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Strictly speaking, the ensemble of departments or ministries which assist thesovereign pontiff in the government of the Universal Church. These are theRoman Congregations, the tribunals, and the offices of Curia (Ufficii di Curia). The Congregations, being the highest and most extensive departments of the Pontifical Government, are treated elsewhere underROMAN CONGREGATIONS. This article deals in particular with the tribunals and the offices of Curia(Ufficii di Curia), in addition to which something will be said of the commissions ofcardinals and the pontificalfamily.
According to the Constitution "Sapienti consilio" ofPius X, the tribunals of the Curia are three: the Sacred Penitentiaria, theSacred Roman Rota, and the Apostolic Signatura.
The origin of this tribunal cannot be assigned with any reasonablecertainty. Some authors, like Cardinal De Luca (Relatio curisae rom. forensis, diss. xii), think that the office of penitentiary dates from the primitive Church; Lega (Prael. de judiciis eccl., II, 263, not.) refers it to the time ofPope Cornelius (204), who is said to have appointed penitentiariespro lapsis. Penitentiaries are certainly more ancient in the East than in the West. TheFourth Lateran Council (1215)ordained the establishment of a penitentiary in eachcathedral. TheRoman Church, if not the first, was at least one of the first in the West to establish penitentiaries. According to some authorities, from the seventh century, that is from the pontificate ofBenedict II, the penitentiary of theRoman Church was acardinal priest; this was certainly the case beforeGregory X (d. 1276).Gregory IX calls Cardinal Nicola de Romania "poenitentiarius felicis recordationis Honorii pap. praedecessoris". Prior to 1205Giraldus Cambrensis mentions Giovanni di S. Paolo, of the title of St. Priscilla, as one who heard confessions in the place of thepope; he was probably acardinal of that title.
The office of penitentiary assumed greater importance when thereservation of cases to thepope or thebishops began. At the end of the sixth century (592)St. Gregory the Great reserved to himself theexcommunication with which he threatened Archbishop John ofLarissa forunjustly deposing Adrian,Bishop ofThebes. The first universally recognized case of a generalpapal reservation of an offence is that ofInnocent II, who, at the Council ofClermont (1130), reserved to himself in every caseabsolution from the crime of striking acleric. This reservation was confirmed by him in the following year at the Council ofReims, where he also reserved to himself theabsolution of incendiaries and their accomplices. Thenceforth reservations increased in number, and an office becamenecessary to answer those who, guilty of some offence, asked of thesovereign pontiffabsolution from the censure incurred, and reserved to theHoly See, or, being unable to repair toRome, asked to be absolved from somesin reserved to thepope by apriest of their own land, who would of course require a special delegation. In the time of Cardinal Bérenger Frédol, penitentiary from 1309 to 1323, the office of the Penitentiaria was in existence, with various subordinates and employees, under the direction of a cardinal penitentiary, whomClement V calledpaenitentiarius major [c. ii. de elect, etc. (I. 3) in Clem.]. UnderAlexander IV andUrban IV, Cardinal Hugo of St-Cher (or of San Caro) was calledpoenitentiarius summus, or sedis apostolicae paenilentiarius generalis. For the earlier history of this tribunal see the excellent work of P. Chouet, "La sacrée pénitencerie apostolique" (Lyons, 1908), in which may be found the details of its original constitution. The present article deals only with the recent constitution of this tribunal.
The Sacred Penitentiary consists in the first place of the cardinal chief penitentiary(paenitentiarius major) appointed by aBrief of thesovereign pontiff.Pius V, followed byBenedict XIV, decreed that this functionary should be chosen from among thecardinal priests, and mustbe a master intheology or doctor of canon law(magister in theologia seu decretorum doctor). He must transact the business of his office personally, or if prevented from so doing, he must provide a substitute in anothercardinal qualified as above stated, and who takes the title of pro-chief penitentiary. During his term of office he acts in his own name, and not in that of thecardinal by whom he is delegated. To the cardinal chief penitentiary is assigned a regent of the Penitentiaria. This officer, like the others of whom we shall speak, is selected by the cardinal penitentiary and presented to thepope; and if approved by him is appointed by a letter of thecardinal himself. After the regent comes thetheologian, whom it has long been usual to select from theSociety of Jesus; then come the datary, the canonist, the corrector, the sealer(sigillatore), and some copyists, besides a secretary, a surrogate(sostituto), and an archivist. The signatura(Segnatura) of the Penitentiaria (its congress) is the meeting at which the most important cases are considered. It is formed of the cardinal penitentiary, thetheologian, the datary, the corrector, the sealer(sigillatore), and the canonist, the secretary also taking part in it, but without a vote. The other members of the meeting are only consulted, the decision of the case being left entirely to the cardinal penitentiary, who, if indoubt as to the extent of his faculties, refers the matter to the Holy Father.
