to refer to the S. C. of the Council for the incorporations of parishes and religious houses, while all questions regarding usurpations of religious property by the civil government are of the exclusive competence of this C. (can. 250). Also the supervision of associations, unions, etc., of the faithful, even though erected in churches of religious, belongs to the Council. The S. C. of Universities and Studies and of Seminaries has exclusive competence over the studies of seminaries, universities or other institutes of university type, even if directed by religious, can. 256 (AAS, 24 [1932], p. 149). Finally the S. C. Oriental has exclusive competence in what regards all questions of the external forum of subjects of the Oriental rite, religious or not (can. 257). Within these limits the competence of the S. C. has the characteristics of all the other c., that is, it is universal, ordinary, vicarious, supreme, etc.

3. Procedure

Can. 251 § 3 establishes the manner of proceeding of the S. C., which must be exclusively administrative, without the use of judicial formalities. Indeed the canon states clearly that the S. C. must remit to the Roman tribunals those causes which require the judicial order, and furthermore, if the question arises between a religious order and a person who is not a religious, the S. C. may refer it to another C. or tribunal, especially at the request of the party, without however being obliged to do so. It is in fact today a common opinion that the S. C. can decide administratively some question ordinarily subject to the judicial order. Access to the S. C. is possible directly on the part of every religious or of the representatives of the individual moral persons subject to it, without need of intermediaries; however for male religious orders of pontifical right the S. C. ordinarily proceeds through the respective procurator general in Rome, according to the provision of can. 517.

Against the decisions of the S. C. there is properly no appeal, but a recourse to a new audientia or the petition of a plenary session if a decision was made only in congress.

4. Constitution

It is not dissimilar from the other C. R., although it has its own peculiarities. The physical persons who compose this dicastery are: the cardinal prefect, who represents the supreme authority within the C.; then comes the secretary who immediately directs the whole dicastery together with the undersecretary; each section is headed by an assistant of study; and finally there are the officials minor officials, such as the registrar, the archivist, the cashier,
and their respective assistants.

In recent times, on the model of those of the Secretariat
of State, attachés were introduced, that is, officials
not on the permanent staff who lend their assistance especially in the
various sections of the S. C. [Sacred Congregation]. Alongside it there exists a body of
consultors, appointed by the Holy Father with a special ticket, and whose vote is required for particular
important questions. The cardinal prefect with the cardinals of the
S. C. and the secretary form the plenary C., which deliberates on the principal questions, such as the issuance of
instructions, the resolution of juridical doubts or of practical interpretations of laws; or else expresses its own vote
on questions that require the authority of the supreme
pontiff, such as the approval of new religious orders or
of constitutions, etc. The cardinal prefect, the secretary,
the undersecretary, the study assistants and two or more consultors constitute, with a secretary of the congresses, the
Full Congress, to which belongs the preparation of
questions for the plenary, and the solution of questions of
a certain importance, which nevertheless do not require the plenary in the judgment of the secretary. The prefect, the secretary,
the undersecretary and the assistants form the Ordinary
Congress, to which belongs the granting of faculties, indults, graces, measures, etc., which during the week
must be given. The most important questions are brought
by the cardinal prefect to the approval of the Pontiff in the official audience. The decrees or decisions are signed
directly by the cardinal and, in his absence, by the secretary, and, where the latter is lacking, by the undersecretary; generally the provisions are also countersigned by one of the
study assistants of the individual sections. These, according to the latest internal regulation of the S. C., are three: the I,
called "of Ordinary Affairs", deals with the direction of
religious through the issuance of the acts and provisions
necessary for the regular conduct of religious life. It comprises three offices: of Male Religious, of Female
Religious, of Societies without vows and Secular Institutes. The II section called "of Special Affairs" comprises a single office, which concerns itself with extraordinary cases both under the juridical aspects and under the practical ones of religious life.
The III section called simply "General" has a
more directly bureaucratic and documentary task
concerning all the matters that pass through the S. C. It comprises four offices: of the Protocol, of the Archive and Library, of Statistics and Juridical Recognition of
religious orders. The consultors of the S. C. of Religious do not properly form a college; nevertheless among them, with
the addition of officials of the S. C., the following special commissions were created: juridical, for the study of strictly juridical questions; constitutions of new
Religious orders, for the revision of the constitutions to be approved; constitutions of secular institutes, for the approval of this new form of religious life; of government
and religious discipline, for the examination of the disciplinary state and suggestions for an ever greater increase
of religious life. This commission is subdivided into
subsections: of dismissals, disciplinary causes and appeals
of the quinquennial reports; of visitations; of the studies of
religious.

As in other C., there also exists at this one a group
of lay lawyers who act as legal consultants for
matters of a civil character.

VI, Regensburg 1864, p. 639-52; A. Bizzarri, Collectanea in usum
secretariae S. Congr. Episcoporum et Regularium, Rome 1885, pp. viixxiv; F. Russo, La Curia romana nel suo completo funzionamento,
Palermo 1903, p. 215; V. Martin, Les Congrégations romaines,
Paris 1930; N. Del Re, La Curia romana, Rome 1941, p. 47;
Enchiridion de statibus perfectionis. I. Documenta Ecclesiae sodalibus
instituendis (Collectanea S. C. de Religiosis, 1), Rome 1949. Many
provisions issued by the C. of Religious are found in P. Gasparri, Codicis iuris canonici fontes, VI, nos. 4301-4427.

Giulio Mandelli

VII. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS: CONGREGATION OF PROPAGANDA FIDE

1. History

Concerning its origins, the certain facts are noted, omitting the controversial points. The first embryo of a central dicastery to be established in Rome, to counterbalance the ever-growing invasion of the Spanish Council of the Indies and to eliminate the abuses of every kind that derived from it, goes back to St. Pius V. In April 1568, through the nuncio Giambattista Castagna, he signified to Philip II his intention of inviting into the East Indies "a person who would depend immediately on the Holy See and with the authority of a nuncio"; upon the king's refusal, Pius V, on 23 July 1568, commissioned certain cardinals of various nationalities residing in the Curia to form a commission for bringing the heretics of northern Europe back to the faith. To other cardinals he ordered the constitution of a second commission, which was to preside over affairs pertaining to the development of the Christian religion in the East and West Indies, adopting suitable measures. In the Pope's mind the two commissions were to be two branches of a single general, ordinary and stable cardinalitial congregation.

It appears that the first commission never met; the second, on the other hand, under the presidency of Card. Amulio, began its meetings at once, but in the face of the stiffening of the government of Madrid, it ceased at the beginning of 1569.

The Pian commission did not come to life again under Gregory XIII (1572-85) as some affirm. Gregory XIII, at the instance of Card. Antonio Santori, in the Consistory of 10 June 1593 instituted only the Congregation of the Greeks (pro reformatione Graecorum in Italia existentium et monachorum S. Basilii); it had a struggling existence and was not included in the reform of the Curia ordered by Sixtus V in 1588; it revived in 1593 as a simple commission concerning certain Greek rites and worked from 1593 to 1595. The Congregation of Pius V was not taken up again even under the first successors of Sixtus V.

Under Clement VIII (1592-1606) Santori strove in every way to bring the Pian Congregation back to life, making extensive use of the contribution of the Carmelite Father Girolamo Graziano. And, in the audience of 6 May 1599, he obtained the august approval to re-establish the Congregation which was called: Congregatio super negotiis Sanctae Fidei et religionis catholicae. Its members, under the prefecture of Santori, were the cardinals Federico Borromeo, Alessandro de' Medici, Cesare Baronio, Alfonso Visconti, Silvio Antoniano, Roberto Bellarmino, Pietro Aldobrandini, Cinzio Passeri-Aldobrandini. First meeting coram S.mo on 10 Aug. 1599, last on 3 July 1600. The last mention of the Congregation remains in a document of 29 March 1601. In the meetings and congregations all affairs concerning the missions in Europe and in overseas countries were treated, with the aim of freeing the apostolate from the shackles interposed by governments. But even this time Spanish intransigence prevailed over the great renewing ideas of Rome.

In 1604 Clement VIII replaced the Congregation, which had lapsed four years earlier, with a general secretariat of the missions, entrusting its direction to the ven. Pietro della Madre di Dio. It lasted also under Leo XI and Paul V.

Finally, through the intervention of eminent men, the times now being ripe, and linking up again with the initiative of St. Pius V, under the pressure of events and with regard to the tumultuous situation of Christianity in Europe and in the overseas countries of the East and West, Gregory XV (1621-23) with the constitution Inscrutabili of 22 June 1622 definitively instituted the S. C. of Propaganda Fide, clearly fixing its aims which, substantially, have been pursued with success up to today. The Congregation had already been founded on 6 Jan. of the same year and comprised 15 members: 13 cardinals and two prelates plus a secretary.

In 1626 there was then realized the project, long and variously mooted, of printing books, by instituting at the Congregation its own polyglot printing press, later incorporated into the Vatican. For the history of the S. C. and for its Archive, v. MISSIONI: Organizzazione centrale e periferica; FACOLTÀ; VATICANA, TIPOGRAFIA.

2. Present-day competence

The competence and internal organization of the Congregation of Propaganda were profoundly modified by the apostolic constitution Sapienti consilio of Pius X dated 29 June 1908 and by the internal regulation drawn up on the basis of the Ordo servandus in S. Congregationibus (29 Sept. 1908) dated 24 Oct. 1908. Further clarifications concerning the territorial sphere of Propaganda are contained in the motu proprio of Pius XI Sancta Dei Ecclesia of 24 June 1938.

