Roman Curia

Roman Curia

Lucrezia Borgia presiding over the Roman Curia in Alexander VI's absence
Authority	Vicarious authority received from the Roman Pontiff
Current constitution	Praedicate Evangelium
Effective	5 June 2022
Principal coordinating body	Secretariat of State
Dicasteries	16
Tribunals	Apostolic Penitentiary, Apostolic Signatura, and Roman Rota
Economic bodies	Council, Secretariat, APSA, and Auditor General
Distinct from	Holy See as a whole and government of Vatican City State

Roman Curia is the body of institutions through which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily conducts the affairs of the universal Church in his name and by his authority for the good and service of the Churches.

Disciplinary status: Church discipline

Overview

The Roman Curia (Latin: Curia Romana, lit. '[Royal] Court of Rome') comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See. It is sometimes incorrectly referred to as the Vatican Curia.

The Roman Curia is the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution of which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use in the exercise of his supreme pastoral office and universal mission in the world: thus curialism refers traditionally to an emphasis on the supreme authority of the Holy See within the Catholic Church. It is at the service of the Pope and bishops, fulfilling their function with an evangelical spirit, working for the good and at the service of communion, unity and edification of the Universal Church and attending to the demands of the world in which the Church is called to fulfill its duty and mission (Praedicate evangelium, article 1).

The structure and organization of responsibilities within the Curia are at present regulated by the apostolic constitution Praedicate evangelium issued by Pope Francis on 19 March 2022, which entered into force on 5 June 2022. It was previously regulated by Pastor bonus, issued by Pope John Paul II on 28 June 1988. With the coming into force of Praedicate evangelium, Pastor bonus was fully abrogated and replaced.

Other bodies that play an administrative or consulting role in ecclesial affairs are sometimes mistakenly identified with the Curia, such as the Synod of Bishops and regional conferences of bishops. Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote in 2015 that "the Synod of Bishops is not a part of the Roman Curia in the strict sense: it is the expression of the collegiality of bishops in communion with the Pope and under his direction. The Roman Curia instead aids the Pope in the exercise of his primacy over all the churches."

Nature and purpose

The Roman Curia assists the Pope in his supreme pastoral office and universal mission. Its work includes evangelization, doctrine, worship, appointments, consecrated life, legislation, justice, diplomacy, economic administration, communication, charity, and relations among Churches and religions. These activities are ecclesial service rather than a secular cabinet transposed into the Church. Their final law is the salvation of souls and their immediate mandate is the office of Peter.

Vicarious authority

Curial institutions act in the Pope's name and by authority received from him. They possess real competence within law, but no dicastery forms an independent source of universal jurisdiction. A prefect cannot overrule the Pope, and the Curia as a collective does not govern during a vacancy. Vicarious character also means responsibility: decisions must remain within assigned competence, papal mandates, procedural law, and the rights of affected persons.

Service of Pope and bishops

Praedicate Evangelium states that the Curia is not placed between the Pope and bishops. It serves the Roman Pontiff and, according to their distinct responsibilities, diocesan and eparchial bishops, episcopal conferences, regional groupings, and Eastern hierarchical structures. Curial assistance should strengthen local apostolic governance, supply expertise and universal coordination, and intervene where unity, reserved competence, justice, or the common good requires it.

Praedicate Evangelium

Pope Francis promulgated Praedicate Evangelium on 19 March 2022 and made it fully effective on 5 June 2022, replacing Pastor Bonus. It orders the Curia toward missionary conversion, communion, service of bishops, sound decentralization, interdicasterial cooperation, professionalism, and spiritual integrity. Pope Leo XIV inherited this legal constitution and can interpret, amend, or replace its provisions through competent papal acts.

General norms

The constitution defines curial institutions, equality among dicasteries, procedures, plenary and ordinary sessions, interdicasterial matters, preparation of documents, papal approval, visits ad limina, personnel, and terms of office. Each institution also follows proper regulations and general curial norms. A directory page can show current organization, but legal competence ultimately comes from the governing constitution and subsequent authoritative legislation rather than website layout.

Missionary orientation

Placing the Dicastery for Evangelization first in the constitutional order signals mission as the horizon of central governance. This ordering does not make evangelization doctrinally superior to truth, sacraments, charity, or justice. It calls every office—including financial and judicial bodies—to support proclamation and communion. Administrative efficiency is necessary but insufficient if structures cease to reflect the Gospel, protect persons, or serve particular Churches.

Secretariat of State

The Secretariat of State works most closely with the Pope and coordinates curial activity. Under the current constitution it includes the Section for General Affairs, the Section for Relations with States and International Organizations, and the Section for the Diplomatic Staff of the Holy See. Coordination does not give it universal competence to replace specialized dicasteries; it handles matters assigned by law and the Pope.

General Affairs

General Affairs handles the daily service of the Supreme Pontiff, coordinates matters not belonging to another institution, prepares and dispatches papal acts, attends to official publications and certain appointments, and supports relations with papal representatives. Its Substitute directs the section with the Assessor. The section's centrality is functional, not a sacramental rank above prefects, bishops, or local ordinaries.

Relations with States and diplomatic personnel

Relations with States and International Organizations conducts the Holy See's diplomacy, concordats, and representation in international bodies under papal direction. The diplomatic staff section concerns papal representatives and their formation and service. Ecclesiastical diplomacy seeks freedom of the Church, peace, and the common good; negotiations remain prudential acts and must not be confused with definitive teaching or Vatican City foreign policy alone.

Dicasteries

The current Curia has sixteen dicasteries: Evangelization; Doctrine of the Faith; Service of Charity; Eastern Churches; Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments; Causes of Saints; Bishops; Clergy; Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; Laity, Family and Life; Promoting Christian Unity; Interreligious Dialogue; Culture and Education; Promoting Integral Human Development; Legislative Texts; and Communication.

Under the new constitution, all the Vatican's main departments are now known as "dicasteries". Alongside removing the title "congregation" from Vatican departments, the new constitution renames pontifical councils as "dicasteries". The constitution says: "The Roman Curia is composed of the Secretariat of State, the dicasteries and other bodies, all juridically equal to each other". The curial institutions are now made up of 16 dicasteries. Each dicastery is headed by a prefect, and supported by secretary and under-secretary.

Doctrinal and sacramental competencies

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith promotes and safeguards doctrine and handles grave delicts within its competence through doctrinal and disciplinary sections. Divine Worship oversees Latin liturgy and sacramental discipline; Eastern Churches handles matters proper to Eastern Catholic Churches within its legal scope. Causes of Saints governs canonical investigations and judgments leading toward beatification and canonization. Their acts differ in authority according to subject, form, approval, and law.

Pastoral and institutional competencies

Other dicasteries assist bishops, clergy, institutes, laity, families, educational institutions, cultures, communications, human development, ecumenism, and interreligious relations. Competence can overlap, so the constitution requires cooperation and joint handling. A dicastery's title does not grant ownership of a population or ministry: diocesan bishops, Eastern synods, superiors, pastors, and lay faithful retain responsibilities given them by divine and canon law.

Dicastery for Evangelization

The Dicastery for Evangelization is competent for the fundamental questions of evangelization in the world and for the establishment, accompaniment and support of the new particular churches, without prejudice to the competence of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.

This new dicastery is a merger of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization. It is made up of two sections: one for fundamental questions of evangelization in the world, and one for first evangelization and the new particular churches in the territories within its competence. It is presided over directly by the Roman Pontiff, currently Leo XIV. Each of the two sections is governed in his name and by his authority by a pro-prefect.

Section for Fundamental Issues in World Evangelization

It is the task of this section to study, in collaboration with the particular churches, episcopal conferences and eastern hierarchical structures, institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life, the fundamental questions of evangelization and the development of an effective announcing the Gospel by identifying appropriate forms, instruments and language. The section gathers the most significant experiences in the field of evangelization, making them available to the entire church. It encourages reflection on the history of evangelization and mission, especially in their relationship to the political, social, and cultural events that have marked and conditioned the preaching of the Gospel. The current pro-prefect is Archbishop Salvatore (Rino) Fisichella.

Section for First Evangelization and the New Particular Churches

This section supports the proclamation of the Gospel and the deepening of the life of faith in the territories of first evangelization and deals with everything that concerns the erection of ecclesiastical circumscriptions or their modifications, as well as their provisioning, and it carries out the other tasks in the same way as the Dicastery for Bishops does within the scope of its competence. The section, according to the principle of just autonomy, supports the new particular churches in the work of first evangelization and growth, collaborating with the particular churches, episcopal conferences, institutes of consecrated life, societies of apostolic life, associations, ecclesial movements, new communities, and ecclesial assistance agencies. To this section are entrusted the pontifical missionary societies – the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith, the Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle, the Pontifical Society of the Missionary Childhood, and the Pontifical Missionary Union – as instruments for the promotion of the missionary responsibility of every baptized person and for the support of the new particular churches. The current pro-prefect is Luis Antonio Cardinal Gokim Tagle.

Associated organization

International Council for Catechesis

The International Council for Catechesis (COINCAT) was established by Pope Paul VI on 7 June 1973, as a consultative body within the Congregation for the Clergy. The general purpose of COINCAT, as explained in the Annuario Pontificio, is "to study the more important catechetical themes for the service of the Apostolic See and the episcopal conferences and to present proposals and suggestions." Specifically, it investigates concrete themes and important catechetical problems for the universal church, suggesting solutions and proposals for pastoral action; it provides information on the necessity of catechesis and new approaches being taken in various parts of the world; and it facilitates the exchange of catechetical experiences between the Holy See and the diverse areas in the church and among the members themselves. The current president is Archbishop Salvatore (Rino) Fisichella.

Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, previously known as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition, is the oldest of the dicasteries of the Roman Curia. The task of the Dicastery is to assist in the proclamation of the Gospel globally, promoting and protecting the integrity of Catholic doctrine on faith and morals, drawing on the deposit of faith and also seeking an ever deeper understanding of it in the face of new questions. The dicastery is made up of two sections – the Doctrinal Section and the Disciplinary Section – each coordinated by a secretary who assists the prefect in the specific area of his competence. The current prefect is Víctor Manuel Cardinal Fernández.

Doctrinal Section

The Doctrinal Section fosters and supports study and reflection on the understanding of faith and morals and the development of theology in different cultures, in the light of sound doctrine and the challenges of the times, so as to offer answers, in the light of faith, to the questions and arguments that emerge with the progress of the sciences and the evolution of civilizations.

Disciplinary Section

The Disciplinary Section, through the Disciplinary Office, deals with crimes reserved to the dicastery and dealt with by it through the jurisdiction of the Supreme Apostolic Tribunal therein established, proceeding to declare or impose canonical penalties in accordance with the norms of law, whether common or proper, without prejudice to the competence of the Apostolic Penitentiary.

Associated organizations

Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors is established within the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. Its task is to provide the Pope with advice and to propose the most appropriate initiatives for the protection of minors and vulnerable persons and promote local responsibility in the particular churches for the protection of all minors and vulnerable adults. Since July 2025 the current president has been Archbishop Thibault Verny.

International Theological Commission

The International Theological Commission (ITC) is a body of the Roman Curia that advises the Magisterium in examining doctrinal questions of major importance, particularly the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. The president of the commission is the ex officio prefect of the dicastery.

Pontifical Biblical Commission

The Pontifical Biblical Commission is a consultative body, placed at the service of the Magisterium and linked to the dicastery, to ensure the proper interpretation and defense of the Bible. The president of the commission is the ex officio prefect of the dicastery.

College for the review of appeals by clergy accused of delicta reservata

The college for the review of appeals by clergy accused of delicta reservata is a commission under the jurisdiction of the dicastery composed of bishops tasked to review sexual abuse cases of minors committed by clerics. The current president is Archbishop Charles Scicluna.

Dicastery for the Service of Charity

The Dicastery for the Service of Charity, also called the Apostolic Alms Office, is a special expression of mercy and, starting from the option for the poor, the vulnerable and the excluded, it exercises in any part of the world the work of assistance and help towards them in the name of the Roman Pontiff, who in cases of particular indigence or other need, personally arranges the aid to be allocated.