The minor penitentiaries of certain Roman churches and of the Holy House of Loreto must be mentioned as in some way related to the Sacred Penitentiaria. AtRome, they are attached to the three Basilicas of St. John Lateran, St. Peter, and St. Mary Major. At St. John Lateran the office is filled by theFriars Minor. At St. Peter's it was formerly filled byJesuits, but, at thesuppression of the Society byClement XIV, their place was taken by MinorConventuals, who still retain it; these are thirteen in number, but there are also at St. Peter's fourteen other "adjunct" penitentiaries —Carmelites,Friars Minor, Augustinians,Servites. At St. Mary Major the penitentiaries areDominicans. At Loreto theJesuits served as penitentiaries until theirsuppression, when they were succeeded by the MinorConventuals, who still hold the office. The minor penitentiaries may not be removed by their superiors, either fromRome or from Loreto, without the permission of theHoly See. They are authorized to hear the confessions of all thefaithful, not excepting religious, who may come to the minor penitentiaries without the permission of their religious superiors. The faculties of these penitentiaries are very ample; and care is taken, as a rule, that there may bepriests of different languages among them, to hear the confessions ofpilgrims or other foreigners who do not speak Italian.
The cardinal penitentiary assists thepope at the hour of death, reciting the customaryprayers for the dying, etc. It is he, also, who at the beginning of a jubilee, offers to thepope the golden hammer, to give the first three knocks at the Holy Door (Porta Santa) of St. Peter's, which door is opened only during the Holy Year, or year of the jubilee. After thepope, the cardinal penitentiary himself knocks twice with the hammer. It is also the office of the cardinal penitentiary, at the end of the jubilee year, when the Holy Door is to be closed, to present to thepope the trowel and the mortar, to begin the walling up of the door. InHoly Week, the cardinal penitentiary, surrounded by those officers who constitute the signatura, or congress of the Penitentiaria, sits four times —Palm Sunday, Wednesday,Good Friday, andHoly Saturday — in the penitentialcathedra, or chair, set in each of the three above-mentioned Romanbasilicas, and awaits for some time those who may wish to confess to him, striking lightly upon the head with his traditional rod (also used by the minor penitentiaries) those who may kneel before him with that intention, beginning with the officers of the Sacred Penitentiaria. On the part of the faithful thisceremony is public confession of havingsinned againstGod, and a request for forgiveness byecclesiastical authority ofsins committed.
The Sacred Penitentiaria was always provided with great powers, formerly of internaljurisdiction only, but as time went on, of externaljurisdiction also. Under the latter head its work so increased that the administration of this tribunal was greatly hampered. Severalpopes disapproved of this, especiallyPius IV, who planned a reform both of its constitution and of its field of action, or competency. Death prevented him from carrying this into effect: it was realized bySt. Pius V, who, in 1569, by his Constitution "In omnibus", reformed the organization of the Penitentiaria, while he modified its competency by his other Constitution "Ut bonus paterfamilias", bothdated 18 May of that year. The competency of the Penitentiaria was confined to matters of internaljurisdiction. Little by little, the successors ofPius V increased the faculties of this tribunal; and, as many of these new concessions were made by word of mouth (vivae vocis oraculo), there arose newdoubts to be solved; wherefore, to remove uncertaintiesInnocent XII, in 1682, formulated a new list of faculties for the Penitentiaria; but, thesovereign pontiff having delayed the solution of somedoubts, and difficulties having arisen in regard to the interpretation of his Constitution, the desired end was not attained while, on the other hand, new faculties were granted to the Sacred Penitentiaria by succeedingpopes. Consequently,Benedict XIV as constrained to define better the faculties of this tribunal, which that learned pontiff did by his famous Constitution, "Pastor bonus", of April, 1744, wherein he enumerated the faculties of the Sacred Penitentiaria more or less as they had been granted byPius V, although broader in some respects. It is more remarkable that he granted some powers of externaljurisdiction; hence until now the Penitentiaria has had, as an exceptional faculty, the power of dispensing destitute or needypersons from public matrimonial impediments.
