Preservation of the Faith and Provision of New Churches in Rome (Pontifical Work for the) — Established by Pius XI (motu proprio *In allocutione*, 5 Aug. 1930; AAS, 22 [1930], p. 337) in replacement and expansion of the Work for the Preservation of the Faith (*Opera della p. d. f.*), created by Leo XIII to form 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 rendered more stable (motu proprio *Litteras ante annos duos*, 25 Nov. 1902; *ibid.*, XXII [Rome 1903], p. 241) by a commission of five cardinals.
This commission consisted of the Cardinal Vicar of His Holiness pro tempore as president, four cardinals, and a prelate, assisted by a prelatical consultative body composed of an administrative section, a committee of gentlemen and ladies, and zealots and zealotesses.
The presence in Rome of the so-called “admitted” or “tolerated” cults, a danger already noted by Leo XIII, was again deplored in the allocution of 30 June 1930 by Pius XI (*AAS*, 22 [1930], pp. 290, 300), who reorganized and expanded the Work, renaming it the “Pontifical Work for the Preservation of the Faith and for the Provision of New Churches in Rome,” and declared the cardinalatial commission with its consultors, etc., created by Leo XIII, to be extinct.
The Work is a juridical person and depends directly on the pope. Its president is a cardinal (appointed by the pope), who reports to the pope on the Work’s activities and represents it in all legal and administrative matters. The Work has two sections: one concerned with the preservation of the faith (the one desired by Leo XIII but adapted to new conditions of the times); the other concerned with the building of new parish churches and their endowments. Funds for this purpose come from sums assigned by the Holy Father from the beginning, from proceeds from the sale of churches to be demolished, and from donations by the Roman people. This section, alongside the cardinal president, has a commission composed of prelates, ecclesiastics, a legal consultant, and two engineers, all appointed by the pope (cf. *AAS*, 22 [1930], p. 426).