The dicastery, under the guidance of the prefect, the almoner of His Holiness, in contact with other competent dicasteries, makes concrete, through its activity, the solicitude and closeness of the Roman Pontiff, as pastor of the Universal Church, towards those who live in situations of indigence, marginalization or poverty, as well as on the occasion of serious calamities.

Formerly the Office of Papal Charities, the change gives the office "a more significant role in the Curia". The current prefect is the almoner of His Holiness, Luis Marín de San Martín, OSA.

Dicastery for the Eastern Churches

The Dicastery for the Eastern Churches is responsible for contact with the Eastern Catholic Churches for the sake of assisting their development, protecting their rights and maintaining the one Catholic Church, alongside the liturgical, disciplinary and spiritual patrimony of the Latin Church, the heritage of the various Oriental Christian traditions. It has exclusive authority over the following regions: Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula, Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, southern Albania and Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, and Ukraine. Its members include all Eastern Catholic patriarchs and major archbishops, as well as the prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity. The current prefect is Claudio Gugerotti.

Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments promotes the sacred liturgy according to the renewal undertaken by the Second Vatican Council. The spheres of its competence concern all that which by provision of law pertains to the Apostolic See concerning the regulation and promotion of the sacred liturgy and the vigilance that the laws of the church and the liturgical norms are everywhere faithfully observed. It is the task of the dicastery to provide for the editing or revision and updating of typical editions of liturgical books.

The dicastery confirms the translations of liturgical books into current languages and grants recognitio to their appropriate adaptations to local cultures, legitimately approved by the cocal bishops' conferences. It also grants recognitio to the particular calendars, the proprieties of Masses and of the Liturgy of the Hours of the particular churches and of institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life approved by the relevant competent authority. It is concerned with the regulation and discipline of the sacred liturgy with regard to the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite and for the protection of the sacred relics, the confirmation of the patrons and the granting of the title of minor basilica. The current prefect is Arthur Cardinal Roche.

Associated organization

"Vox Clara" Committee

The "Vox Clara" Committee has been established to assist and advise the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in fulfilling its responsibilities with regard to the English translations of liturgical texts. Representing the different continents, the committee reflects the international character of the English language. This makes available to the Holy See the great wealth of pastoral experience drawn from different cultures. The presidency is currently vacant.

Dicastery for the Causes of Saints

The Dicastery for the Causes of Saints oversees the process that leads to the canonization of saints, passing through the steps of a declaration of "heroic virtues" and beatification. After preparing a case, including the approval of miracles, the case is presented to the pope, who decides whether or not to proceed with beatification or canonization. The dicastery establishes the canonical procedure to be followed to verify and declare the authenticity of sacred relics and to ensure their preservation. It is up to the dicastery to judge the granting of the title of Doctor of the Church to a saint, after having obtained the vote of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith about his or her eminent doctrine. The current prefect is Marcello Cardinal Semeraro.

Dicastery for Bishops

The Dicastery for Bishops oversees the selection of new bishops who are not in mission territories or those areas that come under the jurisdiction of the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches who deal with the Eastern Catholics, pending papal approval. It consequently holds considerable sway over the evolution of the church. It schedules the papal audiences "ad limina apostolorum", required for bishops every five years, and arranges the creation of new dioceses.

The dicastery carries out its activity in a spirit of service and in close collaboration with the episcopal conferences and their regional and continental unions. It endeavors to work with them with regard to the celebration of particular councils and the establishment of episcopal conferences and the recognition of their statutes. It receives the acts and decrees of the above-mentioned bodies, examines them and, after consulting the dicasteries concerned, grants the necessary recognition to the decrees.

As of 26 September 2025, Archbishop Filippo Iannone is its prefect.

Associated organization

Pontifical Commission for Latin America

The Pontifical Commission for Latin America is instituted at this dicastery. Its task is to study questions concerning the life and development of these particular churches in order to assist the dicasteries concerned by reason of their competence and to assist them with advice and financial means. It is also responsible for fostering relations between international and national ecclesiastical institutions that work for the regions of Latin America and curial institutions. The president of the commission is ex officio prefect of the dicastery.

Dicastery for the Clergy

The Dicastery for the Clergy is the department responsible for overseeing matters regarding priests and deacons not belonging to institutes of consecrated life or societies of apostolic life, as well as for the seminaries (except those regulated by the dicasteries for Evangelization and for the Oriental Churches), and houses of formation of religious and secular institutes. It handles requests for dispensation from active priestly ministry, as well as the legislation governing presbyteral councils and other organizations of priests around the world.

The dicastery deals with matters within the competence of the Holy See concerning the general discipline concerning the diocesan council for economic affairs, the presbyteral council, the college of consultors, the chapter of canons, the diocesan pastoral council, the parishes, the churches, the associations of clerics and public clerical associations; to the latter it may grant the faculty of incardination, after consulting the competent dicasteries and receiving the approval of the Roman Pontiff. It deals with ecclesiastical archives and the extinction of pious wills in general and pious foundations. The current prefect is Lazarus Cardinal You Heung-sik.

Associated organizations

Pontifical Work for Priestly Vocations

The Pontifical Work for Priestly Vocations was established to encourage and coordinate efforts to promote vocations to the sacred priesthood of the Catholic Church. It is concerned primarily with setting forth a true and clear notion of the nature, the necessity, and the excellence of the priesthood; promotes the offering of Masses, Communion services, prayers and works of penance and charity to the end that God may grant many priestly vocations; and encourages the growth of the project that is established in each diocese for priestly vocations, and tries to have such projects set up where they do not already exist. The president of the commission is the ex officio prefect of the dicastery.

Interdicasterial Commission for Candidates to Sacred Order

The Interdicasterial Commission for Candidates to Sacred Order is established within the dicastery responsible for the selection of candidates for Holy Orders, including their human, spiritual, doctrinal and pastoral training in seminaries and in special centers for permanent deacons, to their continuing formation, including their living conditions and ways of exercising the ministry. The president of the commission is the ex officio prefect of the dicastery.

Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and for Societies of Apostolic life

The Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and for Societies of Apostolic Life is responsible for the promotion, animation and regulation of the practice of the evangelical counsels as it is lived out in the approved forms of consecrated life, and also with regard to the life and activity of Societies of Apostolic Life throughout the Latin Church. It is the responsibility of the dicastery to approve institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life, to erect them and also to grant the license for the validity of the erection of an institute of consecrated life or society of apostolic life of diocesan right by the bishop. The competence of the dicastery also extends to Third Orders and to associations of the faithful erected with a view to becoming an institute of consecrated life or a society of apostolic life. The current prefect is Simona Brambilla, and the current pro-prefect is Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime.

Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life

The Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life is competent for the enhancement of the apostolate of the lay faithful, the pastoral care of the young, of the family and its mission according to God's plan, of the elderly, and for the promotion and protection of life. In pursuing its own competences, the dicastery maintains relations with the particular churches, with the Bishops' Conferences, their regional and continental Unions, the Oriental Hierarchical Structures and other ecclesial organisms, promoting exchange among them and offering its collaboration so that the values and initiatives connected with these matters may be promoted.

The dicastery expresses the Church's special solicitude for young people, promoting their protagonism in the midst of the world's challenges. It studies and deepens, with the support of experts, the major causes of crises in marriages and families, with particular attention to the experiences of those involved in failed marriages, especially with regard to children, in order to promote a greater awareness of the value of the family and the role of parents in society and in the Church. The current prefect is Kevin Joseph Cardinal Farrell.

Associated organizations

Pontifical Academy for Life

The dicastery collaborates with the Pontifical Academy for Life in matters concerning the protection and promotion of human life and makes use of its expertise. It is dedicated to promoting the Church's consistent life ethic. It also does related research on bioethics and Catholic moral theology. As of May 27, 2025, the president of the academy is Archbishop Renzo Pegoraro.

Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for Matrimonial and Family Science

The Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for Matrimonial and Family Science is devoted to the study of the truth about the human person in all of its dimensions: theological, philosophical, anthropological, and cosmological. The institute centers its study of the person in the community that is the original cell of human society: marriage and family. The current president of the institute is Monsignor Philippe Bordeyne.

Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity

It is the responsibility of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity to apply appropriate initiatives and activities to the ecumenical commitment, both within the Catholic Church and inrelations with other Churches and Ecclesial Communities, to restore unity among Christians. It is the task of the dicastery to implement the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and the post-conciliar Magisterium concerning ecumenism. It is responsible for the correct interpretation and faithful application of ecumenical principles and directives established to guide, coordinate and develop ecumenical activity. It also coordinates the ecumenical initiatives of other curial institutions, offices and bodies connected with the Holy See with other churches and ecclesial communities. The current prefect is Cardinal Kurt Koch.

Associated organization

Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews

In order to advance the relationship between Catholics and Jews, a Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews is established at the dicastery. It is tasked with maintaining positive theological ties with Jews and Judaism. The president of the commission is the ex officio prefect of the dicastery.

Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue

The Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue promotes and regulates relations with members and groups of religions that are not included under the name of Christianity, with the exception of Judaism, whose competence falls to the Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity. The dicastery works to ensure that dialogue with the followers of other religions takes place in an appropriate manner, with an attitude of listening, esteem and respect. It fosters various forms of relations with them so that, through the contribution of all, peace, freedom, social justice, the protection and safeguarding of creation, and spiritual and moral values may be promoted. The current prefect is George Jacob Cardinal Koovakad.

Associated organization

Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims

For the purpose of promoting relations with members of different religious beliefs, the Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims is established within the dicastery. It tasked with maintaining positive theological ties with Muslims. The president of the commission is the ex officio prefect of the dicastery.

Dicastery for Culture and Education

The Dicastery for Culture and Education works for the development of human values in people within the horizon of Christian anthropology, contributing to the full realization of the following of Jesus Christ. The dicastery is made up of the Section for Culture, which is dedicated to the promotion of culture, pastoral animation, and the valorization of the cultural patrimony, and the Section for Education, which develops the fundamental principles of education with reference to schools, higher institutes of Catholic and ecclesiastical studies and research, and is competent for hierarchical appeals in these matters. The dicastery is formed through the merger of the Pontifical Council for Culture with the Congregation for Catholic Education. The current prefect is José Cardinal Tolentino de Mendonça.

Section for Culture

The Section for Culture promotes and sustains relations between the Holy See and the world of culture, confronting the many requests emerging from it and especially encouraging dialogue as an indispensable means of true encounter, reciprocal interaction and mutual enrichment, so that the various cultures may become increasingly open to the Gospel as well as the Christian faith in them, and so that lovers of the arts, literature and science, of technology and sport may know and feel recognized by the Church as persons at the service of the sincere search for truth, goodness and beauty.

Section for Education

The Section for Education collaborates with the diocesan/episcopal bishops, the Bishops' Conferences and the Oriental Hierarchical Structures so that the fundamental principles of education, especially Catholic education, may be received and deepened so that they may be implemented contextually and culturally. It is competent to carry out the formalities necessary for the recognition by states of academic degrees granted in the name of the Holy See and to approve and erect Institutes of Higher Studies and other ecclesiastical academic institutions.

Associated organizations

Pontifical Work for Ecclesiastical Vocations

The Pontifical Work for Ecclesiastical Vocations is tasked to promotes vocations to the priesthood of the Catholic Church. It is responsible to intensify the desire for promoting, safeguarding, and assisting ecclesiastical vocations; to disseminate an accurate notion of the dignity and necessity of the Catholic priesthood; and to call the faithful of the whole world into a close union of prayers and pious exercises. The president of the commission is the ex officio prefect of the dicastery.

Pontifical Academies

The Dicastery for Culture and Education also coordinates the activity of some Pontifical Academies, some of which are of ancient foundation, in which the major international personalities of the theological and humanistic sciences are co-opted, chosen from among believers and non- believers. These are currently the:

1. Pontifical Academy of Fine Arts and Letters of the Virtuosi al Pantheon;
2. Pontifical Academy of Archaeology;
3. Pontifical Academy of Theology;
4. Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas;
5. Pontifical International Marian Academy;
6. Pontifical Academy of Martyrs; and
7. Pontifical Academy for Latin.

Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development

The Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development has the task of promoting the human person and his or her God-given dignity, human rights, health, justice and peace. It is primarily concerned with issues related to the economy and work, care for creation and the earth as "common home", migration and humanitarian emergencies. It deepens and disseminates the Church's social teaching on integral human development and recognizes and interprets in the light of the Gospel the needs and concerns of humankind in its own time and in the future. The dicastery collaborates with the works of the Holy See for humanitarian aid in crisis areas, cooperating with ecclesial humanitarian intervention and development agencies. Effective 1 September 2026, the prefect is Alessandra Smerilli, and the pro-prefect is Fabio Cardinal Baggio, CS.

Associated organization

Vatican COVID-19 Commission

The Vatican COVID-19 Commission was created to express the Church's solicitude and care for the whole human family facing the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on a wealth of expertise from local communities, global platforms, and academic experts, the Commission seeks bold, broad changes: dignity in work, new structures for the common good, solidarity at the heart of governance, and nature in harmony with social systems. The president of the commission is the ex officio prefect of the dicastery.

Dicastery for Legislative Texts

The Dicastery for Legislative Texts promotes and spreads within the Church the knowledge and acceptance of the canon law of the Latin Church and that of the Eastern Churches and offers assistance in its correct application. It carries out its duties in the service of the Roman Pontiff, of the curial institutions and offices, of the diocesan/eparchal bishops, of the Episcopal Conferences, of the Eastern hierarchical structures, and also of the supreme moderators of the institutes of consecrated life and of the societies of apostolic life of pontifical right.

In carrying out its tasks, it avails itself of the collaboration of canonists belonging to different cultures and working on different continents. It promotes the study of the Canon Law of the Latin Church and of the Eastern Churches and of other legislative texts by organizing interdicasterial meetings, conferences and by promoting associations of international and national canonists. Archbishop Anthony Randazzo was appointed its prefect on March 25, 2026.

Dicastery for Communications

The Dicastery for Communication deals with the entire communication system of the Apostolic See and, in structural unity and with respect for the relative operational characteristics, unifies all the realities of the Holy See in the field of communication, so that the entire system responds coherently to the needs of the Church's evangelizing mission in a context characterized by the presence and development of digital media, by the factors of convergence and interactivity. The dicastery provides for the needs of the Church's evangelizing mission using the production models, technological innovations and forms of communication currently available and those that may develop in the time to come. In addition to the expressly operative functions assigned to it, also deepens anddevelops the theological and pastoral aspects of the Church's communicative activity. Effective 1 November 2026, the prefect is Maria Montserrat Alvarado.

Associated organizations

Vatican Press

The Vatican press operates in the technological and productive sector, taking forward carrying out all the activities related to the printing and the packaging of the Pontifical documents, and the official documents of the various dicasteries and offices of the Holy See and the Vatican City State. In addition, it also prints the Vatican Newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, and it takes care of other editorial products publications of the entities connected to the Holy See.

L'Osservatore Romano

The Osservatore Romano is the daily newspaper of Vatican City State which reports on the activities of the Holy See and events taking place in the Church and the world. The current director manager is Professor Andrea Monda.

Press Office of the Holy See

The Holy See Press Office publishes the official news of the activities of the Holy Father and of the various departments of the Holy See. This includes speeches, messages, and other documents, as well as statements issued by the director of the press office. The current director is Matteo Bruni.

Judicial bodies

The Apostolic Penitentiary, Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, and Tribunal of the Roman Rota have distinct functions. They are not interchangeable courts of general appeal. The Penitentiary primarily serves the internal forum and indulgences; the Signatura is the Church's supreme tribunal for assigned judicial and administrative matters; the Rota ordinarily judges appeals and other cases committed by law or the Pope.

Roman Rota and Signatura

The Roman Rota promotes unity of jurisprudence and often hears matrimonial nullity appeals, though its competence is broader. The Signatura judges complaints of nullity and restitutio in integrum in defined cases, conflicts of competence, and contentious-administrative recourse against singular administrative acts under the conditions of law; it also supervises correct administration of justice. Neither tribunal replaces every diocesan or Eastern tribunal as a court of first instance.

Apostolic Penitentiary

The Penitentiary handles matters of the internal forum, sacramental and non-sacramental, including absolutions, dispensations, commutations, sanations, and other favors reserved to the Holy See, while also regulating indulgences. Its secrecy protects conscience and the sacramental seal. This jurisdiction should not be confused with the penal investigation of external-forum offenses or with a general office for public disciplinary complaints.

Economic bodies and stewardship

The principal economic institutions named in Praedicate Evangelium are the Council for the Economy, Secretariat for the Economy, Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, and Office of the Auditor General. Their differentiated oversight, control, management, and audit functions seek transparency, sustainability, lawful administration, and use of ecclesiastical goods for mission. The Vatican bank, formally the Institute for the Works of Religion, has its own juridical identity and should not be mislabeled as the Curia's treasury.

Patrimony and budgets

APSA administers designated movable and immovable patrimony and provides treasury functions under law. The Secretariat for the Economy exercises control and supervision and prepares financial planning; the Council sets guidelines and oversees economic structures. Exact portfolios and procedures can change by papal legislation. Ecclesiastical property is not private wealth of officials: administrators are stewards bound by purpose, donor intent, canon law, civil obligations, and accountability.

Audit and financial safeguards

The Auditor General examines accounts and can address anomalies under its statute. Supervisory bodies, procurement rules, anti-money-laundering standards, and judicial cooperation protect integrity. Structures cannot substitute for virtue, but appeals to spiritual mission cannot substitute for controls. Fraud, favoritism, concealment, and reckless management injure the poor and the credibility of proclamation and require truthful investigation, due process, restitution, and reform.

Offices and associated institutions

Praedicate Evangelium identifies the Prefecture of the Papal Household, Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, and Camerlengo-related Apostolic Camera among curial offices. Commissions, academies, archives, libraries, universities, charitable bodies, communications entities, and other institutions are connected with the Holy See in different juridical ways. Appearing in a Holy See directory does not make every body a dicastery or grant the same authority.

Papal household and liturgical celebrations

The Prefecture orders audiences, ceremonies, and aspects of the papal household. The liturgical office prepares and directs papal liturgies according to the Church's books and papal competence. Ceremonial visibility can make these offices familiar, but they do not determine doctrine or universal liturgical law merely through staging. Papal celebrations exemplify Roman worship while remaining subject to the same sacramental truth and ecclesial purpose.

Commissions and academies

Pontifical commissions and academies study specialized questions, preserve heritage, advise authorities, or administer defined works. The Pontifical Biblical Commission and International Theological Commission assist the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith under their statutes. Scholarly documents from such bodies can be important but are not automatically acts of the Magisterium. Their authority follows approval, mandate, genre, and content.

Personnel and leadership

Curial service includes cardinals, bishops, priests, deacons, religious, and lay faithful from many countries. Praedicate Evangelium permits any member of the faithful to preside over an institution when competence, governing power, and the institution's nature allow, subject to papal appointment. This does not erase sacramental distinctions: offices intrinsically requiring Holy Orders remain ordered accordingly, while administrative authority can arise from canonical mission rather than ordination alone.

Terms, competence, and formation

Appointments commonly use five-year terms and require professional competence, pastoral experience, sound doctrine, prudence, and knowledge of the universal Church. Rotation can renew service and return personnel to local Churches, while continuity preserves expertise. National representation is useful but no official acts as an ambassador of a faction. Curial work requires confidentiality without turning secrecy into impunity or withholding reasons where justice requires them.

Spiritual character of service

Prayer, sacramental life, integrity, courtesy, diligence, and concern for persons are not optional decorations on technical work. A perfectly formatted decree can still fail pastorally if delayed, arbitrary, or detached from evidence; warm intentions cannot cure legal incompetence. Praedicate Evangelium joins spiritual renewal to professional excellence because the Curia handles matters affecting vocations, consciences, rights, missions, and communion.

Acts, approval, and legal effect

Curial texts include decrees, instructions, declarations, responsa, rescripts, notifications, notes, regulations, and administrative decisions. Titles alone do not determine force. One must identify the issuing institution, competence, papal mandate, form of approval, publication, addressees, subject, and whether the act interprets doctrine, executes law, decides a case, or offers guidance. Approval in common form differs from papal adoption in specific form.

Interdicasterial procedure

Matters touching several competencies require consultation, joint sessions, or interdicasterial commissions. Significant documents ordinarily pass through established review and are submitted to the Pope as law requires. Coordination reduces contradictory directives, but responsibility must remain identifiable. An office cannot evade review by relabeling a substantive decision as informal correspondence, and recipients should receive reasons and avenues of recourse where the law provides them.

Hierarchical recourse

Some curial institutions decide hierarchical recourse against administrative acts of lower authorities; the Signatura can judge defined contentious-administrative challenges to curial decisions. Time limits and standing matter. Recourse is an exercise of ecclesial communion and protection of rights, not rebellion. Conversely, invoking Rome does not suspend every local act automatically or guarantee the appellant's preferred outcome. Competent advice is important because judicial and administrative remedies differ.

Relations with particular Churches

Bishops communicate with curial institutions through reports, visits ad limina, consultations, petitions, recourses, appointment processes, dispensations, and matters reserved to the Holy See. Curial officials should learn local realities and avoid imposing solutions based on one region's assumptions. Local pastors must provide accurate information and cannot invoke subsidiarity to evade universal doctrine, safeguarding, financial accountability, or rights.

Visits ad limina

Diocesan bishops periodically venerate the tombs of Peter and Paul, meet the Pope, and confer with competent dicasteries. The visit expresses communion and allows reciprocal knowledge rather than a corporate performance review alone. Written reports provide institutional evidence, while personal encounter can expose pastoral realities statistics miss. Eastern Catholic visits follow their own law and relationship with synodal structures.

Decentralization and reservation

Sound decentralization leaves ordinary pastoral decisions to bishops and other proper authorities. Reservation is justified where universal unity, impartial judgment, scarce expertise, international coordination, or grave matters require it. The correct distribution is a canonical and prudential question. Both reflexive Roman control and reflexive local autonomy can harm communion; reform should specify competence clearly and test whether processes serve persons promptly and justly.

History and reform

Central papal offices grew from the Roman presbyterate, notaries, chancery, household, tribunals, consistories, and congregations developed across centuries. Sixtus V's Immensa aeterni Dei, Saint Pius X's Sapienti consilio, Saint Paul VI's Regimini Ecclesiae Universae, Saint John Paul II's Pastor Bonus, and Francis's Praedicate Evangelium reorganized structures for changing needs. Institutional continuity does not require unchanged names or competencies.

Reformable institution

The Curia is necessary in practical form because the Pope requires collaborators, but its exact departments are ecclesiastical discipline rather than divine law. Reform can merge councils into dicasteries, alter reporting lines, create audits, broaden international personnel, or return decisions locally. No reform abolishes the Pope's responsibility for acts done in his authority; delegation distributes work, not ultimate pastoral accountability.

Vacancy of the Apostolic See

At papal death or resignation, heads of curial institutions cease or have their functions restricted according to special law, with defined exceptions needed for continuity. No dicastery issues major innovations or supplies the missing primacy. The Apostolic Camera handles assigned temporal affairs, and the College of Cardinals oversees only limited business. A new Pope can confirm officials and determine future structures.

Distinctions and common errors

The Roman Curia is not the government of the Catholic Church in exactly the way a national cabinet governs citizens. It has universal ecclesiastical competence through the Pope, while bishops possess proper governance and the faithful possess obligations, rights, and charisms. It is also not identical with the Diocese of Rome, the Italian bishops' conference, the Holy See in every sense, Vatican City State, or the Latin Church.

Authority is not uniform

A doctrinal declaration, judicial sentence, disciplinary instruction, press statement, academy paper, and unsigned website profile do not bind alike because each appears under a Vatican domain. Careful Catholic reading asks what juridical and magisterial act occurred. This precision strengthens obedience by attaching it to actual authority and prevents news cycles, unofficial commentary, or institutional prestige from masquerading as universal teaching.

Criticism and faithful reform

Documented delay, opacity, incompetence, financial misconduct, abuse of office, or failure to hear local Churches can be criticized and corrected without denying papal primacy. Accusations require evidence and due process; sweeping conspiracy claims obscure real accountability. Curial service looks right when it is doctrinally faithful, legally exact, timely, humane, internationally informed, financially honest, and visibly directed toward the good of souls.

