POSITIO. – It is the writing in which a fact is set forth and affirmed before the authority.
In ancient law, p. was called the exposition de plano of the disputed fact, drawn up before the judge by one of the parties to the dispute. The positiones differed from interrogatories only in form (cf. Tractatus illustrium in utroque Pontificii, tum Caesarei iuris facultate, iurisconsultorum, de probabionibus, IV, Venezia 1584, pp. 2–12; C. Du Cange, Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, s. v., VI, Parigi 1938, p. 429). Among theologians, p. is synonymous with thesis.
In the language of the Curia, the word p. denotes the dossier relating to a specific matter in which, besides the petition or submission (which will receive the various official endorsements) and the documentation presented by the interested party or parties, the opinions of consultors and the reports of the officials charged with studying the question are often collected. In cases in which the matter is to be discussed in a « congregation », the p. is printed and then takes various names according to the congregations, tribunals, or offices that make it public. The term p. has been used especially from its origins by the S. Congr. dei Riti, both for the proceedings of beatification and canonization causes and for questions of greater importance relating to its specific competence, which must be discussed before cardinals, prelates, and consultors. For beatification and canonization causes, the following positiones, often very substantial, are prepared and printed: super introductione causae; super revisione scriptorum (in complex cases); super non cultu; super validitate processum; super virtutibus or super martyrio (nova, novissima, according to the various congregations necessary for discussion of the cause); super miraculis (nova, novissima, as above); super dubio an tuto procedi possit ad beatificationem or canonizationem; super reassumptione causae (for canonization). For the confirmation of worship, the p. confirmationis cultus ab immemorabili tempore praestiti... is prepared; for extending the Office and Mass to the whole Church, the p. extensionis seu concessionis Officii et Missae ad universam Ecclesiam in honorem...; for the ordinary granting of the Office and Mass and the entry of the eulogy in the Martyrology, the p. concessionis et approbationis Officii et Missae (sometimes with the addition: et elogii Martirologio inscribendi) in honorem... instantibus... If the p. is drawn up by one of the sections of the S. Congr., the information that it was compiled ex officio is added to the titles mentioned above; the positiones prepared by the Historical Section are always ex officio.
In general, the p. consists of the following parts: 1) the informatio of the patron; 2) the ammarum with the procedural acts and the documenta acquired for the cause; 3) according to the stage reached by 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.), postulatory letters, and decrees already issued; 4) the animadversiones of the Promoter of the Faith; 5) the responsio of the patron. On the title page of the p. are indicated the name of the cardinal ponent or relator, the title of the cause—that is, the name of the diocese or ecclesiastical circumscription to which the cause belongs—and the specific subject of the p., with one of the titles mentioned above.
The norms for compiling the p. are contained in cann. 2106, 2109, 2113, 2121, and 2122 of the CIC and in the instruction published by the S. Congr. on 2 Oct. 1935, renewed and updated on 8 Jan. 1943.