Notary and Adjunct Notary in a Cause of Saints

The bishop appoints a notary for the inquiry and may appoint adjunct notaries when the work requires them. Sanctorum Mater article 59 permits any Catholic to be appointed to this office; the Code's general law requires curial notaries to be of unimpaired reputation and above all suspicion, and requires a priest as notary in cases where a priest's reputation could be called into question. Each official takes the prescribed oath before acting. Appointment to the diocesan curia generally does not by itself dispense with the particular decree and oath needed for the cause.^[2]

During a session, the notary records questions, answers, interventions, oaths, exhibits, and procedural circumstances, then signs the act with the presiding official and witness as required. The signature is not decorative. It supplies public ecclesiastical authentication that the written record corresponds to what occurred. An adjunct may transcribe or assist with defined sessions, but every page and correction must remain attributable to an authorized official. Unexplained erasures, loose notes, and unsigned summaries cannot substitute for the canonical acts.

Audio or video recording can assist accuracy when the tribunal authorizes it, but it does not replace the written, signed deposition. The recording must be transcribed faithfully, compared with the testimony, and handled as part of the protected material. Translation likewise requires qualified translators and verification. The notary notes interruptions, exhibits shown to the witness, refusals to answer, and any correction made before signature. These details allow the dicastery to distinguish a witness's own statement from a later paraphrase or editorial inference.

At the end of the inquiry, the original acts form the archetype kept securely in the diocesan archive. An authenticated transcript is prepared for transmission under seal. The notary or transcript official compares it page by page, certifies conformity, numbers and indexes the material, and follows the dicastery's directions for secure delivery. The distinction between archetype and transcript guards against loss and permits verification. It also means that a casual photocopy, even if textually accurate, is not yet the juridically authenticated copy required by the procedure.^[3]

A notary may hear moving testimony and recognize apparent evidence of holiness, yet must not embellish it, advise a witness how to strengthen it, or omit facts thought harmful. Nor does the notary become a promoter of justice, historical expert, medical expert, or postulator. The office certifies acts; other participants test evidence, prepare the cause, or assess expert questions. The sharp division of functions answers both ecclesial reverence and ordinary demands of procedural integrity.^[4]

Officials remain bound by the secrecy imposed for the inquiry and by rules protecting reputations, private correspondence, medical material, and restricted archives. Confidentiality does not authorize concealment from the competent ecclesiastical authorities, and it must be observed together with civil duties that apply to abuse or other crimes. A careful notary records lawful restrictions and the provenance of sealed evidence rather than circulating it informally. Trust in the final Roman examination begins with this disciplined stewardship of persons and records at the local stage.