TABELLA, UDIENZE di. – This is the name given to those audiences which, according to a fixed rotation, are granted to the cardinals or prelates who head the various dicasteries of the Roman Curia.
They are regulated according to a special schedule (tabella), established each year by the Supreme Pontiff, and are private in character. They therefore differ from the special audiences granted to persons of high administrative or social rank, and from the general audiences granted to groups of greater or lesser size. Depending on the number of participants, the latter take place in the various halls or courtyards, in the Vatican Basilica, or even in the great Piazza di S. Pietro. The office of the Maestro di Camera di S. Santità (v.) is responsible for granting audiences.