The competence of the S. C. of Propaganda Fide, in the territories dependent on it, extends to all matters which in other territories are within the competence of the other Congregations (CIC, can. 252), except for what is within the competence of the Holy Office, of the S. C. of Rites, and of that for the Oriental Church, and further excluding whatever concerns matrimonial causes.

All the Ordinaries of the missions depend on it, and, in its territories, the clergy and the people; it exercises its powers also over the seminaries for the missions, over schools, pious works and the administration of property destined for the missions, even if such institutes are situated outside the aforesaid territories; and on it also depend religious inasmuch as they are missionaries, as well as certain Congregations and Societies exclusively missionary.

The missions are distributed among: Europe, Asia, Africa, America, Oceania.

Ugo Bertini

VIII. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS: CONGREGATION OF RITES

1. Origin

It was instituted by Sixtus V with the bull Immensa aeterni Dei of 22 January 1588.

2. Competence

In the Sistine bull the competence of the S.C. of Rites extended over two distinct fields: the liturgy and the canonization of saints. As regards the liturgy, the C. was to: a) ensure the observance and purity of the sacred rites and of the ceremonies concerning the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the Divine Office, the administration of the Sacraments and every other liturgical action; b) emend the respective liturgical books; c) examine and approve, after reporting on them to the pope, the offices of patron saints (in fact it examined and approved all liturgical texts). In connection with this liturgical competence, the C.: d) was in charge of the ceremonial for the reception of sovereigns, ambassadors and other great dignitaries; e) was finally the arbiter in controversies relating to precedence. As regards then the canonization of saints, the handling of these causes was entrusted to it in full. In relation to the twofold competence set out above, although the Sistine bull does not mention it, the S.C. also dealt with questions relating to relics.

This competence, while remaining substantially unchanged, underwent in the course of time the following modifications.

As regards the liturgical field: a) the competence, which at first extended to the whole Church, was restricted to the Latin Church alone, while for the Eastern Church the competent body became first the S.C. of Propaganda Fide, and later the S.C. Oriental, created in 1862 within Propaganda and made autonomous in 1917; b) the care of the ceremonial for the reception of sovereigns and dignitaries passed to the S.C. Ceremonial; c) the matter relating to relics, from 1669 (Clement IX, constitution In Ipsis, 6 July 1669) was attributed to the competence of the S.C. Indulgentiarum et Sacrarum reliquiarum; and under Pius X it returned to the C. of Rites (motu proprio "Quae in Ecclesiae bonum", 28 January 1904: Acta Pii X, I, Rome 1905, pp. 141-44); d) questions concerning precedence, with the reform of Pius X (1908), became the competence of the S.C. of the Council and of the Religious respectively; e) finally, as regards the administration of the Sacraments, once the C. of the Discipline of the Sacraments was created in 1908, the competence of the S.C. was limited in this regard to the sacred rites and ceremonies alone, while its competence over the causes of beatification and canonization and over sacred relics remained exclusive and absolute for the whole Church (can. 253).

3. Former functioning

Sixtus V assigned to the C. five cardinals, whose number was later greatly increased. One of the cardinals acted as president, later called prefect, and was assisted from the beginning by a secretary. Each cause was presented for discussion by a cardinal called the ponens or relator, whose appointment, made at first by the C. itself, was later (1665) reserved to the pope. In the discussion of causes of beatification and canonization the promoter general of the faith always took part, with a function analogous to that of public prosecutor in criminal causes; appointed at first on each occasion, he became a permanent office under Urban VIII (11 January 1631). From this moment the promoter had the faculty of choosing an assistant, who was at first called his substitute, then sub-promoter of the faith, and from about the middle of the last century was also assessor of the C. Besides the promoter of the faith, from as early as 1625 the C. also had its own notary, who for a long time was also archivist of the dicastery. There was furthermore from the beginning a protonotary, a remnant of the procedure prior to the institution of the C., when in the discussion of these causes a member of the College of Apostolic Protonotaries acted as secretary. Finally the secretary too had an assistant, who later became the substitute of the C.

4. Present organization

At present the C. consists of about twenty cardinals headed by a cardinal prefect. The secretariat is composed of the secretary, assisted by the substitute and by other minor officials, among whom is the hymnographer, charged with the metrical and stylistic revision of liturgical texts. There is furthermore the chancery headed by the notary and chancellor. The study of the questions within the dicastery's competence is carried out through three sections, of which the first is for the causes of saints, the second for liturgical questions, the third for both fields. The I section, of a theological-juridical character, is governed by the promoter general of the faith, assisted by the sub-promoter and by a certain number of study assistants and writers. Attached to it are numerous consultors, of whom ten are consultors by birth in their capacity as prelate officials, namely: the secretary of the C., the dean and the two senior auditors of the Rota (a remnant of the ancient procedure when causes of canonization were entrusted to the Rota), the sacristan of His Holiness, the apostolic protonotary, the master of the Sacred Apostolic Palace, the promoter and sub-promoter general of the faith and the relator general of the Historical Section. The other consultors are ordinarily drawn from the regular clergy: there are always a Dominican, a Franciscan, a Jesuit, a Conventual, a Barnabite, an Augustinian, a Minim and a Servite of Mary. The II section is composed of consultors only, among whom the masters of pontifical ceremonies are consultors by birth. From the number of these consultors a liturgical commission is formed, to which matters of some importance are submitted for a consultative vote. The III section, called the Historical Section, was created by Pius XI with a motu proprio of 6 February 1930, for the study of the historical causes of the servants of God and for the emendation of the liturgical books. It is governed by a relator general assisted by a vice-relator and by a certain number of study assistants. Attached to it is a group of consultors chosen from among the best-known representatives of the historical sciences, ecclesiastics or laymen.

For their solution, after the study prepared by the various sections, the lesser matters are brought to completion in the congress, attended by the secretary, the protonotary, the promoter general of the faith, the sub-promoter, the relator general of the Historical Section and the substitute, under the presidency of the cardinal prefect. For the more important questions a printed report (positio) is prepared which, entrusted to a cardinal ponens or relator, is proposed for the discussion of the cardinals in the so-called ordinary or particular congregation. Of special importance are the discussions on the heroic nature of the virtues, or on martyrdom or miracles in the causes of beatification (v.) and canonization (v.), discussions which begin in an ante-preparatory congregation before the cardinal ponens, continue in preparatory congregations before all the cardinals and close in a general congregation before the supreme pontiff, with the participation of all the cardinals and consultors.

Attached to the C. is a roll of advocates and procurators. Since 1949 there also exists a college of physicians for the scientific study of the proposed miracles, a study which previously was carried out by physicians appointed on each occasion as experts. It should be noted finally that every cause of beatification and canonization has a postulator, appointed by the parties with the nihil obstat of the C.

5. Archive

The archive of the C. is located partly at the Vatican Archive, partly at the seat of the C. itself. At the Vatican there is the collection of the processes of beatification and canonization of causes that have been completed or in any case archived. At the seat of the C. the archive is divided into three sections: a) the main archive with the complete series of the registers of the servants of God and liturgical registers from 1588 to the present; a collection of calendars and of their own diocesan and religious-family calendars; a collection of ordinary practices called positiones from 1851 onward; the printed positiones for the causes of the servants of God from 1814 onward; b) the historical archive at the Historical Section, with the ordinary practices from 1588 to 1850, in the process of being catalogued, and a miscellaneous hagiographic collection concerning causes of canonization that have been completed or halted; c) the chancery archive, with the transcripts, that is, the official copies of the ordinary and apostolic processes of causes of beatification and canonization in progress and other documents of a chancery character, ancient and recent. The archive is not open to the public. For consultation, both of the Vatican collection and of the various collections at the C., a permission of the secretary is required each time. Finally, it should be noted that the archive of the Rites, like that of the other dicasteries, was transported to Paris in 1810 by order of Napoleon; when shortly afterward it was brought back to Rome, a collection of printed matter relating to causes of canonization remained in Paris, preserved today at the Bibliothèque Nationale and of which there is a summary list in Analecta Bollandiana, 5 (1886), pp. 148-58.

Ferdinando Antonelli

IX. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS: CEREMONIAL CONGREGATION

1. Origins

Various theories were formulated about the origins of this S. C.; now it is commonly held (see also Annuario pontificio, 1949, p. 770) that it originated from the constitution Immensa of Sixtus V of 22 Jan. 1588 (cf. also F. M. Cappello, De Curia Romana, Sede plena, Rome 1911, p. 342 ff.); previously, instead, its origin was traced back to Gregory XIII (J.-J. F. Haine, De la Cour romaine, Louvain 1859, n. 57, and B. Ojetti, De Curia Romana, Rome 1910, p. 144), so that Sixtus V, in instituting with his constitution Immensa the "Congregatio pro sacris Ritibus et Caeremoniis", would have attributed to this new C. a jurisdiction cumulative with that already conferred by his predecessor on the Ceremonial.

Thus Sixtus V was the first to entrust to the S. C. for Rites and Ceremonies the task of regulating the rites in the pontifical chapel, of ordering everything deemed necessary for the honorable treatment not only of sovereigns, princes and their diplomatic representatives, but also of the other civil and ecclesiastical personages who came to Rome, and of hearing, summarily deciding and settling the controversies and difficulties concerning precedence in the Curia (see Bull. Rom., VIII [Turin 1863], pp. 989 and 990).