The Constitution "Sapienti consilio" ofPius X has confined the competency of the Penitentiaria to its former scope, limiting it to internaljurisdiction. The power to dispense from matrimonial impediments in relation to externaljurisdiction, for all classes of people, having been granted to the Congregation of the Sacraments, the tribunal of the Penitentiaria receivedjurisdiction in all internal matters, in relation to which it is empowered to grantgraces of all kinds — absolutions,dispensations, commutations, ratifications in matter of impediments, condonations. This tribunal also deals with questions ofconscience submitted to the judgment of theHoly See. It should be observed here that the chief penitentiary's powers of internaljurisdiction, even before the recent Constitution, held during the vacancy of theHoly See, while his power of externaljurisdiction, with a few exceptions, was suspended.
As to the procedure of the Penitentiaria, it follows the rules set down in the Constitution "In apostolicae" ofBenedict XIV, in all that is not at variance with the new Constitution ofPius X. It transacts its business under the greatest secrecy, and gratuitously(omnino secreto et gratis). It is chiefly a tribunal of mercy, asBenedict XIV asserts in his Constitution "Pastor bonus"; wherefore it is appropriate that its seal should bear, as is the case, an image of the Virgin Mother with theChild in her arms. Recourse is had to the Penitentiaria by means of a letter (written by the party interested or by that party's confessor) exposing the case, without, however, naming theperson concerned. The letter is addressed to the cardinal penitentiary, and may be written in any language. The name and address of theperson to whom the answer is to be sent must be clearly given. The following may serve as an example of applications to be made to the Penitentiaria: "Your Eminence: Tizio and Caia [which must be fictitious names] wishing to be united in the bonds of holy matrimony ask Your Eminence fordispensation from the following impediments: (1) an impediment of the first degree in the direct line, that now is, and most probably will remain, concealed, originating in illicit relations between Tizio and the mother of Caia, after the latter's birth; (2) an impediment of crime, which is also concealed, originating inadultery between the petitioners while the first wife of Tizio still lived, with a mutual promise of marriage in case of the first wife's death. The reasons for this petition are . . . [here the facts are given]. The answer may be addressed as follows. . . ." Fictitious names may be given, with the request that the answer be sent to the General Delivery, or, if preferred, to the confessor of the interested party. The letter containing the petition should be addressed: "To His Eminence the Cardinal Chief Penitentiary, Palace of the Holy Office,Rome".
We give this example of petitions to the Sacred Penitentiary as thefaithful are in frequent need of recourse to that tribunal. The grace that is sought and the reasons why it should be granted vary, of course, in different cases.
In former times, there was only one Signatura, i.e. there were a few assistants who were commissioned by thesovereign pontiff to investigate the petitions addressed to theHoly See, and to report concerning them. These functionaries were calledReferendarii apostolici. Vitale, in his "Comm. de iure signaturae justitiae", says that there is record of the referendaries as such in 1243.Innocent IV mentions them. As time went on, recourse to theHoly See becoming more and more frequent, whether to obtaingraces or to submit cases to the decision of thepope, the number of the referendaries increased considerably.Alexander VI deemed it expedient to define their office better, which he did by creating a double Signatura — the Signatura of Grace, and the Signatura of Justice — to which the referendaries were severally assigned. As the office of referendary was a very honourable one, it came to be conferred frequently as a merely honorary title, so that the number of the referendaries was unduly increased; andSixtus V was constrained, in 1586, to limit the referendaries of the Signatura of Justice to 100, and those of the Signatura of Grace to 70.Alexander VII combined the referendaries of both Signaturas into acollege, with a dean. These were called "voting referendaries", and actually exercised their office. The others remained as "supernumerary referendaries"(extra numerum). In 1834Gregory XVI gave a new organization to the Signatura of Justice. On the other hand, the Signatura of Grace gradually disappeared: no mention is made of it after 1847 in the catalogues of the tribunals and officials of the Curia.
The Signatura of Grace, also called Signatura of the Holy Father(Signatura Sanctissimi), was held in the presence of thesovereign pontiff, and there were present at it somecardinals and manyprelates, chief among the latter being the voters of this Signatura. At the invitation of the Holy Father, the voters voted upon the matters under consideration, but that vote was merely consultative. The Holy Father reserved to himself the decision in each case, announcing it then and there, or later, if he chose, through his "domestic auditor", as De Luca calls him, or "auditor of the Holy Father"(auditor sanctissimi), as he was called later. The Signatura of Justice was a genuine tribunal, presided over in the name of thepope by a cardinal prefect. The voters of this Signatura were present at it, and their vote was not consultative, but definitive. As a rule, the cardinal prefect voted only when his vote wasnecessary for a decision.