Historical background

The Curia was created by Pope Urban II (r. 1088–1099). The Roman Curia (Latin: Curia Romana, lit. '[Royal] Court of Rome') comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See.

Curia in medieval and later Latin usage means "court" in the sense of "royal court" rather than "court of law". The Roman Curia is sometimes anglicized as the Court of Rome, as in the 1534 Act of Parliament (Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533 s. III) that forbade appeals to it from England. It is the papal court and assists the Pope in carrying out his functions. The Roman Curia can be loosely compared to cabinets in governments of countries with a Western form of governance, but the only sections that can be directly compared with specific ministries of a civil government are the Second Section of the Secretariat of State, known also as the Section for Relations with States, the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State (established in 1939 by Pius XII), and the Congregation for Catholic Education.

It is normal for every Latin Catholic diocese to have its own curia for its administration. For the Diocese of Rome, these functions are not handled by the Roman Curia, but by the Vicariate General of His Holiness for the City of Rome, as provided by the apostolic constitution Ecclesia in Urbe. The pope has, going back to St. Peter, been the bishop of Rome. There are also the Vicar General of Rome, traditionally a cardinal, and his deputy, the vicegerent, who holds the personal title of archbishop, who supervise the governance of the diocese by reference to the Pope himself, but with no more dependence on the Roman Curia, as such, than other Catholic dioceses throughout the world. A distinct office, the Vicar General for Vatican City, administers the portion of the Diocese of Rome in Vatican City.

Until recently, there still existed hereditary officers of the Roman Curia, holding titles denominating functions that had ceased to be a reality when the Papal States were lost to the papacy. A reorganization, ordered by Pope Pius X, was incorporated into the 1917 Code of Canon Law. Further steps toward reorganization were begun by Pope Paul VI in the 1960s. Among the goals of this curial reform were the modernization of procedures and the internationalization of the curial staff. These reforms are reflected in the 1983 Code of Canon Law. The offices of the Vatican City State are not part of the Roman Curia, which is composed only of offices of the Holy See. As of 2020, the Curia comprises the offices listed in the sections below. Most members of the Curia except, among some others, the Cardinal Camerlengo and the Major Penitentiary resign their office immediately after a papal death or resignation. See sede vacante.

Structure

The Roman Curia is composed of the Secretariat of State, the dicasteries and the bodies, all of which are juridically equal. By the term "curial institutions" is meant the units of the Roman Curia. The offices of the Roman Curia are the Prefecture of the Papal Household, the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff and the Camerlengo of Holy Roman Church (Praedicate evangelium, Article 12).

In general, each curial institution is composed of a prefect or equivalent, a suitable number of Members, one or more Secretaries who assist the prefect, together with, but in a subordinate line, one or more under-secretaries, who are flanked by various Officials and Consultors (Praedicate evangelium, Article 13 § 1).

The members of the curial institutions are appointed from among the Cardinals residing both in and outside Rome, to whom are added, in as much as they are particularly expert in the matters in question, some bishops, especially diocesan/eparchial ones, as well as, according to the nature of the dicastery, some priests and deacons, some members of institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life and some lay faithful (Praedicate evangelium, Article 15).

The prefect, or his equivalent, the members, the secretary, the undersecretary and the other major officials assigned to heads of office, equivalents and experts, as well as the consultors, are appointed by the Roman Pontiff for five-year terms. As a rule, after five years, clerical officials and members of institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life who have served in curial institutions and offices return to pastoral care in their diocese or parish or in the institutes or societies to which they belong. Should the superiors of the Roman Curia deem it opportune, the service may be extended for another period of five years (Praedicate evangelium, Article 17).

Despite this general structure, some curial institutions have a different structure either due to a special law made for the curial institution or because of the nature of the curial institution (Praedicate evangelium, Article 13 § 2). Some examples of curial institutions with a special structure are the Apostolic Penitentiary (Praedicate evangelium, Article 190) and the Tribunal of the Roman Rota (Praedicate evangelium, Article 201).

In the event of the Apostolic See becoming vacant, all the heads of curial institutions and members cease to hold office. Exceptions to this rule include the Major Penitentiary, who continues to carry out the ordinary business within his competence, proposing to the College of Cardinals those matters that he would report to the Roman Pontiff; and the almoner of His Holiness, who continues in the exercise of works of charity according to the same criteria used during the pontificate, remaining in the employ of the College of Cardinals until the election of the new Roman Pontiff. During the vacancy of the Apostolic See, the secretaries are responsible for the ordinary government of curial institutions, taking care only of matters of ordinary administration. Within three months of the election of the Roman Pontiff, they are to be confirmed in their office by him. The Master of Papal Liturgical Celebrations assumes the duties provided for in the norms concerning the vacancy of the Apostolic See and the election of the Roman Pontiff (Praedicate evangelium, Article 18).

Secretariat

Secretariat of State

The Secretariat of State is the oldest dicastery in the Roman Curia. As the Papal Secretariat, it closely assists the Roman Pontiff in the exercise of his supreme mission. It comprises three sections: the Section for General Affairs, under the direction of the Substitute, with the assistance of the Assessor; the Section for Relations with States and International Organizations, under the direction of its secretary, with the assistance of the undersecretary and an undersecretary for the multilateral sector; and the Section for the Diplomatic Staff of the Holy See, under the direction of the secretary for papal representations, with the assistance of an undersecretary. The current secretary of the state is Pietro Cardinal Parolin.

Section for General Affairs

The Section for General Affairs is responsible for dealing with the following matters concerning the daily service of the Roman Pontiff: to examine those matters outside the ordinary competence of the curial institutions and other bodies of the Apostolic See; and to foster coordination among these dicasteries and other bodies and offices without prejudice to their autonomy. It is responsible for carrying out everything that concerns the Representatives of States of the Holy See. The current Substitute for General Affairs is Archbishop Paolo Rudelli.

Section for Relations with States and International Organizations

The task of the Section for Relations with States and International Organizations is to attend to the affairs that must be dealt with through the respective civil authorities. It is responsible for the following: to handle the diplomatic and political relations of the Holy See with states and with other subjects of international law; to deal with common affairs for the promotion of the good of the church and of civil society, also through the stipulation of concordats and other international agreements, taking into account the opinion of the episcopal bodies concerned; to represent the Holy See at international intergovernmental organizations, as well as at multilateral intergovernmental conferences, availing itself, if necessary, of the collaboration of the competent dicasteries and bodies of the Roman Curia; and to grant the nulla osta whenever a dicastery or body of the Roman Curia intends to publish a statement or document pertaining to international relations or relations with civil authorities. The current Secretary for Relations with States is Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher.

Section for Diplomatic Staff of the Holy See

The Section for the Diplomatic Staff of the Holy See deals with matters pertaining to persons serving in the diplomatic service of the Holy See, in particular their living and working conditions and their ongoing formation. In carrying out his duties, the secretary visits the offices of the pontifical representations, and convokes and presides over meetings concerning their provisions. This section collaborates with the president of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy with regard to the selection and training of candidates for the diplomatic service of the Holy See and maintains contact with retired diplomatic personnel. The current Secretary for Pontifical Representations is Archbishop Jan Romeo Pawłowski.

Central Statistics Office of the Church

The Central Statistics Office, which operates under the Vatican Secretariat of State, conducts a variety of studies for the Roman Curia throughout the year. One of the office's biggest projects is compiling the 500-page Statistical Yearbook of the Church. The yearbook tracks the Catholic population, both by a head count of the baptized in each country and as a percentage of the world's population. The current person-in-charge is Monsignor Tomislav Ɖukez.

Institutions of Justice

"The service of the Institutions of Justice is one of the essential functions in the government of the Church. The objective of this service, pursued by each institution in the forum of its own competence, is that of the Church's mission: to proclaim and inaugurate the Kingdom of God and to work, through the order of justice applied with canonical equity, for the salvation of souls, which is always the supreme law in the Church" (Praedicate evangelium Article 189 § 1).

Apostolic Penitentiary

The Apostolic Penitentiary is one of the three tribunals of the Roman Curia. The Apostolic Penitentiary is responsible for issues relating to the forgiveness of sins in the Catholic Church. The Apostolic Penitentiary has jurisdiction only over matters in the internal forum. Its work falls mainly into these categories:

• the absolution of excommunications latæ sententiæ reserved to the Holy See,
• the dispensation of sacramental impediments reserved to the Holy See, and
• the issuance and governance of indulgences.

The current Major Penitentiary is Angelo de Donatis.

Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura

The Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura is the highest judicial authority in the Catholic Church besides the Pope himself, who is the supreme ecclesiastical judge. In addition, it is an administrative office for matters pertaining to the judicial activity of the whole church.

Appeals in standard judicial processes, if appealed to the Apostolic See, normally are not handled by the Signatura. Those go to the Roman Rota, which is the ordinary appellate tribunal of the Apostolic See. The Supreme Tribunal handles some of the more specialized kinds of cases, including the following:

• complaints of nullity and requests for restitutio in integrum against judgments of the Roman Rota;
• appeals, in cases concerning the status of persons, against the refusal of a new examination of the case decided by the Roman Rota;
• exceptions of suspicion and other cases against judges of the Roman Rota for acts performed in the exercise of their office; and
• conflicts of jurisdiction between tribunals, which do not depend on the same Appellate Court.

Although a Rotal decision can be appealed, if not res judicata, to a different panel (turnus) of the Rota, there is no right of appeal from a decision of the Signatura, although a complaint of nullity on formal grounds is possible. As an administrative office, it exercises jurisdiction (vigilance) over all the tribunals of the Catholic Church. It can also extend the jurisdiction of tribunals, grant dispensations for procedural laws, establish interdiocesan tribunals, and correct advocates.

The current prefect is Dominique François Joseph Cardinal Mamberti.

Tribunal of the Rota Romana

The Tribunal of the Roman Rota is the highest appellate tribunal. While usually trying cases in appeal in third instance (as is normally the case in the Eastern Catholic Churches), or even in second instance if appeal is made to it directly from the sentence of a tribunal of first instance, it is also a court of first instance for cases specified in the law and for others committed to the Rota by the Roman Pontiff. It fosters the unity of jurisprudence and, through its own sentences, is a help to lower tribunals.

The greater part of its decisions concern the nullity of marriage. In such cases its competence includes marriages between two Catholics, between a Catholic and non-Catholic, and between two non-Catholic parties whether one or both of the baptized parties belongs to the Latin or an Eastern Rite.

The court is named Rota (Latin for: wheel) because the judges, called auditors, originally met in a round room to hear cases.

The current dean is Most Reverend Alejandro Arellano Cedillo, C.O.R.C.

Economic organizations

Council for the Economy

The Council for the Economy has the task of supervising the structures and the administrative and financial activities of the curial institutions and of the offices and institutions connected with the Holy See or which refer to it, indicated in the list attached to its Statute. The Council for Economic Affairs shall exercise its functions in the light of the Church's social doctrine and in accordance with internationally recognized best practices in public administration, with a view to ethical and efficient administrative and financial management. The council consists of eight cardinals or bishops, representing the universality of the Church, and seven lay persons, chosen from among experts of various nationalities. The fifteen members are appointed for five years by the Roman Pontiff.

The council submits for the approval of the Roman Pontiff guidelines and norms aimed at ensuring that:

1. the assets of the bodies and administrations subject to its supervision are protected;
2. capital and financial risks are reduced;
3. human, material and financial resources are allocated rationally and managed prudently, efficiently and transparently; and
4. bodies and administrations carry out their duties efficiently, in accordance with the activities, programs and budgets approved for them.

The council examines the proposals put forward by the Secretariat for the Economy, as well as any suggestions presented by the various Administrations of the Holy See, the Authority for Supervision and Financial Information and other entities indicated in its own Statutes.

The current Coordinator is Reinhard Cardinal Marx.

Secretariat for the Economy

The Secretariat for the Economy performs the function of Papal Secretariat for economic and financial matters. It exercises control and vigilance in administrative, economic and financial matters over curial institutions, offices and institutions connected with the Holy See or which refer to it, as indicated in the list attached to the Statute of the Council for the Economy. It also exercises special control over Peter's Pence and over the other Papal Funds.