Soon, however, Sixtus V himself considered it opportune to separate the regulation of the sacred rites, a matter proper to the S. C. of Rites, from what related to the pontifical ceremonial, to be observed on the arrival and during the stay in Rome of sovereigns, their ambassadors and civil and ecclesiastical personages, so that, shortly afterwards, he created a particular C. which, as has been said, was called Ceremonial because of the matter it was to deal with. The pontifical document of the establishment of the C. as a C. in its own right, however much research has been done up to now, has not been found; however, the oldest documents, preserved in the archive of the C., confirm its institution by Sixtus.

2. Competence

The competence of the C. is threefold: competence of a liturgical and religious character, since it orders all the strictly papal ceremonies and extends its authority to regulating also the functions celebrated by the cardinals; competence of a profane character pertaining to the so-called court ceremonial, which is exercised in determining the precedences among the cardinals, among the prelatures of the Roman Curia and among the diplomatic agents accredited to the Holy See, and their honorable reception by the Roman Pontiff; competence of a contentious character, since it resolves any questions that may arise among the aforementioned personages concerning their precedences.

In matters within its competence the C. proceeds in this way: questions that are of slight importance or that have already been dealt with other times it resolves through its secretariat; the other questions it submits to the examination of the full C. (made up of cardinals, officials of the secretariat and consultors) and presents them to the supreme pontiff for decision.

3. Constitution

The C. is governed by the cardinal dean of the Sacred College, who is its prefect, it being held that he, by reason of his seniority, is one of the cardinals most experienced in ceremonies, particularly in those concerning the Apostolic See and the papal Court.

Other cardinals also belong to it.

The secretariat office is composed of a secretary, who is often, but not always, one of the masters of pontifical ceremonies, an undersecretary and a writer. The C. also has a small number of consultors, besides the masters of pontifical ceremonies, who are such by right.

The C. possesses an archive, where interesting ancient and modern documents are preserved, relating to the pontifical and cardinalitial ceremonial.

The C. Ceremonial, on the occasion of the sending of a pontifical ablegate and a pontifical noble guard to deliver the zucchetto and the cardinalitial biretta to the newly elected cardinal who at the moment of his promotion is outside Rome, hands over, both to the pontifical envoys and to the new cardinal through these envoys, the instructions and [those] on the ceremonial for the imposition of the zucchetto and the biretta.

Moroni writes in his Dizionario that it belongs to the secretary of the C. to write the circular letter to the cardinals to signify to them whether the newly elected pontiff recognizes his own relatives or not and, in the affirmative case, what treatment is due to them.

The constitution and competence of the C. have undergone very few changes. The same constitution Sapienti consilio of Pius X of 29 June 1908 (Acta Pii X, IV, Rome 1914, p. 155), treating of this S. C., says at once that: "it preserves intact the rights hitherto attributed to it", and the Ordo servandus in the Roman Curia, annexed to the cited constitution, declares: "By its nature and constitution this C. remains unaltered in its organization and in its manner of proceeding"; so that can. 254 of the CIC confirms the competence that this S. C. had from its origin, establishing: "To the S. C. Ceremonial belongs the regulation of the ceremonies celebrated in the chapel and in the pontifical hall and of the sacred functions that the cardinal fathers celebrate outside the pontifical chapel; moreover the same C. hears questions concerning the precedence both of the cardinal fathers and of the legates that the various nations send to the Holy See".

Guglielmo Felici

X. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATION FOR EXTRAORDINARY ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS

1. Historical notes

In 1793, Pius VI (1775-99), following the example of his predecessors, in order to provide for the very grave religious problems that had arisen in France in the wake of the Revolution of 1791, instituted a special C. "super negotiis ecclesiasticis Regni Galliarum"; this, confirmed by Pius VII (1800-23) and endowed with a broader competence under the name Congregatio a negotiis ecclesiasticis extraordinariis, continued until 1809, when the Pope was taken prisoner to France.

On his return from France, Pius VII, as the exceptional difficulties in which the Church had found itself for years persisted, by a note of Cardinal Bartolomeo Pacca, pro-secretary of state, to Fr. Francesco Fontana, superior general of the Barnabites, dated 19 July 1814, constituted a true and proper "Congregatio extraordinaria praeposita negotiis ecclesiasticis orbis catholici" which in 1827 assumed, together with its present name, the general character of the other S.C.

Pius XI, in the letter sent to Cardinal Pietro Gasparri on 5 July 1925, established that the S.C. for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs should have as its prefect the cardinal secretary of State. Previously, in fact, it did not have a prefect in the proper sense of the word, but the office was held in the meetings by the most senior of the cardinals present, while the secretary of State was the natural executor of the decisions taken in them. Moreover this S.C., originally composed of eight cardinals, a secretary with a vote and five consultors, today numbers, alongside the secretary, an undersecretary, while the number of cardinals is no longer fixed, nor is that of the consultors. Among the cardinals, however, are to be included by right, by virtue of the already cited letter of Pius XI, the secretaries of the Holy Office and of the S.C. Consistorial, the chancellor of Holy Roman Church and the datary. There is no lack of minor officials, minutanti, attachés and an archivist, who belong juridically to the Secretariat of State, of which Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs forms the I Section.

2. Competence

Before the reform of Pius X of 29 June 1908, this S.C., besides the individual affairs entrusted to it by the express will of the Holy Father, also dealt with questions of ordinary administration of certain ecclesiastical provinces. But in all these questions, as in particular affairs, the same C., contrary to the other dicasteries, limited itself to expressing a simple consultative vote, the sovereign pontiff having reserved to himself the definitive solution.

In the reform of the Roman Curia, the S.C. for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs was given the task of carrying to completion the proceedings, to be submitted to the C. Consistorial, concerning the erection and division of dioceses, as well as the appointment of their respective titulars in all countries not subject to the S.C. of Propaganda Fide, except Italy; moreover, it had to deal with all those questions that were committed to its examination by the supreme pontiff through the cardinal Secretary of State, principally those that had some relation to the civil powers and to the concordats or conventions stipulated with the various States.

The CIC, in can. 255, confirmed these dispositions, but reserved to the exclusive competence of the S.C. for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs the proceedings for the erection and division of dioceses and the appointment of their titulars, without exception of territory, whenever they must be treated with the civil governments. Indeed, as regards the appointment of bishops, this holds, according to the aforementioned letter of Pius XI, even in cases in which the governments are consulted about the existence of possible difficulties of a political order against the persons chosen. It should be noted, moreover, that for Italy, as regards the appointment of bishops, particular norms have been introduced after the promulgation of the CIC.

In this Holy Dicastery the procedure in the handling of affairs is analogous to that of the other C. The cardinals who are part of it are convoked by the Secretary of State in plenary session, whenever the occasion presents itself. The secretary also takes part in the session, and he draws up the minutes which will then be submitted to the Holy Father for the definitive solution of the affairs.

Antonio Mauro

XI. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS: CONGREGATION OF SEMINARIES AND UNIVERSITIES OF STUDIES

1. Origins

Its first origins can be traced back to Leo X, who, wishing to give new splendor to the Roman University erected by Boniface VIII (Studium Urbis Generale), instituted, with the apostolic constitution Dum suavissimo of 5 Nov. 1513, a special permanent commission of three cardinals to have supervision over it (Bull. Rom., V [Turin 1860], pp. 568-70).

Julius III, with the bulls Dum attentae (23 Jan. 1552) and Pastoralis officii (27 March 1552), enlarged it (F. M. Renazzi, Storia dell'Univ. degli studi di Roma, II, Rome 1804, pp. 253-57). Sixtus V then, with the well-known bull Immensa aeterni Dei of 22 Jan. 1588, gave the aforesaid commission a higher and more universal task, numbering it among the true C. (Congregatio pro Universitate studii Romani) and entrusting to it the care of all the universities scattered throughout the Catholic world, even of the most famous ones, such as Paris, Bologna, Salamanca and Oxford itself, which had fallen into Protestant hands (cf. Bull. Rom., VIII [Turin 1863], p. 992 ff.).

The new dicastery, which would later be called the S. C. of Studies, on account of the progressive decline of the universities, undermined by political circumstances and by error, and on account of the prevailing influence of the "College of Consistorial Advocates," to which the same Sixtus V entrusted the rectorship of the Roman University (bull Sacri apostolatus, 23 Aug. 1587: Bull. Rom., VIII [Turin 1863], pp. 897-900), saw its activity increasingly diminish, until it disappeared under the pontificate of Clement X (1670-76), when Cardinal De Luca, in his Relatio Romanae Curiae Forensis (Disc. 27, n. 1), names the Congregatio Studiorum vel Sapientiae as by then extinct.

With Pius VII a second period begins for the C. Once the Papal State had been reconstituted in 1814, the Pope appointed a cardinalitial commission for the reorganization of studies within its territory. This plan was carried out by his successor Leo XII, with the constitution Quod divina sapientia (28 Aug. 1824), by which the Congregatio Studiorum was also established, subjecting to it, however, only "all the public and private schools of the Papal State," of whatever type and grade (Bull. Rom. Cont., XVI [Rome 1854], p. 86 ff.).

On 20 Sept. 1870 this C. civilly ceased to exist, replaced by the Ministry of Public Education of the Italian government, to which its important archive passed; ecclesiastically, however, it survived, with the broader and original task entrusted to it by Sixtus V, and it concerned itself with the rise of new Catholic universities in the world and with all questions concerning the conferral of academic degrees: a task, this, confirmed by the constitution Sapienti consilio (29 June 1908) of Pius X (AAS, 1 [1909], pp. 7-19).