Pius X, in the Constitution by which he reorganized the Curia, abolished the two ancient Signaturas, and created a new one that has nothing in common with the other two. The Signatura now consists of sixcardinals, appointed by thepope, one of whom is its prefect. It has a secretary, a notary, who must be apriest, some consultors, and a few subordinate officers. The present Signatura is a genuine tribunal which ordinarily hasjurisdiction in four kinds of cases, namely:
These are five in number: The Apostolic Chancery; Apostolic Dataria; Apostolic Camera; Secretariate of State; Secretariate of Briefs.
This office takes its name fromcivil law and from the imperialchanceries, and is certainly of very ancient origin in its essence. The primacy of theRoman See made itnecessary that thesovereign pontiff should have in his service officers to write and to transmit his answers to the numerous petitions for favours and to the numerous consultations addressed to him. This office, in course oftime, underwent many transformations, to the most important of which only we shall refer. AfterMartin V had instituted a large number of offices in the Chancery,Sixtus V placed many of them in the class ofvacabili, as they were then called. The origin of this institution was as follows: Thepope was often compelled, in defence ofChristendom, to wagewar, to fit out expeditions, or at least to give financial assistance to the princes who waged suchwars at his exhortation. But the pontifical treasury, on the other hand, was often without the means to defray even the expenses of thePontifical States, and it became imperative to raise funds. Accordingly, thepopes resorted to the expedient of selling several lucrative offices of the Curia, and, as a rule, to the highest bidder. It should be observed, however, that what was sold was not the office itself, but the receipts of the office, e.g., the taxes for the favours granted through the office in question. Some offices were sold with the right of succession by the heirs of the purchaser. This, however, could be done only in the case of an office of minor importance, in the exercise of which no special ability was required. Those offices which entailed grave responsibilities, and which could be filled only bypious and learned men, were sold on the condition that they should revert to the Curia at the death of the purchaser. An aleatory contract, therefore, was made, the uncertainty being, on the one side, the amount of the income of the office and, on the other, the length of life of the purchaser. The prices of the offices, especially of the more desirable ones, were considerable: Lorenzo Corsini, afterwardsClement XII, bought the office of regent of the Chancery for 30,000 Roman scudi — a large fortune for those times. The hazard was not necessarily confined to the life of the purchaser; he was free to establish it upon the life of anotherperson, provided the latter (called the intestatary) were expressly designated. The purchaser was also allowed to change the life hazard from oneperson to another, providing this were done forty days before the death of the last preceding intestatary.
The offices of the Chancery which were transformed intovacabili bySixtus V were those of the regent, of the twenty-five solicitors, of the twelve notaries, auditors of the causes of the Holy Palace, and others.Sixtus V assigned the proceeds of these sales to the vice-chancellor (see below) as part of the latter's emoluments; but this too liberal prescription in favour of thecardinal who presided over the Chancery was revoked byInnocent XI, who assigned the revenue in question to the Apostolic Camera.Alexander VIII restored these revenues to the vice-chancellor, who, at that time, was thepope's nephew, Pietro Ottoboni. UnderNapoleon I the Government redeemed many of thevacabili, and but few remained.Pius VII, after his return toRome, undertook a reform of the Chancery, and wisely reduced the number of the offices. But, as he himself granted to thevacabili the privilege that, by a legal fiction, time should be regarded as not having transpired (quod tempus et tempera non currant), and many proprietors ofvacabili having obtained grants of what was calledsopravivevza by which deceased intestataries were considered to be living, it came to pass that certain offices remainedvacabili in name, but not in fact. Finally,Leo XIII (1901) suppressed all thevacabili offices, ordering his pro-datary to redeem them, whennecessary, the datary's office being substituted for the proprietors.
Since the Constitution ofPius X, the Chancery has been reduced to a forwarding office(Ufficio di Spedizione) with a small personnel; there are, besides thecardinal who presides over the Chancery, the regent, with thecollege of Apostolic prothonotaries, a notary, secretary and archivist, a protocolist, and four amanuenses. The presidingcardinal, prior to the recent Constitution, was called vice-chancellor. The authors who wrote on the Chancery gave many ingenious reasons why that dignitary should not have received the more obvious title of chancellor. Cardinal De Luca regarded these explanations as senseless(simplicitates et fabllae), and proposed an explanation of his own, without, however, insisting on its correctness. According to him, it was probable that the title of vice-chancellor arose in the same way as the title of pro-datary, the custom having been to call the head of the datary office(dataria) the datary(datario), if he were not acardinal, and the pro-datary (prodatario), if he were acardinal. The reason for this must be sought in the fact that the office of datary was really not that of acardinal, but rather of minor dignity; wherefore it did not seem well to give the title of datary to acardinal. The same custom still obtains in the case of anuncio who is elevated to thecardinalate: he retains his position for a time, but with the title of pro-nuncio. This theory of De Luca's, if not altogether certain, is at least probable. The new Constitution, however, establishes that the head of the Chancery shall hereafter be called chancellor, a very reasonable provision, seeing that this office has been filled for centuries bycardinals. For the rest, the office in question was always regarded as one of the most honourable and most important of the Curia, as may be seen from Moroni's account of the funeral of Cardinal Alexander Farnese, vice-chancellor, and arch-priest of theVatican Basilica. The authority of the vice-chancellor was increased when, underAlexander VIII in 1690, there was added to his office, in perpetuity, that of compiler(sommista).