The Body is divided into two functional areas: one for regulation, control and supervision in economic and financial matters, and the other for regulation, control and supervision in administrative matters. The Secretariat for the Economy:

1. issues guidelines on economic and financial matters for the Holy See and checks that the activities are carried out in accordance with the operational plans and programs approved;
2. monitors the administrative, economic and financial activities of the institutions entrusted to its control and supervision; proposes and ensures corrective action if necessary;
3. prepares the annual budget, checking that it is adhered to, and the final consolidated budget of the Holy See and submits them to the Council for the Economy; and
4. carries out the annual risk assessment of the patrimonial and financial situation of the Holy See and submits it to the Council for the Economy.

The current prefect is Mister Maximino Caballero Ledo.

Directorate for Human Resources of the Holy See

The Directorate for Human Resources of the Holy See is established in the Secretariat for the Economy. This office, in dialogue and cooperation with the Institutions concerned, deals with all matters concerning the position and working management of personnel and collaborators of the Institutions subject to the legislation of the Holy See. Among other responsibilities, through this Directorate, the Secretariat for Economic Affairs authorizes hiring, verifying all requirements, and approves the establishment plans of the Entities. The president of the directorate is the ex officio prefect of the secretariat.

Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See

The Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See deals with the "properties owned by the Holy See in order to provide the funds necessary for the Roman Curia to function". It was established by Pope Paul VI on 15 August 1967.

It is responsible for the administration and management of the real and movable patrimony of the Holy See, intended to provide the resources necessary for the fulfillment of the function proper to the Roman Curia for the good and at the service of the particular churches. The Holy See is responsible for administering the real and movable patrimony of those entities that have entrusted their assets to the Holy See, in accordance with the specific purpose for which the patrimony has been constituted and with the general policies and guidelines approved by the competent bodies. It also provides whatever is necessary for the ordinary activity of the Roman Curia, taking care of the treasury, accounting, purchases and other services. The internal organization of the Body is divided into three functional areas, which deal with property management, financial affairs and services. The current president is Giordano Piccinotti.

Office of the Auditor General

The Office of the Auditor General is entrusted with the task of auditing the consolidated financial statements of the Holy See. The Office shall have the task, according to the annual audit program approved by the Council for the Economy, of auditing the annual financial statements of the individual curial institutions and of the Offices and Institutions connected with the Holy See or which refer to it, which shall be included in the above-mentioned consolidated financial statements.

At the request of the Council for the Economy, or of the Secretariat for the Economy, or of the Heads of the Entities and Administrations, it shall conduct audits on particular situations related to:

1. anomalies in the use or allocation of financial or material resources;
2. irregularities in the granting of contracts or in the conduct of transactions or disposals; and
3. acts of corruption or fraud.

The same audits may be initiated autonomously by the Auditor General, who shall inform the Cardinal Coordinator of the Council for the Economy in advance, stating the reasons for the audit. The current Auditor-General is Dr. Alessandro Cassinis Righini.

Commission for Confidential Matters

The Commission for Confidential Matters is responsible to:

1. authorize any act of a juridical, economic, or financial nature which, for the greater good of the Church or persons, must be covered by secrecy and removed from the control and supervision of the competent bodies.
2. monitor and oversee Holy See contracts that require confidentiality under the law.

The commission, according to its own statute, is composed of several Members appointed for five years by the Roman Pontiff. The current president is Kevin Joseph Cardinal Farrell.

Committee for Investments

The Committee for Investments, a consultative body, is responsible for ensuring the ethical nature of the Holy See's investments in movable assets according to the Church's social doctrine and, at the same time, their profitability, adequacy and risk. The committee is composed, according to its own statute, of members and of high-profile professionals appointed for five years by the Roman Pontiff. The current president is Kevin Joseph Cardinal Farrell.

In 2026, it published two Christian ethical investment indices for other companies to follow suit.

Offices

Praedicate evangelium reorganized the Offices of the Roman Curia, comprising three main bodies.

Prefecture of the Papal Household

The Prefecture is responsible for internal order in the Pontifical Household and directs, with regard to discipline and service, all those who constitute the Chapel and the Pontifical Family. It is headed by a prefect, assisted by the Regent, appointed for five years by the Roman Pontiff.

The Prefecture of the Papal Household is responsible for the organization and conduct of pontifical ceremonies, excluding the strictly liturgical part, and establishes the order of precedence. It is his duty to order the service of the antechamber and to arrange for public, special and private audiences of the Roman Pontiff and visits to persons, in consultation, as often as circumstances require, with the Secretariat of State. He arranges everything that must be done when heads of state, heads of government, ministers of states, public authorities and other eminent persons, as well as Ambassadors, are received in solemn audience by the Pope himself.

It deals with all that is related to the Spiritual Exercises of the Roman Pontiff, the College of Cardinals and the Roman Curia. It is the responsibility of the Prefecture to make preparations whenever the Roman Pontiff visits Vatican territory, Rome or travels in Italy. The prefect assists him only on the occasion of meetings and visits in Vatican territory. Archbishop Petar Rajič was appointed as its new prefect on March 30, 2026.

Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff

It is the responsibility of the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff to prepare all that is necessary for liturgical celebrations and other sacred celebrations in the Vatican at which the Roman Pontiff, or – in his name or by his mandate – a Cardinal or Prelate, presides, participates or assists, and to direct them in accordance with the liturgical prescriptions in force, preparing all that is necessary or useful for their worthy conduct and for the active participation of the faithful. The Office shall also take care of the preparation and conduct of all the papal liturgical celebrations taking place during the pastoral visits of the Roman Pontiff on his apostolic journeys.

The Office is headed by the Master of Papal Liturgical Celebrations, appointed for five years by the Roman Pontiff. He is assisted in sacred celebrations by the Pontifical Masters of Ceremonies, appointed for five years by the Roman Pontiff. The Master of Papal Liturgical Celebrations is also responsible for the Papal Sacristy and the Chapels of the Apostolic Palace. The current Master of Papal Liturgical Celebrations is Monsignor Diego Giovanni Ravelli.

Pontifical Musical Chorus of the Sistine Chapel

The Pontifical Musical Chorus of the Sistine Chapel is responsible for the task of guiding all the liturgical, pastoral, spiritual, artistic and educational activities and areas of the same chapel, which is included in the office as a specific place of service to the papal liturgical functions and at the same time for the custody and promotion of the prestigious artistic-musical heritage produced over the centuries by the chapel itself for the solemn liturgies of the popes. The head of Pontifical Musical Chorus of the Sistine Chapel is the ex officio master of papal liturgical celebrations.

Apostolic Camera

The Cardinal Camerlengo of Holy Roman Church carries out the functions assigned to him by the special law concerning the vacant Apostolic See and the election of the Roman Pontiff. The Cardinal Camerlengo of Holy Roman Church and the Vice Camerlengo are appointed by the Roman Pontiff.

The task of caring for and administering the goods and temporal rights of the Apostolic See during the time it is vacant is entrusted to the Cardinal Camerlengo of Holy Roman Church. Should he be impeded, the function will be assumed by the Vice Camerlengo. When the Apostolic See is vacant, it is the right and duty of the Cardinal Camerlengo of Holy Roman Church:

1. to request from all the Administrations dependent on the Holy See reports on their patrimonial and economic status, as well as information on extraordinary affairs in progress;
2. to request from the Council for the Economy the preventive and consolidated budgets from the Holy See for the previous year, as well as the budget for the following year;
3. to request, to the extent necessary, from the Secretariat for the Economy any information on the economic state of the Holy See.

The role of Camerlengo of Holy Roman Church is currently vacant as of 8 May 2025, after the election of Pope Leo XIV.

Institutions connected with the Holy See

There are some institutes, both of ancient origin and of new constitution, which, although not properly part of the Roman Curia and having their own juridical personality, nevertheless provide various services necessary or useful to the Roman Pontiff himself, to the Roman Curia and to the universal Church, and are in some way connected with the Curia itself.

Labour Office of the Apostolic See

The Labour Office of the Apostolic See is responsible for labor relations of the Holy See with its employees. The office also settles labor issues which arise. It was instituted by Pope John Paul II on 1 January 1989 by an apostolic letter in the form of a motu proprio. The activity of the Office relates to the labour, in all its forms and expressions, provided by personnel in the employ of the Roman Curia, of the Governorate of the Vatican City State, and of the Bodies or Institutions administratively managed directly by the Apostolic See. The current president is Bishop Giuseppe Sciacca.

Vatican Apostolic Archives

The Vatican Apostolic Archives contains the acts and documents that concern the government of the universal Church, making them available to the Holy See and the Roman Curia in the performance of their activities. The archives are also available, by pontifical concession, to scholars, without distinction of country or religion, to study the life of the Church over the centuries. The current Archivist is José Tolentino Cardinal de Mendonça.

Vatican Apostolic Library

An institution of ancient origin, the Vatican Library is a distinguished instrument of the Church for the development and dissemination of culture, in support of the activities of the Apostolic See. It has the task, through its various sections, of collecting and preserving an extremely rich patrimony of science and art and of making it available to scholars. The current librarian is José Tolentino Cardinal de Mendonça.

Fabric of Saint Peter

The Fabric of Saint Peter is responsible for all matters pertaining to the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter's, which houses the memory of the martyrdom and the tomb of the Apostle, both for the preservation and decorum of the building and for the internal discipline of the custodians and of pilgrims and visitors, according to its own norms. In necessary cases, the president and the secretary of the Fabric act in agreement with the Chapter of the Basilica itself. The current president is Mauro Cardinal Gambetti, O.F.M. Conv.

Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology

The Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology has the task of studying, preserving, protecting and enhancing the Christian catacombs of Italy, in which the testimonies of faith and art of the first Christian communities continue to transmit their profound message to pilgrims and visitors. The current president is Gianfranco Cardinal Ravasi.

Pontifical Academies

For the search for and dissemination of truth in the various fields of divine and human science, several Academies have arisen within the Catholic Church, among which the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and the Pontifical Academy for Life stand out.

Agency for the Evaluation and Promotion of Quality in Ecclesiastical Faculties

In order to promote and develop a culture of quality within the academic institutions directly dependent on the Holy See and to assure them internationally valid criteria of quality, the Agency for the Evaluation and Promotion of Quality in Ecclesiastical Faculties is established. The current president is Father Andrzej Stefan Wodka, C.Ss.R.

Supervisory and Financial Information Authority

The Supervisory and Financial Information Authority is the institution which, in the manner provided for by law and by its own Statute, performs the functions of: supervision for the purposes of preventing and combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism with respect to entities and subjects subjected to its supervision; prudential supervision of entities that professionally carry out activities of a financial nature; prudential regulation of entities that professionally carry out activities of a financial nature and, in the cases provided for by law, in matters concerning the prevention of and fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. In this capacity it also carries out the financial information function. The current president is Dr. Carmelo Barbagallo.

Domus Vaticanae

Domus Vaticanae is a merger of the four foundations dedicated to hospitality in the Vatican. It has merged the Domus Sanctae Marthae, Domus Romana Sacerdotalis, Domus Internationalis Paulus VI, and Casa San Benedetto foundations into the new institution, which Pope Francis established as a public canonical juridic person in 2024.

It pursues the hospitality goals of the merged foundations with each having its own purpose:

• Domus Sanctae Marthae, also known as the Casa Santa Marta or St. Martha's House, is a guest house adjacent to St. Peter's Basilica that accommodates clergy visiting the Vatican, as well as cardinals taking part in papal conclaves. This was the residence of Pope Francis.
• Domus Romana Sacerdotalis and Domus Internationalis Paulus VI, offering hospitality to clergy assigned to the diplomatic service of the Holy See or working in the Roman Curia, as well as priests, bishops, and cardinals visiting Rome.
• Casa San Benedetto provides accommodation for retired Vatican diplomatic personnel.

Interdicasterial commissions

An interdicasterial commission is established to deal with matters involving the works of several institutions and dicasteries of the Roman Curia.

Interdicasterial Commission on Particular Churches

The Permanent Interdicasterial Commission on Particular Churches is responsible for managing and taking care of the relationship and communication between the Latin Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches. The president of the commission is the ex officio secretary of the state.