From the competence of the S. C. of Studies the seminaries had always been excluded; these, completely subject from the beginning to the jurisdiction of the bishops, were later made the object of special care also on the part of the Holy See through the S. C. of the Council or even through the S. C. of Bishops and Regulars, and, from 1906, only through the latter. The Sapienti consilio reserved this jurisdiction to the S. C. Consistorial, at which a special office was erected.

Concerned about the ever-increasing number of affairs and the importance of the office, Benedict XV, with the motu proprio "Seminaria clericorum" of 4 Nov. 1915, merging together the Office for Seminaries erected at the S. C. Consistorial and the S. C. of Studies, created a new dicastery, which took the name S. Congregatio de Seminariis et Studiorum Universitatis (AAS, 7 [1915], pp. 493-95), which was received into the CIC (can. 256).

2. Competence

The prescriptions of Benedict XV's motu proprio, according to which the new dicastery was to "clericorum tum mentem tum animos fingere," and to assume integrally the "Congregationis Studiorum munera," were confirmed and clarified by the CIC (can. 256, with which cann. 1376 and 1377 are connected). However, outside its competence are the seminaries dependent on the S. C. of Propaganda Fide (can. 252) and on the S. C. for the Eastern Church (can. 257), and the institutes of formation of religious (can. 251).

The constitution Deus scientiarum Dominus (24 May 1931), with which Pius XI reorganized higher ecclesiastical studies, reserved to the S. C. of Seminaries and of Universities of Studies the canonical erection and the supreme government of all universities and faculties of ecclesiastical studies without exception, "in locis quoque et institutis quae Sacris Congregationibus pro Ecclesia Orientali et de Propaganda Fide subiecta sunt, atque etiam Facultates quae sunt pro religiosis familiis quibuslibet" (art. 4: AAS 23 [1931], p. 248).

That the same S. C. also has competence over the schools and institutes of Catholic education dependent on ecclesiastical authority was declared by the Secretariat of State, for Italy with letters of 14 Apr. 1932 and of 23 Aug. 1934, addressed to Cardinal Prefect G. Bialeti, and for Latin America with a letter of 12 June 1949, addressed to Cardinal Prefect G. Pizzardo. It can therefore be said today, in reality, to be the dicastery "of Catholic instruction and education" of the Church.

With the motu proprio "Cum nobis" of 4 Nov. 1941, Pius XII instituted at the S. C. of Seminaries the Pontificium Opus Vocationum Sacerdotalium to safeguard, encourage and assist vocations to the priesthood, "uniting the faithful of the whole world in communion of prayers and of pious practices," "with the faculty of aggregating works and enrolling persons," making them sharers in indulgences and spiritual favors (AAS, 33 [1941], p. 279). Of 8 Sept. 1943 are the Statuto and the Norme for its application (AAS, 35 [1943], pp. 369-73).

3. Constitution

At the head of the dicastery is a cardinal prefect assisted by a secretary, an undersecretary and study assistants. For the seminaries of Italy there is an "ordinary" apostolic visitor (cf. AAS, 23 [1931], p. 151), while for the seminaries of other nations the apostolic visitor is generally appointed for each individual circumstance, or for a determined period of time (ad triennium or ad quinquennium).

All seminaries are required to give a triennial report (cf. AAS, 17 [1924], pp. 547-51), while the colleges of Rome, the universities and faculties of ecclesiastical studies, and the Catholic schools in Italy, must give it annually. The pontifical regional seminaries of Italy depend directly on the S. C. also for the administrative part (cf. AAS, 6 [1914], pp. 213-18).

For its own benefit and that of others the C. has overseen various publications. Among the principal ones: Eschiridion clericorum, a collection of official documents for the education of the clergy, from the origins of the Church to 1938 (a second volume on the universities is in preparation); Pii PP. XI constituito apostolica de universitatibus et facultatibus studiorum ecclesiasticorum with the annexed Ordinationes of the S. C. and an alphabetical analytical index (1931); Elenchus seminariorum, according to national and hierarchical order, historical introductions, phototypic illustrations, statistical tables and indexes of all the seminaries dependent on the S. C. (1934); Regolamento per gli alunni dei pontifici seminari regionali d'Italia (1940); Elenco degli istituti dell'ordine medio e superiore dipendenti dall'autorità ecclesiastica in Italia, with indexes and diagrams (1942); Norme per i pontifici seminari regionali d'Italia (1943). The "Opera delle vocazioni sacerdotali" provides for the printing of propaganda booklets in various languages and, from 1945, of a Foglio di comunicazione to facilitate relations between the pontifical center and the diocesan works. The S. C. promotes study conferences for the educators of seminaries and of institutes dependent on ecclesiastical authority, and oversees the publication of the relevant proceedings.

XII. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS: CONGREGATION OF THE REVEREND FABRIC OF SAINT PETER

1. Origini

The first traces of this dicastery are encountered under the pontificate of Julius II, when he, beginning the reconstruction of the basilica of St. Peter, entrusted, by the constitution Liquet Omnibus of 11 Jan. 1510 (Bull. Rom., V [Turin 1860], pp. 481-88), to a certain number of persons the task of presiding over these works.

Subsequently Clement VII, by the constitution Admonet Nos suscepti of 12 Dec. 1523 (Bull. Rom., VI [Turin 1861] pp. 48-54), appointed a standing commission, composed of sixty experts, chosen from every part of the world, with the task of overseeing the administration of the Fabric then being erected. This commission, which "was chiefly to watch - as Pastor says - lest the money flowing in should be employed for other purposes", was withdrawn from the action of any magistracy and placed under the direct dependence of the Holy See, with the faculty of having its own judge for the handling of all those cases that in any way concerned it.

However, in the course of time it was deprived by Sixtus V, by virtue of the constitution Cum ex debito of 4 March 1589 (Bull. Rom., IX [Turin 1864], pp. 184-87), of so much independence, being subjected to the jurisdiction of the cardinal archpriest of the Basilica. Since, however, it had not given too good a proof of itself, the commission was shortly afterwards dissolved by Clement VIII and replaced with a special dicastery, which was named the C. of the Reverend Fabric of St. Peter.

To it were transferred all the attributions up to then proper to the suppressed commission, and at the same time specific functions were assigned to it, which were: the collection of offerings in favor of the Fabric, the handling of civil, criminal and mixed cases concerning it in any way or relating directly or indirectly to the personnel employed therein, the execution of acts concerning the granting of favors, privileges and indults.

Among its other faculties this C. could grant privileges both personal and real, could avoke to itself uncertain pious legacies and those destined for persons struck by legal incapacity, could, finally, devolve to the advantage of the Fabric the revenues of certain properties in the course of vacancy or in case of contestation. With reference to contentious power it handled in first instance every civil and criminal case concerning the Fabric and the persons attached to it; in the appellate seat, on the other hand, the cases deferred to it by any other tribunal, provided they were not burdened by special exemption by virtue of a strictly papal act.

The C. was constituted by a certain number of cardinals (besides the prefect, in the person of the cardinal archpriest pro tempore of the Basilica, according to the custom that began with Sixtus V), the auditor of the Apostolic Chamber, the general treasurer, the dean of the Sacred Roman Rota, a cleric of the chamber, the steward of the Fabric who also filled the duties of secretary of the C., a canon of St. Peter functioning as judge, the advocate and the fiscal procurator and the chancellor general.

In order to be able better to fulfill its mandate in the matter of pious legacies, this dicastery could appoint, in the provinces of the Papal State, its own delegates as commissioners of the Reverend Fabric, who held office for one year; they exercised their own jurisdiction and were competent to judge in first instance cases of every value, against whose sentences nevertheless appeal could be made before the C.

Benedict XIV, by virtue of the constitution Quanta curarum of 15 Nov. 1751 (Bened. XIV Bull., III, 1 [Opera omnia, XVII, 1, Prato 1804], pp. 326-29), divided this C. into two sections assigning to each well-defined functions, whereby there came to be a general C., competent to handle contentious cases, and a particular C., formed by the prefect, by three other cardinals, by the steward-secretary and by the ordinary judge, to which the administration of the Fabric remained entrusted. The latter however disappeared shortly afterwards; in fact in 1760 there was a return, with Clement XIII, to a single body.

2. Competence

The attributions of this dicastery, which had remained unaltered even after the reforms of Pius VII of 1816, of Leo XII of 1824 and of Gregory XVI of 1834, underwent under the pontificate of Pius IX a notable limitation, the Pontiff having withdrawn from it, by an edict of 28 Nov. 1863, all powers in contentious matters, which were deferred to the C. of the Council.

Further and more serious limitations the C. underwent with the reform of Pius X of 1908, it having been reduced to occupying itself with nothing other than the administration of the Fabric. In the constitution Sapienti consilio, in fact, one reads: " Congregatio, quae dicitur Reverendae Fabricae S. Petri, in posterum unam sibi curandam habebit rem familiarem Basilicae Principis Apostolorum, servatis ad unguem in hac parte normis a Benedicto XIV statutis const. 'Quanta curarum' die XV mensis Novembris MDCCLI data ".

