PRESERVATION OF THE FAITH AND PROVISION OF NEW CHURCHES IN ROME (PONTIFICAL WORK FOR). - Established by Pius XI (motu proprio In allocutione, of 5 Aug. 1930: AAS, 22 [1930], p. 337) in replacement and expansion of the Opera della p. d. f., created by Leo XIII to constitute an effective and vigorous defense against the active proselytism of heresy in Rome (letter to Card. Respighi, 19 Aug. 1900: Acta Leonis XIII, XX [Rome 1901], p. 238) and made more stable (motu proprio Litteras ante annos duos, 25 Nov. 1902: ibid., XXII [ibid. 1903], p. 241) by a commission of five cardinals.
This commission was composed of the cardinal vicar of His Holiness pro tempore, as president, of four cardinals and of a prelate, seconded by a prelatial consulta, constituted of an administrative junta, of a committee of gentlemen and ladies, of zealous men and zealous women.
The presence in Rome of the so-called "admitted" or "tolerated" cults, a danger already pointed out by Leo XIII, was lamented anew in the allocution of 30 June 1930 by Pius XI (AAS, 22 [1930], pp. 290, 300), who reorganized and expanded the Work, calling it "Pontifical Work for the p. of the f. and for the p. of n. c. in R." and declaring extinct the cardinalitial commission with its consultors, etc., created by Leo XIII.
The Work is a juridical person and depends directly on the pontiff. Its president is a cardinal (designated by the pope), who reports to the pontiff on the activity of the Work and represents it for all juridical and administrative purposes. The Work has two sections: one concerning the preservation of the faith (which is the one willed by Leo XIII, but adapted to the new conditions of the times); the other concerning the building of new parish churches and their endowments. The funds for the purpose are drawn from the sums that the Holy Father assigned to it from the very beginning, from the compensations deriving from the cession of churches to be demolished and from the donations of the Roman people. This section, alongside the cardinal president, has a commission, formed of prelates, of ecclesiastics, of a legal consultant and of two engineers, all appointed by the pontiff (cf. AAS, 22 [1930], p. 426).
Bibliography
Guglielmo Felici