Interdicasterial Commission for the Church in Eastern Europe

The Permanent Interdicasterial Commission for the Church in Eastern Europe is responsible to better deal with the rapidly changing situations in the early 1990s on Eastern Europe. The president of the commission is the ex officio secretary of the state.

Interdicasterial Commission for Consecrated Religious

The Permanent Interdicasterial Commission for Consecrated Religious is responsible to better handle consecrated religious in missionary areas, mostly in Africa and Asia. The president of the commission is the ex officio Pro-prefect for the Section of First Evangelization of the Dicastery for Evangelization.

Interdicasterial Commission for Candidates to Sacred Order

The Permanent Interdicasterial Commission for Candidates to Sacred Order is responsible for the selection of candidates for Holy Orders, including their human, spiritual, doctrinal and pastoral training in seminaries. The president of the commission is the ex officio prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy.

Interdicasterial Commission for the Revision of the General Regulations of the Roman Curia

The Interdicasterial Commission for the Revision of the General Regulations of the Roman Curia is a temporary commission with the goal of preparing the implementation of the norms related to the new Apostolic Constitution Praedicate evangelium, which was made public on 19 March 2022 and took effect on 5 June 2022. The president of the commission is Archbishop Filippo Iannone, O. Carm.

Other commissions and committees

Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses

The Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses is responsible "to make ever better known, loved and served, Our Lord Jesus Christ in his Eucharistic Mystery, as center of the life of the Church and of its mission for the salvation of the world" through the celebration of International Eucharistic Congresses. It also ensures the adequate pastoral preparation of these International Eucharistic Congresses and requests the Episcopal Conferences and Patriarchal Synods to appoint National Delegates, who will be committed to work for the preparation of the Congresses and, where necessary, set up National Eucharistic Committees with the approval and collaboration of the local ecclesiastical authority. The current president is Father Corrado Maggioni, S.M.M.

Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences

The Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences is charged with promoting the use of ecclesiastical archives for historical research and fostering cooperation with ecclesiastical and extra-ecclesial institutions and associations, particularly at the international level. It sponsors seminars and conferences, both independently and in concert with peer organizations; reviews the historical data presented in the Pontifical Yearbook; collaborates with multinational scientific initiatives (UNESCO); and sponsors internships for the study of Latin and Greek.

Commission for Advocates

The body called "Advocates of the Holy See" is composed mainly of advocates listed in the roster of advocates, and its members are able to undertake the representation of cases in civil or ecclesiastical tribunals in the name of the Holy See or the dicasteries of the Roman Curia. The president of the commission is the ex officio prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.

Pontifical Swiss Guards

The Pontifical Swiss Guards is a minor armed force and honour guard unit maintained by the Holy See that protects the pope and the Apostolic Palace within the territory of the Vatican City. Established in 1506 under Pope Julius II, the Pontifical Swiss Guard is among the oldest military units in continuous operation.

They serve as personal escorts to the pontiff and as watchmen for Vatican City and the pontifical villa of Castel Gandolfo. The guards, who are independent of the Swiss armed forces, are employed by the Catholic Church under the leadership of the pope, to whom they swear fealty in a ceremony at Belvedere Court.

The current Commander is Colonel Christoph Graf.

Disciplinary Commission of the Roman Curia

Established by John Paul II in 1981, the Disciplinary Commission of the Roman Curia rules whether an administrative sanction – i.e., suspension or firing – can be imposed on a Roman Curia official is pertinent or not. The current president is Prof. Vincenzo Buonomo.

Financial Security Committee

The Financial Security Committee is established for the purpose of coordinating the competent authorities of the Holy See and of Vatican City State for the prevention and countering of money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Commission of Cardinals overseeing the Institute for Works of Religion

The Commission of Cardinals overseeing the Institute for Works of Religion is a body composed of a president and four member cardinals that oversees the Institute for Works of Religion, commonly known as the Vatican Bank, a financial institution situated inside Vatican City and run by a Board of Superintendence which reports to a Commission of Cardinals and the Pope. It is not a private bank, as there are no owners or shareholders, but it has been established in the form of a juridical canonical foundation, pursuant to its Statutes. The current president of the commission is Santos Cardinal Abril y Castelló.

Pontifical Commission for the Activities of Public Juridical Persons of the Church in the Healthcare Sector

The Pontifical Commission for the Activities of Public Juridical Persons of the Church in the Healthcare Sector was designed as an organ of the Roman Curia, attached to the Secretariat of State and its regulations with the responsibility to control and supervise how the health facilities managed by religious congregations manage money and assets and to stay true to their founding mission and spirit. The current president of the commission is Pietro Cardinal Parolin.

Pontifical Commission for the Verification and Application of Mitis Iudex in the Churches of Italy

The Pontifical Commission for the Verification and Application of Mitis Iudex in the Churches of Italy directly support the Churches that are in Italy in receiving the reform of the canonical process for the cases of declaration of nullity of marriage, giving new impetus to the application of the motu proprio Mitis Iudex. A declaration of nullity – often referred to as an "annulment" – is a ruling by a tribunal that a marriage did not meet the conditions required to make it valid according to Church law.

Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus, issued in 2015, made changes to canon law intended to streamline the process by which Church tribunals assess requests for declarations of the nullity of marriages. The text also emphasized the local bishop's role in the process. The current president is Monsignor Alejandro Arellano Cedillo, C.O.R.C.

Holy See Agency for the Evaluation and Promotion of the Quality of Ecclesiastical Universities and Faculties (AVEPRO)

The Agency of the Holy See for the Evaluation and Promotion of Quality in Ecclesiastical Universities and Faculties (AVEPRO; Agenzia della Santa Sede per la Valutazione e la Promozione della Qualità delle Università e Facoltà Ecclesiastiche) was established by Pope Benedict XVI on September 19, 2007. It aims to enhance quality within academic institutions tied to the Holy See, aligning with international standards. This initiative was partly inspired by the Holy See's involvement in the Bologna Process in 2003, aiming to respect the diversity of university systems, promote a common higher education area, and emphasize quality in university research and innovation. AVEPRO's work is guided by the Apostolic Constitution Sapientia Christiana and adheres to European and international quality evaluation standards. The agency supports academic institutions in internal and external quality evaluations, collaborating with various stakeholders in ecclesiastical education.

Order of the Holy Sepulchre

The Pontifical Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem is a Catholic chivalric order that is under the direct protection of the Holy See and is represented in 40 countries. The Order of Knights was founded in the pilgrimage movement of the Middle Ages and was established in 1868 as a Catholic lay order to support the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Today, around 30,000 priests and laymen, men and women belong to it.

The mission of the order, which was recognised by the Vatican for its commitment to the Christian presence in Jerusalem, has evolved over the centuries. Today, the Order focuses on providing financial, spiritual and moral support to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and assists in the preservation and support of Christian sites, institutions and communities in the Holy Land. Membership of the Order is considered a very high honour and is bestowed on lay people, clergy and knights who have rendered exemplary service to the Catholic Church, particularly through initiatives that contribute to the preservation of the Christian faith in Jerusalem and the surrounding area.

Fondazione Centesimus Annus pro pontifice

The Fondazione Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice (FCAPP) is a Catholic Vatican foundation that was established in 1993 by Pope John Paul II together with 40 entrepreneurs. It is named after his encyclical "Centesimus Annus", which was published in 1991 on the centenary of Pope Leo XIII's encyclical "Rerum Novarum" and dealt with issues of labour, the economy and social justice. The aim of the foundation is to promote discussion of the social doctrine of the Catholic Church as formulated in "Centesimus Annus" and later teachings. The FCAPP focuses on promoting discussion and research on the relationship between ethics and economics and organises conferences, seminars and workshops for business leaders, academics and other stakeholders to explore these issues. Through its activities, the foundation is committed to contributing as a think tank to the development of a more just and equitable society in line with Catholic social teaching. The foundation is based in San Damaso in the Vatican Secretariat of State.

See also

• Papal household
• Anticurialism
• Politics of Vatican City
• Pope Paul VI's reform of the Roman Curia
• Pastor bonus
• Praedicate evangelium

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Roman Curia — Strictly speaking, the ensemble of departments or ministries which assist the sovereign pontiff in the government of the Universal Church. These are the Roman 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 under ROMAN 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 of cardinals and the pontifical family.

I. Tribunals

According to the Constitution "Sapienti consilio" of Pius X, the tribunals of the Curia are three: the Sacred Penitentiaria, the Sacred Roman Rota, and the Apostolic Signatura.

A. The Sacred Penitentiaria

The origin of this tribunal cannot be assigned with any reasonable certainty. 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 of Pope Cornelius (204), who is said to have appointed penitentiaries pro lapsis. Penitentiaries are certainly more ancient in the East than in the West. The Fourth Lateran Council (1215) ordained the establishment of a penitentiary in each cathedral. The Roman 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 of Benedict II, the penitentiary of the Roman Church was a cardinal priest; this was certainly the case before Gregory X (d. 1276). Gregory IX calls Cardinal Nicola de Romania "poenitentiarius felicis recordationis Honorii pap. praedecessoris". Prior to 1205 Giraldus Cambrensis mentions Giovanni di S. Paolo, of the title of St. Priscilla, as one who heard confessions in the place of the pope; he was probably a cardinal of that title.

The office of penitentiary assumed greater importance when the reservation of cases to the pope or the bishops began. At the end of the sixth century (592) St. Gregory the Great reserved to himself the excommunication with which he threatened Archbishop John of Larissa for unjustly deposing Adrian, Bishop of Thebes. The first universally recognized case of a general papal reservation of an offence is that of Innocent II, who, at the Council of Clermont (1130), reserved to himself in every case absolution from the crime of striking a cleric. This reservation was confirmed by him in the following year at the Council of Reims, where he also reserved to himself the absolution of incendiaries and their accomplices. Thenceforth reservations increased in number, and an office became necessary to answer those who, guilty of some offence, asked of the sovereign pontiff absolution from the censure incurred, and reserved to the Holy See, or, being unable to repair to Rome, asked to be absolved from some sin reserved to the pope by a priest 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, whom Clement V called paenitentiarius major [c. ii. de elect, etc. (I. 3) in Clem.]. Under Alexander IV and Urban IV, Cardinal Hugo of St-Cher (or of San Caro) was called poenitentiarius 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 a Brief of the sovereign pontiff. Pius V, followed by Benedict XIV, decreed that this functionary should be chosen from among the cardinal priests, and must be a master in theology 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 another cardinal 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 the cardinal 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 the pope; and if approved by him is appointed by a letter of the cardinal himself. After the regent comes the theologian, whom it has long been usual to select from the Society 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, the theologian, 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 in doubt 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. At Rome, 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 the Friars Minor. At St. Peter's it was formerly filled by Jesuits, but, at the suppression of the Society by Clement XIV, their place was taken by Minor Conventuals, 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 are Dominicans. At Loreto the Jesuits served as penitentiaries until their suppression, when they were succeeded by the Minor Conventuals, who still hold the office. The minor penitentiaries may not be removed by their superiors, either from Rome or from Loreto, without the permission of the Holy See. They are authorized to hear the confessions of all the faithful, 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 be priests of different languages among them, to hear the confessions of pilgrims or other foreigners who do not speak Italian.

The cardinal penitentiary assists the pope at the hour of death, reciting the customary prayers for the dying, etc. It is he, also, who at the beginning of a jubilee, offers to the pope 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 the pope, 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 the pope the trowel and the mortar, to begin the walling up of the door. In Holy 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, and Holy Saturday — in the penitential cathedra, or chair, set in each of the three above-mentioned Roman basilicas, 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 this ceremony is public confession of having sinned against God, and a request for forgiveness by ecclesiastical authority of sins committed.

The Sacred Penitentiaria was always provided with great powers, formerly of internal jurisdiction only, but as time went on, of external jurisdiction also. Under the latter head its work so increased that the administration of this tribunal was greatly hampered. Several popes disapproved of this, especially Pius 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 by St. 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", both dated 18 May of that year. The competency of the Penitentiaria was confined to matters of internal jurisdiction. Little by little, the successors of Pius 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 new doubts to be solved; wherefore, to remove uncertainties Innocent XII, in 1682, formulated a new list of faculties for the Penitentiaria; but, the sovereign pontiff having delayed the solution of some doubts, 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 succeeding popes. 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 by Pius V, although broader in some respects. It is more remarkable that he granted some powers of external jurisdiction; hence until now the Penitentiaria has had, as an exceptional faculty, the power of dispensing destitute or needy persons from public matrimonial impediments.