3. Constitution

In its present state the C. of the Reverend Fabric, although not mentioned in the CIC, is nevertheless always included in the complex of the C. that form part of the Roman Curia; it is composed of cardinals only, to whom are still joined a secretary-steward and some minor officials, and it comprises an administrative section for the management of property, a legal section for the resolution of related controversies, a technical section, charged with the maintenance of the Basilica, and finally the special section called the Mosaic Studio.

Niccolò Del Re

III. THE SUPPRESSED SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS.

I. S. C. " DE AUXILIIS DIVINAE GRATIAE "

Instituted by Clement VIII to settle the controversies that arose between Jesuits and Dominicans concerning the efficacy of Grace. In the theological controversies of the 16th century the Jesuits were led by their own spirituality to insist on the freedom of man, on the non-intrinsic efficacy of Grace and on predestination post praevia merita. In this sense Lessius (v.) set forth certain theses, which, condemned at Louvain in 1587, were not condemned instead at Rome despite the efforts of the Dominicans, who judged them contrary to the traditional doctrine of St. Augustine and of St. Thomas.

In 1588 the Jesuit Molina published in Lisbon the book: Concordia liberi arbitrii cum Gratiae donis, on which he had been working for years. Through the concept of middle knowledge, which his master B. de Fonseca had already developed, he attempted to reconcile the opposing theses; but with an effect entirely different from what he had hoped. Indeed, the entire Dominican school, together with Bañez, rose up against him, so that Clement VIII in 1596 reserved the question to himself, which passed through five successive stages: 1) from Nov. 1597 a secret commission examined Molina's work. After 11 sessions, on 22 Nov. 1598, it concluded in favor of censuring 61 propositions. 2) Strong influences led the Pope to institute a cardinalitial C. "de auxiliis Divinae Gratiae," in order to reach a direct understanding between the parties. Various sessions in 1599-1600 proved these attempts useless. 3) The Pope then appointed a new cardinalitial commission, which, after 20 sessions, on 12 Oct. 1600, concluded in favor of condemning 21 of the incriminated propositions. On that very day in Madrid, Molina died. 4) Influences acting from the two opposing sides prevented a serene evaluation of the controversy; the condemnation was deferred and the Pope decided to act personally. This is the most dramatic period. D. Alvarez (v.) and T. de Lemos (v.) for the Dominicans, G. de Valentia (v.) and F. de la Bastida (v.) for the Jesuits defended their respective points of view. After each session of controversy the Pope and the cardinals judged the doctrines set forth. In all, 69 meetings were held. Clement VIII was orienting himself ever more decisively toward a condemnation of Molina, when on 3 March 1605 he died. D. Bañez (v.), the strongest support of the Dominicans, had preceded him on 21 Oct. 1604.

After the brief pontificate of Leo XI the controversy resumed with Paul V. From 14 Sept. 1605 to 22 Febr. 1606, 9 sessions were held, which concluded in favor of condemning 42 Molinist propositions. On 28 Aug. 1607 the Pope assembled the cardinals one last time to hear their vote, which was discordant in the highest degree. Paul V then judged that, given the moment, he did not believe a doctrinal decision opportune. The theologians of the two parties were forbidden to accuse each other of heresy, pending further measures; on the following 5 Sept. this decision was remitted to the generals of the two Orders (Denz-U, 1090 and added note; cf. 1097 and note).

Corrado Baisi

II. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATION OF THE INDEX

Established by St. Pius V with the constitution In apostolicae of 4 April 1571, confirmed and strengthened by his successor Gregory XIII with the constitution Ut pestiferarum of 13 September 1572; Benedict XIV with the constitution Sollicita of 9 July 1753 established its clear norms to be followed for the condemnation of books. Its task, in fact, was to examine books and publications of every sort to see whether they contained errors against the Christian faith or morals; if so, to condemn them and place them on the special Index of Prohibited Books (v.). Its authority was universal and it also had the right to inflict very severe penalties on authors, but this latter power was taken from it by Pius X with the constitution Scipienti consilio of 29 June 1908 and conferred on the competent tribunals; its sphere of inquiry was, however, extended also to books yet to be published. The C. was suppressed by Benedict XV in 1917 and its attributions passed to the Holy Office.

III. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS OF INDULGENCES AND RELICS

It was instituted by Clement IX with the motu proprio "In ipsis" of 6 July 1669, with the task of examining the indulgences granted by the Holy See and Relics, in order to distinguish the authentic from the doubtful and the false, since in the Middle Ages the abuse of spreading and distributing false ones had become quite widespread. It later also had the competence to grant indulgences and to distribute relics. It ceased to exist with the reform of Pius X (1908); the matter within its competence passed, first, to the Congregation of the Holy Office and then to the Sacred Penitentiary; the part concerning relics was instead entrusted to the Congregation of Rites.

IV. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS OF ECCLESIASTICAL IMMUNITY

It was instituted by Urban VIII in 1626 for the handling of controversies relating to the violation of ecclesiastical jurisdiction and privileges by lay tribunals. Sixtus V had already made provision in this regard by entrusting the protection of rights concerning ecclesiastical immunity to the C. of Bishops and Regulars. The creation of Urban VIII was confirmed in 1725 by Benedict XIII, who broadened its juridical sphere, and Gregory XVI dealt with it lastly by a motu proprio of 10 Nov. 1834. To its other attributions this C. also added the faculty of deciding on appeal those cases that the episcopal curias had judged in the first instance.

V. C. « DE PROPAGANDA FIDE PRO NEGOTIIS RITUS ORIENTALIS »

It was instituted within the C. of Propaganda Fide by Pius IX in 1862 with the constitution Romani Pontifices of 6 Jan., as the body charged above all with providing for the spiritual needs of Catholics of the Oriental rite. But since this dicastery had absorbed into its sphere that special commission to which, in the early years of the 1700s, Clement XI had entrusted the correction of Oriental books, it consequently reserved this task to itself, in accordance also with the provision contained in the aforementioned constitution of Pius IX: « Orientalium libris corrigendis, omnibusque et singulis cuiusque generis orientalium negotiis tractandis unice operam navet ».

The powers of this C. were appreciably broader than those of Propaganda itself; it enjoyed, in fact, all the faculties proper to the C. to which it was joined, and could, moreover, grant dispensations of mixed religion, of disparity of worship and every other matrimonial dispensation. The reform carried out by Pius X in 1908 left the position of this dicastery unaltered, and it continued to be linked to the C. of Propaganda. Later, however, by virtue of the motu proprio of Benedict XV Dei providentis, of 1 May 1917, it broke free from that one to assume absolute independence, at the same time changing its former name to that of C. for the Oriental Church (v. ORIENTALI, CHIESE). Until then its prefecture had been held by the same cardinal prefect of Propaganda, just as the cardinals composing it had been common to the two dicasteries; it had, instead, its own secretary, consultors and minor officials.

VI. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS ON THE CORRECTION OF THE BOOKS OF THE EASTERN CHURCH

The decision to erect a body charged with the emendation of the errors contained in the liturgical texts of the Eastern Catholic Churches was taken by Urban VIII following a request of Philip IV of Spain, with which the king asked that provision be made for a corrected edition of the Euchologion, which would definitively replace those printed at various times on private initiative and altogether incorrectly.

The undertaking required much time, and it was necessary to wait until 1754, under the pontificate of Benedict XIV, for the Euchologion to see the light fully emended, published by the printing press of Propaganda Fide, according to the model of the Paris edition of 1647. Benedict XIV also occupied himself with the reorganization of this dicastery, established by the constitution Ex quo primum of 1 March 1756. The C. was composed of the cardinal prefect, of five other cardinals and of five consultors.

VII. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS OF BISHOPS AND REGULARS

This C. resulted from the merger into a single body of the two dicasteries "on the consultation of Bishops" (v. below) and "on the consultation of Regulars" (v. below). When this merger took place cannot be determined with exactness; it must, however, be placed in the very first years of the 16th century, since under Clement VIII they are by then found designated by the single name of Sacra Congregatio negotii et consultationibus Episcoporum et Regularium praepositis, composed of a varying number of cardinals, besides the prefect, the secretary, twenty consultors and an adequate body of subordinate officials.

It enjoyed a very broad competence over everything relating to Bishops and Religious of every order, with jurisdiction cumulative with that of the C. of the Council, with the sole difference that it could not resolve authenticie the doubts proposed. It also exercised a contentious power, limited at first to the handling of cases only in the economic-administrative sphere; later it obtained the right to handle them also judicially, but with a procedure distinct from that of the S. Rota. In 1800 Pius VII transferred to the competence of the latter the criminal cases on appeal coming from the diocesan curias.

The C. remained suppressed with the reform of Pius X of 1908 and its attributions were devolved on the one hand to the C. Consistorial, for the part pertaining to Bishops, and on the other to the C. of Religious; the criminal part passed to the tribunals.

VIII. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF BISHOPS

Established by Clement VIII in 1592, as an implementation of a request of the Council of Trent, with the task of examining and declaring suitable the candidates for episcopal sees. Urban VIII strengthened its authority and effectiveness with a decree of 16 May 1625, binding the examiners by oath not to reveal to anyone the subject matter of the examinations. The prohibition lapsed from the time of Clement XIII, and later the obligation of the examinations also lapsed, to which all the bishops of Italy were bound and from which those outside Italy could instead be dispensed. The C. was composed of cardinals, theologians and canonists. The obligation of the examinations was restored by Pius X in 1903 and passed to the competence of the Holy Office.

