POSITIO. – A written document in which a fact is presented and affirmed before an authority.
In ancient law, it was called a *positio* the exposition of the contested fact drawn up before the judge by one of the contending parties. The *positiones* did not differ from interrogatories except in form (cf. *Tractatus illustrium in utroque Pontificii, tum Caesarei iuris facultate, iurisconsultorum, de probationibus*, IV, Venice 1584, pp. 2-12; C. Du Cange, *Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis*, s.v., VI, Paris 1938, p. 429). Among theologians, *positio* is synonymous with thesis.
In the language of the Roman Curia, the term *positio* denotes the dossier relating to a specific matter in which, alongside the petition or exposé (which will receive the various official endorsements) and the documentation presented by the party or parties concerned, the opinions of the consultors and the reports of the officials charged with studying the question are often collected. In cases where the matter must be discussed in a *congregation*, the *positio* is printed and then takes on various names according to the congregation, tribunal, or office that makes it public. The term *positio* has been especially used since its origins by the Sacred Congregation of Rites for the treatment of both beatification and canonization causes and of the more significant issues within its specific competence, which must be discussed before cardinals, prelates, and consultors.
For beatification and canonization causes, the following *positiones*, often of considerable length, are prepared and printed:
*super introductione causae*;
*super revisione scriptorum* (in complex cases);
*super non cultu*;
*super validitate processuum*;
*super virtutibus* or *super martyrio* (*nova*, *novissima*, according to the various congregations required for the discussion of the cause);
*super miraculis* (*nova*, *novissima*, as above);
*super dubio an tutum procedi possit ad beatificationem* or *canonisationem*;
*super reassumptione causae* (for canonization).
For the confirmation of a cult, the *positio confirmationis cultus ab immemorabili tempore* is prepared; for the extension to the entire Church of the Office and Mass, the *positio extensionis seu concessionis Officii et Missae universam Ecclesiam in honorem...*; for the ordinary concession of the Office and Mass and the inscription of the elogium in the Martyrology, the *positio concessionis et approbationis Officii et Missae* (sometimes with the addition: *et elogi Martyrologio inscribendi*) *in honorem... instantibus...*
If the *positio* is drawn up by one of the sections of the Sacred Congregation, the above-mentioned titles are supplemented with a note of its compilation *ex officio*; the *positiones* prepared by the Historical Section are always *ex officio*.
In general, the *positio* consists of the following parts:
1) the *informatio* of the patron;
2) the *summarium* with the procedural acts and the documents acquired for the cause;
3) according to the stage of the cause: the *vota* of the theological censors (for writings) or of the experts (for miracles); sometimes *peculiares inquisitiones* (historical research, opinions of consultors, etc.), the postulatory letters, the decrees already issued;
4) the *animadversiones* of the Promoter of the Faith;
5) the *responsio* of the patron.
On the title page of the *positio* are indicated the name of the cardinal ponens or relator, the title of the cause (i.e., the name of the diocese or ecclesiastical circumscription to which the cause belongs), and the specific object of the *positio* with one of the titles mentioned above.
The norms for the compilation of the *positio* are contained in can. 2106, 2109, 2113, 2121, 2122 of the *Codex Iuris Canonici* and in the instruction published by the Sacred Congregation on 2 Oct. 1935, renewed and updated on 8 Jan. 1943.