The Constitution "Sapienti consilio" of Pius X has confined the competency of the Penitentiaria to its former scope, limiting it to internal jurisdiction. The power to dispense from matrimonial impediments in relation to external jurisdiction, for all classes of people, having been granted to the Congregation of the Sacraments, the tribunal of the Penitentiaria received jurisdiction in all internal matters, in relation to which it is empowered to grant graces of all kinds — absolutions, dispensations, commutations, ratifications in matter of impediments, condonations. This tribunal also deals with questions of conscience submitted to the judgment of the Holy See. It should be observed here that the chief penitentiary's powers of internal jurisdiction, even before the recent Constitution, held during the vacancy of the Holy See, while his power of external jurisdiction, with a few exceptions, was suspended.

As to the procedure of the Penitentiaria, it follows the rules set down in the Constitution "In apostolicae" of Benedict XIV, in all that is not at variance with the new Constitution of Pius X. It transacts its business under the greatest secrecy, and gratuitously (omnino secreto et gratis). It is chiefly a tribunal of mercy, as Benedict 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 the Child 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 the person concerned. The letter is addressed to the cardinal penitentiary, and may be written in any language. The name and address of the person 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 for dispensation 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 in adultery 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 the faithful 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.

B. The Sacred Roman Rota

See SACRA ROMANA ROTA.

C. The Apostolic Signatura

In former times, there was only one Signatura, i.e. there were a few assistants who were commissioned by the sovereign pontiff to investigate the petitions addressed to the Holy See, and to report concerning them. These functionaries were called Referendarii 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 the Holy See becoming more and more frequent, whether to obtain graces or to submit cases to the decision of the pope, 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; and Sixtus 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 a college, with a dean. These were called "voting referendaries",' and actually exercised their office. The others remained as "supernumerary referendaries" (extra numerum). In 1834 Gregory 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 the sovereign pontiff, and there were present at it some cardinals and many prelates, 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 the pope 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 was necessary 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 six cardinals, appointed by the pope, one of whom is its prefect. It has a secretary, a notary, who must be a priest, some consultors, and a few subordinate officers. The present Signatura is a genuine tribunal which ordinarily has jurisdiction in four kinds of cases, namely:

• accusations of suspicions against an auditor of the Rota;

• accusations of violation of secrecy by an auditor of the Rota;

• appeals against a sentence of the Rota;

• petitions for the nullification of a decision of the Rota that has already become res judicata. As a temporary commission, the pope gave to the Signatura the mandate and the power to review the sentences passed by the Roman Congregations before the Constitution "Sapienti Consilio". This commission was given to the Signatura through an answer by the Consistorial Congregation on the subject of a doubt relating to a case of this kind. Of course the Holy Father may on special occasions give other commissions of this nature to the Apostolic Signatura.

II. Offices of Curia

These are five in number: The Apostolic Chancery; Apostolic Dataria; Apostolic Camera; Secretariate of State; Secretariate of Briefs.

A. The Apostolic Chancery (Cancelleria Apostolica)

This office takes its name from civil law and from the imperial chanceries, and is certainly of very ancient origin in its essence. The primacy of the Roman See made it necessary that the sovereign 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 of time, underwent many transformations, to the most important of which only we shall refer. After Martin V had instituted a large number of offices in the Chancery, Sixtus V placed many of them in the class of vacabili, as they were then called. The origin of this institution was as follows: The pope was often compelled, in defence of Christendom, to wage war, to fit out expeditions, or at least to give financial assistance to the princes who waged such wars at his exhortation. But the pontifical treasury, on the other hand, was often without the means to defray even the expenses of the Pontifical States, and it became imperative to raise funds. Accordingly, the popes 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 by pious 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, afterwards Clement 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 another person, provided the latter (called the intestatary) were expressly designated. The purchaser was also allowed to change the life hazard from one person to another, providing this were done forty days before the death of the last preceding intestatary.

The offices of the Chancery which were transformed into vacabili by Sixtus 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 the cardinal who presided over the Chancery was revoked by Innocent 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 the pope's nephew, Pietro Ottoboni. Under Napoleon I the Government redeemed many of the vacabili, and but few remained. Pius VII, after his return to Rome, undertook a reform of the Chancery, and wisely reduced the number of the offices. But, as he himself granted to the vacabili the privilege that, by a legal fiction, time should be regarded as not having transpired (quod tempus et tempera non currant), and many proprietors of vacabili having obtained grants of what was called sopravivevza by which deceased intestataries were considered to be living, it came to pass that certain offices remained vacabili in name, but not in fact. Finally, Leo XIII (1901) suppressed all the vacabili offices, ordering his pro-datary to redeem them, when necessary, the datary's office being substituted for the proprietors.

Since the Constitution of Pius X, the Chancery has been reduced to a forwarding office (Ufficio di Spedizione) with a small personnel; there are, besides the cardinal who presides over the Chancery, the regent, with the college of Apostolic prothonotaries, a notary, secretary and archivist, a protocolist, and four amanuenses. The presiding cardinal, 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 a cardinal, and the pro-datary (pro datario), if he were a cardinal. The reason for this must be sought in the fact that the office of datary was really not that of a cardinal, but rather of minor dignity; wherefore it did not seem well to give the title of datary to a cardinal. The same custom still obtains in the case of a nuncio who is elevated to the cardinalate: 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 by cardinals. 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 the Vatican Basilica. The authority of the vice-chancellor was increased when, under Alexander 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 under Leo 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 the property of Cardinal Raffaele Riario for his share, with Cardinals Petrucci, Sacchi, Soderini, and Castellesi, in a conspiracy against the life of Leo X. Contiguous to the Cancelleria, in fact forming a part of it, is the Church of San Lorenzo in Damaso. When Clement 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 the Sacred College, being sometimes cardinal-deacons, sometimes cardinal-priests, and sometimes cardinal-bishops, this church does not follow the rule of the other cardinalitial churches, which have a fixed grade, being titular — that is churches over which cardinals of the order of priests are placed — or deaconries — churches over which are placed cardinal-deacons. San Lorenzo, on the contrary, is a titular when the chancellor ia of the order of priests, and a deaconry when he is a cardinal-deacon. When, on the other hand, he is a sub-urbicarian bishop, the chancellor retains this church in commendam.

The Regency, which is the next office in the order of precedence in the Chancery after the chancellorship, was created in 1377, when Gregory XI returned from France to his see. Cardinal Pierre de Monteruc, who was the chancellor at that time, refused to follow the pope from Avignon to Rome; and, as it was necessary that someone should direct the office of the Chancery, the pope, leaving the title of vice-chancellor to Montéruc, appointed the Archbishop of Ban, Bartolommeo Prignano, regent of this important office. At the death of Gregory XI, in 1378, Prignano was elected pope, 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 at Rome.

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 of Bulls for consistorial benefices, the establishment of new dioceses and new chapters, and other more important affairs of the Church. (For the various forms of Apostolic Letters, see BULLS AND BRIEFS.) One fact concerning the expedition of Bulls 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 (per cancellarium), secretly (per viam secretam), and by way of the Apostolic Camera (per viam cameras). The reason for this is that, while some Bulls were taxed, there was no taxation on others, and it was necessary to determine upon what Bulls the proprietors of the vacabili offices had a right to receive taxes. Bulls, therefore, which concerned the government of the Catholic world, being exempt from all taxation, were said to be issued by way of the Curia. Those Bulls of which the expedition was by way of the Chancery were the common Bulls, which, after being reviewed by the abbreviators of the greater presidency (see ABBREVIATORS), were signed by them and by the proprietors of the vacabili, the latter of whom received the established taxes. The Bulls said to be issued secretly were those in favour of some privileged persons — as the palatine prelates, the auditors of the Rota, and the relatives of cardinals. They were signed by the vice-chancellor, and they, too, were exempt from taxation. Finally, the Bulls 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 these Bulls, they were issued by the sommista, whose office was created by Alexander VI and later, as was said above, united by Alexander VIII with that of the vice-chancellor.

At the present time, all the vacabili having been abolished, these various forms of expedition have been suppressed, the new Constitution providing that all Bulls 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 the pope 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 of Bulls should be changed, and the duty of preparing new ones was given to a commission of cardinals composed of the chancellor, the datary, and the secretary of the Consistorial Congregation. This commission has already reformed the Bulls for the Consistorial benefices, and Pius 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 the Bulls. A very reasonable change has also been made in regard to the dating of Bulls. Formerly Bulls were dated according to the year of the Incarnation, which begins on 25 March. This medieval style of dating remained peculiar to papal 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 the popes were in the habit of promulgating at the beginning of their pontificate, in regard to judicial causes and those concerning benefices. In many cases the pope 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 of Bulls; beneficial or reservatory rules, relating to benefices 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 the sovereign pontiff, and were revived only upon the express confirmation of the succeeding pope. 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 new pope. 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 of cardinals charged with the reformation of the formulae of Bulls has also charge of revising the Rules of the Chancery.

B. The Apostolic Dataria

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 matrimonial dispensations of external jurisdiction, and with the collation of benefices reserved to the Holy See. To this double faculty was added that of granting many other indults and graces, but these additions were made later. Until the time of Pius IV matrimonial dispensations were granted through the Penitentiaria; and as to the collation of reserved benefices, 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 before Innocent II, and it was only from the time of Clement IV that the reservation of benefices 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 a cardinal 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 the rescripts or graces of the sovereign pontiff, while others hold it to be derived from the right to grant and give (dare) the graces and indults for which petition is made to the pope. It is certain that, on account of these functions the datary enjoyed great prestige in former times, when he was called the eye of the pope (oculus papae). After the cardinal comes the subdatary, a prelate 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 the per obitum, the prefect of the concessum, the cashier of the componenda, an officer of the missis, and the like.

Leo XIII had already introduced reforms into the organization of the Dataria, to make it harmonize with modern requirements, and Pius 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 of Bulls. The new Constitution retains the theological examiners for the competitions for parishes. 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 were necessary, because private persons could not refer directly to the Dataria, which dealt only with persons 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 many papal indults and graces, has now only to investigate the fitness of candidates for Consistorial benefices, which are reserved to the Holy See, to write and to dispatch the Apostolic Letters for the collation of those benefices, 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 the pope when conferring those benefices.

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 generally laymen, and who had in that way established a species of monopoly as detrimental to the Holy See as profitable to themselves; thus it happened that these offices often passed from father to son, while the ecclesiastical 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, and Pius X has totally abolished it.

C. The Apostolic Camera

In the Constitution "Sapienti consilio" Pius X provided that during vacancies of the Holy See its property should be administered by this office. The cardinal-camerlengo (see 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 see APOSTOLIC CAMERA.)

D. The Secretariate of State

After the promulgation of the Constitution of Innocent 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 the pope was in jeopardy from conspiracies formed in his own court (such, for instance, as that against Leo X mentioned above, under A. The Apostolic Chancery), it was a necessity for the sovereign 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 own family. 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 the pope. Hence the office is vacated upon the death of the reigning pontiff. Before the promulgation of the recent Constitution of Pius 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 extraordinary ecclesiastical affairs, the second with ordinary affairs, including grants of honours, titles, and decorations by the Holy 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, under ROMAN CONGREGATIONS. The second section deals with the relations of the Holy See with secular princes, whether through Apostolic nuncios or legates 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 the Holy See, which, besides the golden cross pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, instituted by Leo XIII, include such distinctions as the Supreme Order of Christ (or Order of the Militia of Jesus Christ, as it is called by Pius X in his brief of 7 February, 1905), the Order of Pius IX, established by that pontiff in 1847, the Order of Saint Gregory the Great, created by Gregory XVI in 1831; the Order of Saint Sylvester; the Order of the Golden Militia, or of the Golden Spur, restored by Pius X, and the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, of which Pius 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.