IX. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS ON THE ELECTION OF BISHOPS

Instituted by Innocent XI with the task of proposing candidates for episcopal sees, after having carried out a careful examination of the merits and qualities of each. Benedict XIV, with the constitution Ad apostolicae of 17 Oct. 1740, revived it, urging the secrecy of the Holy Office so that everything might proceed with greater prudence and circumspection. This, however, was of no avail, and the C. soon fell into disuse.

X. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS ON THE RESIDENCE OF BISHOPS

Established by Urban VIII, with the constitution Sancta Synodus, of 12 Dec. 1634, with the task of handling questions relating to the obligation of bishops to reside in their sees and the discipline of the duration of their absences, outside the normal periods of leave, set at four months for cismontane bishops and seven for ultramontane ones. A more organic functioning was later provided for by Bene-

Benedict XIV with the constitution Ad universae of 3 Sept. 1746, by virtue of which the prefecture of the C. was reserved to the cardinal vicar of Rome, while its secretary was the secretary of the C. of the Council. Other measures were subsequently taken in 1759 by Clement XIII and in 1824 by Leo XII.

XI. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS OF THE APOSTOLIC VISITATION

Established by Clement VIII with the constitution Speculatores of 8 June 1592, with the task of visiting the dioceses and assuring individual prelates regarding the observance of ecclesiastical discipline understood in its broadest sense. Its functions were expanded for the first time in 1656 by Alexander VII, who also enlarged its staff by adding other personnel; but more important innovations were introduced in 1693 by Innocent XII, who, besides further extending the powers of the C., by entrusting to it civil, criminal and mixed cases, ordered that none of the bodies subject to the visitation could evade it by pleading exemptions or privileges; to that end he made the decisions taken by the C. unappealable. Its prefect was the pope himself, assisted by eleven cardinals, by a secretary, who, by a rescript of 29 March 1801, was invested with the power to handle contentious matters privately, by a vice-secretary, by a chancellor, and by a fiscal commissioner, chosen from among the members of the S. Romana Rota.

XII. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS FOR THE REVIEW OF PROVINCIAL COUNCILS

The vigorous revival of provincial councils induced Pius IX to institute this C. in 1849, with the task of providing for the revision of the acts of those councils, a task entrusted since 1588 to the C. of the Council. The new body, however, being considered as subsidiary to the latter, had the same prefect and the same secretary, to whom a private secretary was later added, who was called the extensor, charged with transmitting to the metropolitans the decisions concerning the acts of individual councils; it further included twenty-six consultors, seven of whom were prelates and the others chosen from among the members of the various religious orders. The C. was suppressed in 1908 by Pius X, who, once again entrusting to the C. of the Council "ea omnia quae ad Conciliorum celebrationem et recognitionem, atque ad Episcoporum coetus seu conferentias referuntur", restored the latter to one of its previous faculties.

XIII. C. "SUPER STATU ECCLESIARUM"

It was instituted by Benedict XIV on 23 Nov. 1740, for the examination of the reports that all Ordinaries are obliged to send periodically to Rome on the state of their dioceses. This task originally fell within the specific competences of the C. of the Council, to which it had been entrusted by Sixtus V in 1588. Therefore, since this dicastery was considered auxiliary to the C. of the Council, it had in common with it the prefect and the secretary, assisted by an adequate number of prelate officials; at the same time, however, a private secretary was also assigned to it, called the secretary of the Latin letters to the bishops, whose duties consisted mainly in the drafting and dispatch of the C.'s replies to the bishops. This dicastery, which was also commonly called the C. of the Little Council, was suppressed in 1908 by Pius X, who transferred its attributions to the Consistorial C.

XIV. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS ON THE CONSULTATION OF BISHOPS

The origins of this dicastery can be traced to that special commission of cardinals appointed by Pius V with the task of examining the report on the patriarchate of Aquileia, where serious disorders had arisen in ecclesiastical matters, presented by the apostolic visitor sent there for that purpose in 1570. The first beginnings, however, of this C. occurred under the pontificate of Gregory XIII, who, recognizing the usefulness of those visits, promoted others, so that the aforementioned commission remained always charged with examining the visitors' reports. In 1601 it merged with the C. of Bishops and Regulars.

XV. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS ON THE STATE OF REGULARS

The laxity of regular discipline in several convents in Italy, where the extremely small number of members, sometimes fewer than six, came close to nullifying the purpose of their foundation, induced Innocent X to carry out at first a vast work of investigation and then to decide on the abolition of a great many of those communities. To this end he instituted, with the constitution Inter coetera of 17 Dec. 1649, the present C., which was therefore charged with examining the administration of each convent and the number of its members, and with taking whatever measures might be necessary to eliminate the abuses that had come to light.

The erection of this dicastery was subsequently confirmed by Clement IX with the constitution Innucchi of 11 Apr. 1668; and it was composed of a number of cardinals in addition to the prefect, of the secretary, who was the same as that of the C. of Bishops and Regulars, and of a varying number of prelates.

In 1698 Innocent XII, with the constitution Debitum pastorale of 4 Aug., decreed its suppression, replacing it with a new body founded by himself, which was the C. of Regular Discipline.

XVI. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS ON THE CONSULTATION OF REGULARS

The earliest traces of this C. must be sought in the work carried out by Gregory XIII for the settlement of the questions that often arose between Bishops and Regulars in matters of privileges and for the resolution of disputes arising among the different monastic Orders. Established at first simply under the name Commissio, in 1582 it received the designation Sacra Congregatio super consultationibus Regularium, functioning alongside the C. on the Consultation of Bishops, erected a few years earlier by the same pontiff. The reform of Sixtus V of 1587-88 did not touch the two creations of Gregory XIII, which were both inserted separately into the new order established by the constitution Immensa aeterni Dei, of 22 Jan. However, their intimate relation did not take long to draw attention to the advisability of a fusion of the two dicasteries, and, although its date cannot be established with certainty, it remains certain that during the pontificate of Clement VIII the union must by then have been in effect, since after 1600 they are already indicated under the common appellation of Sacra Congregatio super consultationibus Episcoporum et Regularium, or more simply the C. of Bishops and Regulars (v. above), which remained such until the reform of Pius X of 1908, by which it was abolished.

XVII. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS OF REGULAR DISCIPLINE

It was instituted by Innocent XII in 1698 in place of the dissolved C. on the state of Regulars (v. above), with the purpose of examining requests for the founding of new convents and the re-establishment of those suppressed.

The C. concerned itself both with the internal discipline of convents and with the functioning of model convents, institutes, few for each religious Order, where the Rule was applied in all its rigor, so that they might represent for all members the model on which to conform the practice of monastic life. Its activity suffered a serious standstill because of the political upheavals of the last years of the 18th century; but it was brought back into force by Pius VII. Later Gregory XVI took care to eliminate the inconveniences that were arising, through jurisdictional interferences, between it and the C. of Bishops and Regulars, ordering that cases rejected by the former could in no way be resubmitted to the competence of the latter. This C. was composed of the cardinal prefect and a certain number of other purple-robed prelates (there were as many as sixteen), the secretary, the substitute, the fiscal advocate and seven consultors. It was suppressed by Pius X in 1906.

XVIII. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS OF THE VATICAN PRINTING PRESS

Established by Sixtus V in 1588 with the constitution Immensa aeterni Dei, with the task of supervising the good running of the Vatican Typography, attending above all to the correct publication of those religious works, such as the Bible, the Fathers of the Church, and the Decretals, which had the purpose of countering the false theories of the new heretics with the immanent truth of Catholic doctrine.

The Vatican Typography had been founded in 1560 by Pius IV, who called the Venetian Paolo Manuzio to direct it, and installed in the Vatican in 1587 by Sixtus V, who made great use of it and wished to endow it also with a rich foundry of Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Syriac type.

XIX. CONGREGATION FOR THE REBUILDING OF THE BASILICA OF SAINT PAUL

One of Leo XII's first concerns was the reconstruction of the basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, which had emerged gravely damaged from the fire during the night of 15-16 July 1823. Since, however, the pontifical treasury could not meet all the necessary expenses, with the encyclical Ad plurimas atque gravissimas, of 25 Jan. 1825, addressed to the Catholic world, he directed to all the faithful the invitation to take part in the undertaking. The invitation aroused universal adherence, so that the Pope could at once order the beginning of the works, and so that these might have a unity of direction and proceed in the best possible way, he instituted, with the ordinance of 26 March 1825, a special C., to which he entrusted its superintendence. The new C. was composed of five cardinals, three prelates, the theologian general, the secretary and a certain number of architects. The prefecture was reserved to the cardinal Secretary of State.

XX. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS LAURETANA

It was erected by Innocent XII, with the constitution Sacrosancta Redemptoris of 10 Aug. 1698, in order to provide for the spiritual and temporal administration of the Holy House of Loreto, delegated for the first part to the diocesan Ordinary, for the second to a prelate governor. It was furnished with a threefold power — administrative, gracious and contentious — for the handling of all causes, both civil and criminal, the latter then taken away from it by Pius VII in 1816 and restored to it shortly afterwards by Leo XII by virtue of the brief Laureti civitas of 21 Dec. 1827. This dicastery was composed of the cardinal prefect, two voting prelates, the assessor, the secretary, the undersecretary, the criminal auditor and some minor officials.

After the occupation of the Piceno in 1860, since the Italian Government had reserved to itself the administration of the Sanctuary of Loreto (R. D. 30 Oct. 1860, no. 233, art. 5), nothing remained to the Congregation but the faculty concerning pious legacies. Finally annexed by Pius X in 1908 to the Congregation of the Council qua Congregatio specialis, today, given the silence of the CIC, it must be understood as suppressed.