At present the chancellor retains little of his former influence and attributes. He acts as notary in the consistories and directs the office of the chancery. The greatest splendour of the chancellor was underLeo X, from whose successor,Clement VII, this functionary received as residence the Palazzo Riario, long known as the Cancelleria Apostolica, where he resides at the present day. His former residence was in the Palazzo Borgia, from which he moved to the Palazzo Sforza Cesarini, the latter palace being, on this account, known for a long time as the Cancelleria Vecchia. The removal of the vice-chancellor's residence and office to the majestic Palazzo Riario, in the Campo di Fiori, was due to the confiscation of theproperty of Cardinal Raffaele Riario for his share, with Cardinals Petrucci, Sacchi, Soderini, and Castellesi, in a conspiracy against the life ofLeo X. Contiguous to the Cancelleria, in fact forming a part of it, is theChurch of San Lorenzo in Damaso. WhenClement VII assigned this palace as the perpetual residence of the vice-chancellor, he provided that the vice-chancellor should always have the title of that church; and, as it happens that the chancellors are not always of the same order in theSacred College, being sometimescardinal-deacons, sometimescardinal-priests, and sometimescardinal-bishops, this church does not follow the rule of the othercardinalitial churches, which have a fixed grade, being titular — that is churches over whichcardinals of the order ofpriests are placed — or deaconries — churches over which are placedcardinal-deacons. San Lorenzo, on the contrary, is a titular when the chancellor ia of the order ofpriests, and a deaconry when he is acardinal-deacon. When, on the other hand, he is a sub-urbicarianbishop, the chancellor retains this churchin commendam.
The Regency, which is the next office in the order of precedence in the Chancery after the chancellorship, was created in 1377, whenGregory XI returned fromFrance to hissee. Cardinal Pierre de Monteruc, who was the chancellor at that time, refused to follow thepope fromAvignon toRome; and, as it wasnecessary that someone should direct the office of the Chancery, thepope, leaving the title of vice-chancellor to Montéruc, appointed theArchbishop of Ban, Bartolommeo Prignano, regent of this important office. At the death ofGregory XI, in 1378, Prignano was electedpope, and he appointed a successor to himself in the office of regent of the Chancery, which was thereafter maintained, even when the vice-chancellor re-established his residence atRome.
There is not space here to refer in detail to the other offices of the Chancery, and the subject is the less important, since the greater number of those offices have now disappeared for good.
At present the Chancery is charged only with the expedition ofBulls forConsistorialbenefices, the establishment of newdioceses and new chapters, and other more important affairs of theChurch. (For the various forms of Apostolic Letters, seeBULLS AND BRIEFS.) One fact concerning the expedition ofBulls should be mentioned. Formerly, there were four different ways of issuing these documents, namely, by way of the Curia(per viam curios), by way of the Chancery (percancellarium), secretly (perviam secretam), and by way of the Apostolic Camera(per viam cameras). The reason for this is that, while someBulls were taxed, there was no taxation on others, and it wasnecessary to determine upon whatBulls the proprietors of thevacabili offices had aright to receive taxes.Bulls, therefore, which concerned the government of theCatholic world, being exempt from all taxation, were said to be issued by way of the Curia. ThoseBulls of which the expedition was by way of the Chancery were the commonBulls, which, after being reviewed by the abbreviators of the greater presidency (seeABBREVIATORS), were signed by them and by the proprietors of thevacabili, the latter of whom received the established taxes. TheBulls said to be issued secretly were those in favour of some privilegedpersons — as the palatineprelates, the auditors of theRota, and the relatives ofcardinals. They were signed by the vice-chancellor, and they, too, were exempt from taxation. Finally, theBulls of which the expedition was said to be by way of the Camera were those that concerned the Apostolic Camera. Since the style and the rules of the Chancery could not be adapted to theseBulls, they were issued by thesommista, whose office was created byAlexander VI and later, as was said above, united byAlexander VIII with that of the vice-chancellor.
At the present time, all thevacabili having been abolished, these various forms of expedition have been suppressed, the new Constitution providing that allBulls be issued by way of the Chancery, on order of the Congregation of the Consistory for all matters of the competency of that body, and by order of thepope for all others. This is in keeping with the new organization of the Chancery as a merely issuing office. The Constitution "Sapienti consilio" provided that the ancient formulae ofBulls should be changed, and theduty of preparing new ones was given to a commission ofcardinals composed of the chancellor, the datary, and the secretary of the Consistorial Congregation. This commission has already reformed theBulls for theConsistorialbenefices, andPius X, by his Motu Proprio of 8 December, 1910, approved the new formula; and ordered them to be used exclusively after 1 January, 1911. The college of the abbreviators of the greater presidency having been suppressed, and the abbreviators of the lesser presidency having become extinct in fact, the Apostolic prothonotaries in actual office have been appointed to sign theBulls. A very reasonable change has also been made in regard to the dating ofBulls. FormerlyBulls were dated according to the year of theIncarnation, which begins on 25 March. Thismedieval style of dating remained peculiar topapal Bulls, and in time gave rise to much confusion.Pius X ordered these documents to be dated in future according to common custom, by the year which begins on 1 January.
Mention should here be made of what are known as the Rules of the Chancery. This name was given to certain Apostolic Constitutions which thepopes were in the habit ofpromulgating at the beginning of their pontificate, in regard to judicial causes and those concerningbenefices. In many cases thepope merely confirmed the provisions of his predecessor; in others he made additions or suppressions. The result has been an ancient collection of standing rules which remained unmodified even in the recent reorganization of the Curia. These Rules are usually divided into three classes: rules of direction or expedition, which concern the expedition ofBulls; beneficial or reservatory rules, relating tobenefices and reservations; lastly, judicial rules, concerning certain prescriptions to be observed in judicial matters, especially with relation to appeals. The Rules of the Chancery have the force of law, and are binding wherever exceptions have not been made to them by a concordat. In ancient times, these rules ceased to be in force at the death of thesovereign pontiff, and were revived only upon the express confirmation of the succeedingpope.Urban VIII, however, declared that, without an express confirmation, the Rules of the Chancery should be in force on the day after the creation of the newpope. It would be outside of the scope of this article to enter into a minute examination of these rules, all the more because the commission ofcardinals charged with the reformation of the formulae ofBulls has also charge of revising the Rules of the Chancery.
According to some authorities, among them Amydenus (De officio et jurisdictione datarii necnon de stylo Datariae), this office is of very ancient origin. It is not so, however, as appears from the fact that the business which eventually fell to it was originally transacted elsewhere. The Dataria was entrusted, chiefly, with the concession of matrimonialdispensations of externaljurisdiction, and with the collation ofbenefices reserved to theHoly See. To this double faculty was added that of granting many otherindults andgraces, but these additions were made later. Until the time ofPius IV matrimonialdispensations were granted through the Penitentiaria; and as to the collation of reservedbenefices, that authority could not have been granted in very remote times, since the establishment of those reservations is comparatively recent: although some vestige of reservations is found even prior to the twelfth century, the custom was not frequent beforeInnocent II, and it was only from the time ofClement IV that the reservation ofbenefices was adopted as a general rule [c. ii, "De pract. et dignit." (III, 4) in 6°]. It may be said that, while this office certainly existed in the fourteenth century, as an independent bureau, it is impossible to determine the precise time of its creation.
The Dataria consists, first, of acardinal who is its chief and who, until the recent Constitution, was called the pro-datary, but now has the official title of datary. There was formerly as much discussion about the title of pro-datary as about that of vice-chancellor (see above). Some are of opinion that it is derived from the fact that this office dated therescripts orgraces of thesovereign pontiff, while others hold it to be derived from theright to grant and give(dare) thegraces andindults for which petition is made to thepope. It iscertain that, on account of these functions the datary enjoyed great prestige in former times, when he was called the eye of thepope(oculus papae). After thecardinal comes the subdatary, aprelate of the Curia who assists the datary, and takes the latter's place, upon occasion, in almost all of his functions. In the old organization of the Dataria there came after the subdatary a number of subordinate officials who, as De Luca says, bore titles that were enigmatical and sibyllic, as, for example, the prefect of theper obitum, the prefect of theconcessum, the cashier of thecomponenda, an officer of themissis, and the like.