XXI. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS OF CHINA AND THE EAST INDIES

Established by Alexander VII for the handling of all affairs concerning the Indies and China, this C. held its first session on 13 Jan. 1665, though it came to assume the rank of a true dicastery only in 1677, under the pontificate of Innocent XI. It had to deal with the thorny question of the Chinese rites, agitated later in the time of Clement XI (cf. Pastor, XV, pp. 301-70). It was composed of some cardinals who were members of the C. of Propaganda Fide and had as its secretary the secretary of Propaganda himself.

XXII. C. « DE REBUS GERMANICIS »

It was established by Pius V in 1568 for the study of the grave religious and disciplinary questions of Germany (cf. Pastor, VIII, p. 467; IX, pp. 45, 867-79).

XXIII. C. FOR THE REFORM OF THE CURIA: v. CURIA.

Niccolò Del Re

IV. THE SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS IN THE CIVIL ADMINISTRATION OF THE PAPAL STATE.

The civil administration of the Papal State was presided over in Rome by various magistracies, some of which, depending on the times, were called C. It is well known that in the terminology proper to the Roman Curia this word designated not only certain of the great central bodies, of a permanent character, placed over determined branches of the administration of the temporal State, very similar to today's ministries, but also lesser bodies, of a temporary character, created from time to time by the pope for the study and resolution of particular questions and which today would be called "commissions," as well as other bodies which, having been conceived as permanent but with consultative duties and limited within a larger magistracy, are more similar to the "superior councils" existing today in certain ministries; in this category may be placed the C. camerali properly so called, which in the 17th century are found constituted within the Apostolic Camera (v.). The matters dealt with by the C. were not only of an administrative character, but also judicial, so that certain tribunals in determined periods were called by the name of C., for example, the Civil C. of the Tribunal of the Auditor Camerae (1831-48), which would become (1848-70) the Civil Tribunal of Rome.

Of C. in the multiple meaning of the word, many are encountered in the administrative history of the Papal State, beginning especially from the start of the 16th century, that is, from when, having politically consolidated its own temporal dominion, it became possible for the popes to give it a central and peripheral administrative organization on the model of those being implemented in the other States of the peninsula. Magistracies with such a denomination are encountered down to about the middle of the 19th century, when the reforms of Pius IX completely renewed the bureaucratic organization of the State and created the ministries. Only exceptionally did some C. survive, as, for example, the C. of Studies which absorbed, after 1849, the abolished Ministry of Public Instruction and which ceased, as regards the part relating to public instruction in the Papal State, on 20 Sept. 1870, as, moreover, did every other pontifical magistracy.

If of such C. it is very often possible to indicate the date and papal document of institution, it is not always possible instead to specify the moment of their end, which occurred for some through union with other bodies, while others were preserved on an honorary basis or even with a different competence. Frequently, moreover, certain C. ceased with the ceasing of the matter of their competence; thus the C. of the Vatican Printing House (established by Sixtus V with the bull Immensia), which had moments of particular importance for the great publishing initiatives of that Pontiff and which ceased when Paul V merged this printing house with that of the Camera, already subject to its own organs of oversight.

Normally the C. were composed of cardinals who, together with technical elements, constituted the directing organ of the C., also called the "Presidency," for which reason, in determined periods, the C. themselves are called Presidencies. Usually the C. was presided over by a cardinal; its organization at the center consisted of a certain number of officials assisted by notaries for the drawing up of acts (normally the notaries came from those attached to the office of the Auditor Camerae); in the periphery the C. was represented by appointees who often also had their own office and place in the hierarchy of provincial officials.

Rarely did the C. for the administrative affairs of the territory meet in plenary session in the presence of the pope, this being reserved only for cases of extraordinary importance; ordinarily they met in the Vatican palace or in their own seat when they had one, but quite frequently the meeting took place at the residence or normal office of whoever was its president; only the most important acts were submitted to the pope for signature; during the vacant See, they were signed by the cardinals who were heads of Order.

Very many, moreover, were the C. which by their nature might better be called commissions and indeed, especially in the first half of the 19th century, similar bodies were established, called indifferently now Commission now C.; for example, the Commission placed over the rebuilding of the basilica of St. Paul (Leo XII, 1825) was also called C. (v. above). One may further recall the C. for the Revision of emphyteuses and of properties alienated during the Napoleonic period and the Commission of Revision of credits toward France, established by edict of 9 Sept. 1819; the C. of Revision of final accounts prior to 1848 and the Commission of Liquidation of credits prior to July 1849.

Previously (17th-18th centuries), however, the C. established for the study of particular questions were generally called particular deputed C., some of which became in fact permanent, such as the C. of the Spogli, to which belonged the matter of the property of deceased ecclesiastics and of cardinals elected popes (a very numerous list of these C., interesting mostly for the administration of the Papal State, whether for the resolution of problems of a general character or concerning individual cities or family questions, may be seen in A. Lodolini, op. cit. in bibl., pp. 69-72).

Below are listed the best known of the magistracies intended for the government of the Papal State, or in any case connected with its administration, which have been called C., arranged in alphabetical order.

I. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS OF ABUNDANCE

Established by Sixtus V (constitution Immensia aeterni Dei of 22 Jan. 1588) to remedy the periodic famines that afflicted the Papal State. The Pope endowed it with a capital of 200,000 scudi, which he declared the patrimony of the poor, so that it might be used for the purchase of grain to be distributed to the people. The C., which already during the pontificate of Sixtus V had not lived up to the lofty purposes for which it had been created, was short-lived.

II. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATION OF WATERS AND ROADS

Established by Sixtus V with the constitution Immensia aeterni Dei of 22 Jan. 1588, and reorganized in 1590 with the Supremia cura regiminis, it had the task of overseeing the maintenance of the roads, bridges and aqueducts of the Papal State; later also that of the preservation of the "banks" and the draining of the marshes. This C. had gathered into itself the competence of certain ancient magistracies which after Sixtus V rose again and were merged anew according as the pontiffs deemed it more opportune for regulating this important matter. Alongside the C., following its judicial competence in matters of roadways, arose the Tribunal of the Roads. With the edict of 8 June 1833 Gregory XVI established the Prefecture of Waters and Roads, which, enriched with the similar attributions that had belonged to the treasurership and the chamberlainship, was merged in 1848, and was to form part of it until 1870, into the Ministry of Public Works, Agriculture, Industry, Commerce and Fine Arts.

III. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS ANCONETANA

Established by Clement XII in 1734 to oversee the operation of the port of Ancona, which he had rebuilt and to which he had granted special customs exemptions.

IV. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS OF AVIGNON

Also called of Avignon and Carpentras, from the names of the most important cities existing in the territory that the Holy See possessed in France. It was instituted by Innocent XII with a rescript of 7 February 1673, recalled in the constitution Romanum decet Pontificem of 22 June 1692, and it was charged with the government of that province; it also judged on appeal the petitions against the sentences of the vice-legate resident in Avignon. The C., composed of prelates and civil officials, was normally presided over by the Cardinal Secretary of State and had the competence and the powers previously attributed to the cardinal legates who had governed those territories in the name of the Holy See. Given the considerable revenues that came to the Holy See from such administration, the C. had moments of particular importance. Clement XIV, with the brief Dudum iam Romani pontificis of 1774, reduced its powers and transformed it into a Presidenza, which a few years later was suppressed after, with the Treaty of Tolentino (19 February 1797, art. 6), the Holy See had renounced in favor of France every right of its own over Avignon and its territory (cf. F. Benoit, Les archives de la S. Congr. d'Av. au Vatican, 1673-1770, Avignon 1924).

V. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS ON THE BARONS OF THE PAPAL STATE

Established by Clement VIII with the bull Iustitiae of 25 June 1596, its purpose was to defend the communities and vassals from the abuses of the barons, especially with regard to the non-payment of debts or the institution, for the purpose of wearing them down, of legal disputes. The C. in this matter also had judicial power, and appeals against its sentences were allowed to the Segnatura di Grazia. It survived until 1796.

VI. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS OF GOOD GOVERNMENT

Established by Clement VIII with the bull Pro commissa nobis of 15 Aug. 1592, for the protection of the interests of the communities of the State, whose economic and financial activity it regulated and whose revenues and expenditures it controlled. Great was its authority and influence over the government of the populations, since it succeeded in imposing on the municipalities the establishment and proper keeping of budgets, and the institution of cadastres for the apportionment of taxes (to this end a C. of Cadastres was set up within it). The C. furthermore attended to the census of the population of the State and supervised the conduct of elections to municipal offices; it also had jurisdictional competence for civil, criminal and mixed cases in which the communities were plaintiffs or defendants. The C. watched over the exact execution of its own provisions by means of the periodic dispatch of visitors who went to every municipality and then drew up extensive reports which still today constitute a source of great importance for local history and bear witness to the care with which those inspections were very often conducted. The bull of Clement VIII was inserted into the statutes of the individual municipalities and all employees had to swear to its scrupulous fulfillment. An object of particular care on the part of the pontiffs, it saw its competence broadened and more precisely defined through various reforms, especially through the work of Paul V, Clement XII, Benedict XIV, Clement XIII and Pius VII.

The importance of the C. diminished in the early years of the 19th century. By edict of 5 July 1831, Gregory XVI removed from it all interference in the administration of the municipalities and left it, but only for certain cases, judicial competence on appeal. It ceased to function following the reforms of Pius IX, on 31 Dec. 1847. Its important archive has entered the State Archive.

VII. GENERAL SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATION OF THE CENSUS

With the motu proprio of 6 July 1816, Pius VII deputed a C., which was called the Congregation of Cadastres, to preside over the operations of forming the new rural and urban cadastre ordered by him "in order to obtain the greatest possible uniformity with regard to contributions" and to correct every error of measurement and assessment existing in the previous cadastral surveys. The C., composed of prelates and technicians, was presided over by a cardinal; in 1822 it changed its name to that of General Census Congregation, and on this occasion its competence and powers were better defined. The work of technical surveying was brought to completion with the compilation of more than 4000 maps, containing the description of approximately 4 million parcels, accompanied by their respective "catastini", on which the assessment was begun. In 1835, following complaints and requests for rectification, a general revision was ordered, for the implementation of which Gregory XVI created the Presidency of the Census, under the direction of a cardinal, which absorbed the subsequent Congregation of Boundaries.

VIII. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS OF BOUNDARIES

Established by Urban VIII (constitution Debitum of 1 Oct. 1627) to watch over the territorial integrity of the Papal State and to prevent the abusive alienation of castles and lands, as well as over the spread of contagious diseases coming from neighboring states. This C. was short-lived, for its competence was absorbed by other offices, such as the Secretariat of State, as regards supervision over the integrity of the boundaries, and by the S. Consulta for the sanitary part.

IX. C. OF THE S. CONSULTA (Congregatio pro Consultationibus negociorum Status ecclesiastici)

Sixtus V, with the constitution Immensa, gave the form and name of C. to an organism already created by Paul IV and composed of 4 cardinals who were to preside over the affairs of the Papal State. With the Sistine reform the C. was composed of 5 cardinals and of the Secretary of State, who was its prefect; to these was reserved the handling of the most important affairs, together with a variable number, from 6 to 8, of prelates called "ponenti" who presided over the affairs of the individual "ponenze" (territorial subdivisions of the State). The C. also had broad civil, criminal and mixed competence over appeals against feudal lords, governors, the elections of magistrates, and over the whole matter pertaining to public health. The state representatives in the provinces and the local officials had to report to the C. every serious case that occurred in their jurisdiction. The judicial competence of the same eventually came to be its principal activity, whence the name, by which it is better known, of Tribunal of the S. Consulta. The C. took cognizance of all crimes committed by laypersons or of mixed forum but imputable to laypersons; cases of particular delicacy could be submitted to it. The sentences of the S. Consulta served as a norm for the other tribunals.

X. ECONOMIC CONGREGATION

Established by Benedict XIV with the constitution Igitur of 18 April 1746 for the good direction and administration of the pontifical treasury, and for the study and preparation of measures intended to improve the functioning of the economic offices of Rome and of the other cities of the State, with particular regard to those of the Apostolic Chamber. Having ceased to function toward the end of the 18th century, it was restored by Pius VII with the edict of 9 July 1800; by a measure of the Secretariat of State dated 26 July 1815 its competence was notably broadened to include oversight of the Treasury and of the Buon Governo, while the obligatory nature of its prior opinion was established for all measures concerning commerce, industry, excise duties and customs.

XI. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS, FERMO

Established by Innocent XII with the bull Constantis fidei of 3 January 1692 for the political and economic government of the city and territory of Fermo, and with the competence and powers of the Congregation of the S. Consulta. Benedict XIV in 1746 reformed its composition and subsequently decreed that the territory of Fermo should not be subject to the jurisdiction of the Congregation of Buon Governo. Clement XIII (1761) abolished the Congregation and subjected the territory of Fermo to ordinary jurisdiction like every other locality of the Papal State.

XII. MILITARY SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS

Established by Pius VII to unite into a single body the offices responsible for military administration, until then divided between the Commissariat of Arms for land forces and the Commissariat of the Sea, the latter also encompassing coastal defense in general, which were administratively answerable to two clerics of the Camera. By decree of 1 June 1832, Gregory XVI, in giving a new organization to the armed forces of the State, abolished that Congregation and established the Presidency of Arms, which would become, following the motu proprio of Pius IX of 29 Dec. 1847, the ministry of Arms. The Military Congregation is not to be confused with the homonymous or Castrense one, established by Gregory XVI in 1838 for the spiritual benefit of soldiers.

XIII. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS NAVALE

Established by Sixtus V (constitution Immensu) for the formation and arming of the fleet for the defense of the Papal State; once a first nucleus of ships had been reconstituted, its competence was assigned to the cleric of the Chamber commissioner for the sea.

XIV. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS GOVERNING THE PROVINCES OF THE PAPAL STATE

Established by motu proprio of 1816 by Pius VII, with consultative functions for matters of some importance concerning the administration of the delegations and with which the delegate invested it; subsequently (1831) it had deliberative functions in matters of budgets and related questions; Pius IX (1850) decreed that, for matters not expressly within the competence of the C., it had only consultative functions. The C. was composed of two or four members, according to the importance (class) of the delegation, renewable every five years by drawing lots among the citizens of certain categories. In 1831 the number of its members was fixed at four and the system of renewal was modified; finally (1850) it was established that two members were to be chosen from among the provincial councillors, who for this reason ceased to be part of their respective councils.

XV. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS FOR THE REVIEW OF ACCOUNTS

Established by Leo XII with the motu proprio of 21 Dec. 1828, it had the task of reviewing the general budget of the Apostolic Chamber and the budgets of the other administrations of the State, as well as supervising the contracts and agreements of the public administrations; it also had the power to present to the pope proposals for improvement in the system of financial and tax administration. It decided administratively the questions relating to the contracts of the Chamber, and, with contentious and exclusive jurisdiction, the cases concerning exemptions from the duties of the Chamber. Composed of 4 clerics of the Chamber who were its presidents in annual rotation, it was entrusted by Gregory XVI to a cardinal (edict of 21 Nov. 1833). The C. ceased to exist on 15 Nov. 1848 with the entry into operation of the Council of State, which absorbed its competence.

XVI. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS SPECIALE SANITARIA

Established by Gregory XVI with an ordinance of 20 July 1834, for the study and reform of health legislation and the regulation of the related matter as well as of the health professions; it had the power to issue decrees binding even on persons subject to privileged forum and could avail itself for executive acts of the secretariat of the S. Consulta.

XVII. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS OF TAX RELIEFS

Established by Sixtus V (constitution Immenza) to decide by summary procedure cases of unjust exactions and impositions of taxes by the various magistrates of the State.

XVIII. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS OF RELIEF

Established by Clement XI with a chirograph of 1 Feb. 1701 to revive agriculture and in general the public economy; to this end the C. asked all citizens to submit suggestions and proposals, some of which gave occasion for useful initiatives, which, however, were not followed up, since, in order to be put into practice, they had first to pass through the competent ordinary offices, which almost always buried the whole matter; thus the C., after three years of intense activity, ended up no longer meeting and in 1715 was abolished.

XIX. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS OF THE TERROR OF THE UPPIZIALI OF ROME

Established by Paul IV on 22 January 1557, with the specific mandate of hearing the complaints and receiving the petitions of all those who appealed to it to demand justice against the violence perpetrated to their harm by public officials of every rank and condition. It therefore provided for the repression of the dishonesty of those unscrupulous functionaries who took advantage of their position to commit abuses of power, and for the regulation of any disputes that might arise between them and the citizens. The C. was composed of twenty cardinals and forty prelates under the presidency of the pope himself; once a month it admitted the claimants to a public audience in order to hear their arguments and proceed on the merits.

XX. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS ON THE ARTISTIC UNIVERSITIES OF ROME

Established by Pius IX with the motu proprio of 14 May 1852, with the purpose of proposing and implementing whatever was deemed appropriate to foster the industrial as well as the religious development of the art and trade associations of Rome. The C., presided over by the cardinal vicar, was composed of the senator and the prelate vice-president of "Roma e Comarca."

XXI. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS OF THE ROMAN UNIVERSITY

Established by Sixtus V (constitution Immenza); besides concerning itself with the good running of the Roman University, it also had the task of directing the universities that had arisen by authority of the Holy See, those of the Papal State and colleges in general, with a competence, not easily definable, over public education. To find a body that presided over the public schools in the Papal State, one must reach Leo XII, who with the bull Quod divina sapientia of 29 Aug. 1824 definitively established the C. of Studies (it should be remembered, moreover, that this important measure descends from the preparatory studies carried out by a C. likewise called of Studies and established by Pius VII with a measure of 20 July 1816). The C. was composed of the Cardinal Secretary of State, the camerlengo and the prefects of the C. of the Index and of Good Government. With the advent of Pius IX the C. was renamed Ministry of Public Education, but with a letter of 9 Aug. 1849 the C. was restored, and as regards matters concerning public education in the Ecclesiastical State it functioned until 1870.

XXII. SACRED ROMAN CONGREGATIONS OF VIGILANCE

Established by Leo XII with the motu proprio of 28 Feb. 1826, to keep watch over the conduct of all employees of the State administrations, acting directly or investigating on petitions sent by private individuals. It proceeded in its operations with the strictest secrecy; it judged by majority of votes, was composed of cardinals and prelates, and its prefect was the Secretary of State. It had a very brief life and in this too recalls the so-called C. of Terror of the Officials of Rome, established by Paul IV in 1557 with the same purposes. - See plate XVI.