Leo XIII had already introduced reforms into the organization of the Dataria, to make it harmonize with modern requirements, andPius X, reducing the competency of the office, gave it an entirely new organization in his Constitution "Sapienti consilio", according to which the Dataria consists of the cardinal datary, the sub-datary, the prefect and his surrogate(sostituto), a few officers, a cashier, who has also the office of distributor, a reviser, and two writers ofBulls. The new Constitution retains thetheological examiners for the competitions forparishes. Among the Datary offices that have been abolished mention should be made of that of the Apostolic dispatchers, which, in the new organization of the Curia, has no longer a reason for being. Formerly these officials werenecessary, because privatepersons could not refer directly to the Dataria, which dealt only withpersons known to, and approved by, itself. Now, however, anyone may deal directly with the Dataria, as with any of the other pontifical departments. The Dataria, which, as noted above, was commissioned to grant manypapal indults andgraces, has now only to investigate the fitness of candidates forConsistorialbenefices, which are reserved to theHoly See, to write and to dispatch the Apostolic Letters for the collation of thosebenefices, to dispense from the conditions required in regard to them, and to provide for the pensions, or for the execution of the charges imposed by thepope when conferring thosebenefices.
It would be both lengthy and difficult to retrace the former modes of procedure of this office, all the more as it was mainly regulated by tradition, while this tradition was jealously guarded by the officers of the Datary, who were generallylaymen, and who had in that way established a species of monopoly as detrimental to theHoly See as profitable to themselves; thus it happened that these offices often passed from father to son, while theecclesiastical superiors of the officials were to a great extent blindly dependent upon them.Leo XIII began the reform of this condition of things so unfavourable to good administration, andPius X has totally abolished it.
In the Constitution "Sapienti consilio"Pius X provided that during vacancies of theHoly See itsproperty should be administered by this office. Thecardinal-camerlengo presides over the Camera, and is governed in the exercise of his office by the rules established in the Constitution, "Vacante sede apostolica", of 25 December, 1906. (For history and general treatment seeAPOSTOLIC CAMERA.)
After thepromulgation of the Constitution ofInnocent XII, in 1692, the cardinal nephews were succeeded by the secretaries of State. Of the cardinal nephews many authors have written with greater severity than is justified by the facts, although the dignitaries in question may on more than one occasion have given cause of complaint. In times when the life of thepope was in jeopardy from conspiracies formed in his own court (such, for instance, as that againstLeo X mentioned above, under A.The Apostolic Chancery), it was a necessity for thesovereign pontiff to have as his chief assistant one in whom he might repose implicit confidence, and such he could nowhere more surely find than in his ownfamily. The cardinal nephew was called "Secretarius Papae et superintendens status ecclesiasticæ". The cardinal secretary of State, who fills the place of the nephew, has been, and is, in the present day, the confidential assistant of thepope. Hence the office is vacated upon the death of the reigning pontiff. Before thepromulgation of the recent Constitution ofPius X, this office of Curia comprised, besides the cardinal secretary himself, a surrogate, also called secretary of the cipher, and some clerks and subaltern officials. Now, however, there have been amalgamated with it certain other offices which were formerly independent. The Secretariate of State, therefore, is at present divided into three sections, the first of which deals with certain extraordinaryecclesiastical affairs, the second with ordinary affairs, including grants of honours, titles, and decorations by theHoly See otherwise than through the majordomo, the third with the expediting of pontifical Briefs.
For the work of the first section, see what is said on the subject of the Congregation of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, underROMAN CONGREGATIONS. The second section deals with the relations of theHoly See with secular princes, whether through Apostolicnuncios orlegates or through the ambassadors accredited to the Vatican. This section of the office of the secretary of State has charge of the distribution of offices of the Curia, and of the election of the various officers. Through this section titles of nobility — as prince, marquis, count palatine, etc. — are granted and the decorations of theHoly See, which, besides the golden cross proEcclesia et Pontifice, instituted byLeo XIII, include such distinctions as the Supreme Order of Christ (or Order of the Militia of Jesus Christ, as it is called byPius X in his brief of 7 February, 1905), the Order of Pius IX, established by that pontiff in 1847, the Order of SaintGregory the Great, created byGregory XVI in 1831; theOrder of Saint Sylvester; the Order of the Golden Militia, or of the Golden Spur, restored byPius X, and the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, of whichPius X has reserved to himself the supreme mastership.
As has already been said, the third section of the Secretariate of State is exclusively concerned with the expediting of Briefs.
The Secretariate of Briefs to Princes consists of the secretary and two office assistants. The secretary is aprelate whoseduty it is to write the pontifical Briefs addressed to emperors, kings, civil princes, or other exalted personages. He also prepares the allocutions which thepope pronounces atConsistories, and the Encyclicals or Apostolic Letters addressed to thebishops and to thefaithful. All this he does according to the instructions of thepope. He must be a proficient Latinist, since Latin is the language in which these documents are written. The secretary for Latin letters is also aprelate or private chamberlain(cameriere segreto), hisduties being to write the letters of less solemnity which thesovereign pontiff addresses to different personages. He has an office assistant.
Certain commissions ofcardinals which still exist are the Commissions for Biblical Studies, for Historical Studies, for the Administration of the Funds of theHoly See or of the Peterspence, for the Conservation of the Faith inRome, and for the Codification of the Canon Law.
In the wider sense of the term, the Curia includes not only the departments already mentioned, but also what is officially known as the Pontifical Family. The chief members of this body are the two palatinecardinals — cardinal datary and the cardinal secretary of State. Formerly the cardinal datary always lived with thepope; the secretary of State, even now, lives in the Vatican Palace and is the pontiff's confidential officer. After these follow the palatineprelates: majordomo, the maestro di camera, the master of the Sacred Palace, and thecarnerieri segreti partecipanti (the private almoner, the secretary of Briefs to Princes, the surrogate for ordinary affairs of the Secretariate of State and secretary of the Cipher, the sub-datary, the secretary for Latin Letters, the copyist, the embassy secretary, and the master of the robes), to whom are added, as palatineprelates, thesacristan and the secretary of Ceremonies. Nearly all theseprelates live in the Vatican. It would be impossible to refer, here, to each one of them in particular. The history of their offices is the same for each, connected with that of the Apostolic Palace, and with the lives of thepopes. (SeeMAESTRO DI CAMERA DEL PAPA;MAJORDOMO.)
The majordomo and maestro di camera are followed in order in the Pontifical Family by the domesticprelates of His Holiness. These are divided into colleges, the first of which is the College of the Patriarchs,Archbishops, and Bishops, Assistants to the Pontifical Throne; the second is the College of Apostolic Prothonotaries, active and supernumerary. After these come the Colleges, respectively, of the Prelate Auditors of theRota, of the Prelate Clerics of the Apostolic Camera, and of the Domestic Prelates, simply so called. Bishops assistants to the Throne (assistentes solio pontificio) are named by aBrief of the Secretariate of State, and in virtue of their office are members of the Pontifical Chapel(Cappella Pontificia); they wear thecappa magna and wait on thepope, assisting him with the book, and holding the candle(bugia). Moreover, they may wear silk robes — an exclusive privilege of the Pontifical Family, although manybishops, inignorance of this rule, act at variance with it.
For the College of Apostolic Prothonotaries seePROTHONOTARY APOSTOLIC. For the College of Prelate Auditors of the Rota seeSACRA ROMANA ROTA. Of theclerics of the Apostolic Camera, enough has already been said in the present article.
The domesticprelates are appointed as a rule by a Motu Proprio of thepope, occasionally at the petition of theirbishops, and they enjoy several privileges, among which are the use of the violet dress, which is that of abishop (without the cross), thering, the violetbiretta, and thecappa magna. These domesticprelates are appointed for life, and retain their dignity at the death of thepope. After them in the Pontifical Family come thecamerieri segreti di spada e cappa partecipanti, all of whom arelaymen, the staff and the higher officers of the Pontifical Noble Guard, the supernumerarycamerieri segreti or private chamberlains (ecclesiastics), the active and the supernumerarycamerieri di spada e cappa (laymen), thecamerieri d'onore in abito paonazzo (ecclesiastics), thecamerieri d'onore extra Urbem (ecclesiastics), thecamerieri d'onore di spada e cappa, active and supernumerary (laymen), the staff and the higher officers of theSwiss Guard and of the Palatine Guard of Honour, the master of pontifical ceremonies, the privatechaplains, the honorary privatechaplains, the honorary privatechaplainsextra Urbem, thechierici segreti, the College of Ordinary Pontifical Chaplains. It would be impossible to refer, here, to each of these ranks in particular. It may be said, however, of the supernumerarycamerieri segreti that, like the active and thepartecipanti camerieri segreli, their office ceases at the death of thepope; while it lasts they have theright to use the violet dress, of a cut slightly differing, however, from that of theprelates; on account of which difference, they are calledmonsignori di mantellone, while theprelates are calledmonsignori, dimantelletta.
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APA citation.Ojetti, B.(1912).Roman Curia. InThe Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13147a.htm
MLA citation.Ojetti, Benedetto."Roman Curia."The Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 13.New York: Robert Appleton Company,1912.<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13147a.htm>.
Transcription.This article was transcribed for New Advent by Jeffrey L. Anderson.
Ecclesiastical approbation.Nihil Obstat. February 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, D.D., Censor.Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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