E. The Secretariate of Briefs to Princes and of Latin Letters

The Secretariate of Briefs to Princes consists of the secretary and two office assistants. The secretary is a prelate whose duty it is to write the pontifical Briefs addressed to emperors, kings, civil princes, or other exalted personages. He also prepares the allocutions which the pope pronounces at Consistories, and the Encyclicals or Apostolic Letters addressed to the bishops and to the faithful. All this he does according to the instructions of the pope. He must be a proficient Latinist, since Latin is the language in which these documents are written. The secretary for Latin letters is also a prelate or private chamberlain (cameriere segreto), his duties being to write the letters of less solemnity which the sovereign pontiff addresses to different personages. He has an office assistant.

III. Commissions of Cardinals and the Pontifical Family

Certain commissions of cardinals which still exist are the Commissions for Biblical Studies, for Historical Studies, for the Administration of the Funds of the Holy See or of the Peterspence, for the Conservation of the Faith in Rome, 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 palatine cardinals — cardinal datary and the cardinal secretary of State. Formerly the cardinal datary always lived with the pope; the secretary of State, even now, lives in the Vatican Palace and is the pontiff's confidential officer. After these follow the palatine prelates: majordomo, the maestro di camera, the master of the Sacred Palace, and the carnerieri 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 palatine prelates, the sacristan and the secretary of Ceremonies. Nearly all these prelates 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 the popes. (See MAESTRO DI CAMERA DEL PAPA; MAJORDOMO.)

The majordomo and maestro di camera are followed in order in the Pontifical Family by the domestic prelates 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 the Rota, 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 a Brief of the Secretariate of State, and in virtue of their office are members of the Pontifical Chapel (Cappella Pontificia); they wear the cappa magna and wait on the pope, assisting him with the book, and holding the candle (bugia). Moreover, they may wear silk robes — an exclusive privilege of the Pontifical Family, although many bishops, in ignorance of this rule, act at variance with it.

For the College of Apostolic Prothonotaries see PROTHONOTARY APOSTOLIC. For the College of Prelate Auditors of the Rota see ROTA, SACRA ROMANA. Of the clerics of the Apostolic Camera, enough has already been said in the present article.

The domestic prelates are appointed as a rule by a Motu Proprio of the pope, occasionally at the petition of their bishops, and they enjoy several privileges, among which are the use of the violet dress, which is that of a bishop (without the cross), the ring, the violet biretta, and the cappa magna. These domestic prelates are appointed for life, and retain their dignity at the death of the pope. After them in the Pontifical Family come the camerieri segreti di spada e cappa partecipanti, all of whom are laymen, the staff and the higher officers of the Pontifical Noble Guard, the supernumerary camerieri segreti or private chamberlains (ecclesiastics), the active and the supernumerary camerieri di spada e cappa (laymen), the camerieri d'onore in abito paonazzo (ecclesiastics), the camerieri d'onore extra Urbem (ecclesiastics), the camerieri d'onore di spada e cappa, active and supernumerary (laymen), the staff and the higher officers of the Swiss Guard and of the Palatine Guard of Honour, the master of pontifical ceremonies, the private chaplains, the honorary private chaplains, the honorary private chaplains extra Urbem, the chierici 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 supernumerary camerieri segreti that, like the active and the partecipanti camerieri segreli, their office ceases at the death of the pope; while it lasts they have the right to use the violet dress, of a cut slightly differing, however, from that of the prelates; on account of which difference, they are called monsignori di mantellone, while the prelates are called monsignori, di mantelletta.

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GOMES, Compendium utriusqucae signatures (Paris, 1547); STAPHILAEUS, De litteris gratiae, de signatura gratis et liiteris apostolicis in forma brevis (Paris, 1558); MANDOSIUS, Praxis signatures gratiae (Rome, 1559); MARCHESANI, Commissionum ac rescriptorum utriusque signature S. D. N. Papas praxis (Rome, 1615); DE MATIENZO, Tract, de referendariorum, advocatorum, iudicum officio. requisitis, dignitate et eminentia (Frankfort, 1618); DE FATINELLIS, De referendariorum votantium signature iusiitiae collegia (Rome, 1696); VITALE, Comm. de iure signature iustitiae (Rome, 1756).

CASSIODORUS, Super XIV reg. Cancelleriae (Paris, 1545); BARCHIN, Pratica, Cancellariae apostolicae cum stylo et formis in curia romana usitatis (Lyons, 1549); MANDOSIUS, Comm. in regulas Cancellariae lulii III (Venice, 1554); MILLUS, Annoiationes in regulas Gomesii Cancellerae apostolicae (Lyons, 1557); MANDOSIUS, In regulas Cancelleriae apostolicae commentar. (Rome, 1558); MOLINA, Comm. in regulas Cancelleriae apostolicae (Lyons, 1560); GOMES, In Cancelleriae apost. regulas iudiciales (Venice, 1575); REBUFFUS, Acid-it, in reg. Canceller-ifs (Paris, 1579); BLADIUS, Constitut. Pii IV, V et Gregor. XIII cum regulis Cancellerice (1583); GONZALEZ, Ad regulam VIII Cancell. de reservatione mensium (Geneva, 1605); BUTHILLERI, Tract, ad regul. Cancellariae de infirmis resignationibus (Paris, 1612); PELBUS, In regulas Cancellariae (Paris, 1615); A CHOCKIER, Comm. in reg. Cancellariae apostolicae sive in glossemata Alphonsi Soto nuncupati Glossatoris (Cologne, 1619); DE QUESADA, Regulae Cancellariae apostolicae Gregorii XV cum notis et indicibus (Rome, 1621); LOUETIUS, Notae ad comm. Caroli Molinaei in regulas Cancellariae ape apostolicae (Paris, 1656); SPERENGERUS, Roma nova cum regulis Cancellariae apostolicae et de privilegiis clericorum (Frankfort, 1667); CIAMPINI, De abbreviatoribus de parco maiori sive assistent. S. R. E. Vicecancellario in litierarum apostolicarum expeditionibus... dissertatio histories (Rome, 1669); LE PELLETIER, Instructions pour les expeditions de la cour de Rome (Paris, 1680); CASTEL PÉRARD, Paraphrase du commeniaire de M. Ch. Du Sfoulin sur les régles de la Chancellerie romaine (Paris, 1685); CIAMPINI, De S. R. E. Vicecancellaria (Rome, 1697); ANON, Compendiaria notitia abbreviatoris de curia (Rome, 1696); OCZENASSEK, Prael. iur. can. seu comm. in regulas Cancellariae Clementis XI (Vienna, 1712); Bovio, La pietà trionfante sulle distrutte grandezze del gentilismo... e degli ufficii delta Cancelleria Apostolica e dei Cancellieri della S. R. Chiesa (Rome, 1729); RIGANTI, Commentaria in regulas, constitutiones et ordinationes Cancetlariae apostolicae, opus posthumum (Geneva, 1571); HEDDERICH, Disputatio ad regulam Cancellariae; de non tollendo ius quaesitum in Germania, diss. XVII (Bonn, 1783); ERLER, Der Liber Cancelleriae' apostolicae v. J. 1380 (Leipzig, 1880); V. OTTENTHAL, Die päpstlichen Kanzleiregein von Johann XXII bis Nikolaus V (1888); TANGL, Die päpstlichen Kanzleiordungen von 1200-1500 (Innsbruck, 1894); KEHR, Scrinium und Palatium. Zur Geschichte des 'päpstlichen Kanzleiwessens im 11 Jahrh. in Mitt. des Instil, fur österr. Geschichtsf., suppl. VI; GÖLLER, Mitteilungen und Unlersuchungen über das päpstliche Register-und Kanzleiwessen im 14. Jahrh., besonders unter Johann XXII und Benedict XII in Quellen und Forschungen des Preuss. histor. Instituts in Rom., VI, 272 sqq.; CHIARI. Memoria giuridico-storica sulla Dataria Cancellaria, rev. Camera apostolica, Compenso di Spagna, vacabili e vacabilisti (Rome, 1900); ANON., Die Vacabilia d. päpstl. Kanzlei u. d. Datarie in Arch. f. k. KR., LXXXII (1902), 163-165; VON HOFMANN, Zur Geschichte der päpstl. Kanzlei vornehmlich in der 3. Hälfte des 15. Jahrh. (Berlin, 1904); SCHMITZ-KALLENBERG, Practica Cancellaria! apostolicae seculi xv exeuntis (Münster, 1904); BAUMGARTEN, Aus Kanzlei u. Kammer (Freiburg, 1905); GÖLLER, Die Kommentatoren der päpstlichen Kanzleiregeln von Ende des 15. bis sum Beginn des 17. Jahrhunderts in Arch. f, k. KR., LXXXV (1905), 441 sqq.; LXXXVI (1906). 20 sqq., 259 sqq.; IDEM, Von d. apostol. Kanzlei (Cologne, 1908).

AMYDENUS, De officio et jurisdictione Datarii nec non de stylo Dataria; MACANAR, Pedimento sobre abuses de la Dataria (Madrid, 1841); ANON., Die Vacabilia d. päpstl. Kanzlei u. d. Datarie in Arch. f. k. KB, 82, 163 (1902).

SESTINI, 11 Maestro di Camera. (Florence, 1623); CATALANUS, De Magistro s. Palatii Apostolici (Rome, 1751); MARINI, Memorie istoriche degli archivi delta S. Sede (Rome, 1825); RASPONI, De Basilica et Patriarchio lateranensi (Rome, 1656); GALLETTI, Del Primicero delta S. Sede Apostolica e di altri ufficiali rnaggiori del Sagro Palagio lateranense (Rome, 1776); GALLBTTI, Del vestarario della S. Romana Chiesa (Rome, 1758); CONTI, Originæ fasti e privilege degli avvocaii concistoriali (Rome, 1898); RENAZI. Notizie storiche degli antichi Vicedomini del Patriarchio lateranense e dei moderni Prefetti del Sagro Palazzo Apostolico ovvero maggiordomi poritefici (Rome, 1787); CANCELLIERI, Notizie sopra l'anello pescatorio (Rome, 1823); MAUBACH, 0. Kardinale u. ihre Poltt. urn d. Mitte d. fill. Jahrh. (Bonn, 1902); SÄGMÜLLER, Geschichte d. Kardinalates (Rome, 1893); SACCHETTI, Privilegia protonotariorum apostolicorum (Cologne, 1689); ANDREUCCI, Tr. de protonotariis apostolicis (Rome, 1742); RIGANTI, De protonotariis apostolicis (Rome, 1751); BUONACCORSI, Antichitá del protono-apostolico partecipante (Faenza, 1751); BRUNET, Le parfait notaire apostolique et procureur des officialités et formules ecclésiastiques (Lyons, 1775); MICKE, De protonotariis apostolicis dissertatio (Breslau, 1866); RENAUD, Des protonotaires apostoliques in Rev. des Sciences ecclés. (1867); TROMBETTA, De juribus et privilegiis praelatorum Romance Curiae (Sorrento, 1906).

External links

• Official website
• Roman Curia index – Vatican.va
• Overview of the Roman Curia – GCatholic.org

Further reading

• Bouix, Dominique (1859). Tractatus de curia romana: seu de cardinalibus, romanis congregationibus, legatis, nuntiis, vicariis et protonotariis apostolicis (in Latin). Paris: apud Jacobum Lecoffre et Socios.
• De Luca, Giovanni Battista (1683). Relatio Curiae Romanae (in Latin). Cologne: Arnoldus Metternich.
• Rusch, Borwin (1936). Die Behörden und Hofbeamten der päpstlichen Kurie des 13. Jahrhunderts (in German). Konigsberg: Ost-Europa-Verlag.
• Grimaldi, Félix (1890). Les congrégations romaines guide: historique et pratique (in French). Siena: Imprimerie San Bernardino.
• Martin, Michael (1913). The Roman Curia as it Now Exists: An Account of Its Departments: Sacred Congregations, Tribunals, Offices; Competence of Each; Mode of Procedure; how to Hold Communication With: the Latest Legislation. New York: Benziger. p. 427.
• Pratica della curia romana che comprende la giurisdizione de' tribunali di Roma, e dello stato; e l'ordine giudiziario, che in essi si osserva. Con una raccolta di costituzioni, editti, riforme, regiudicate, decreti &c (in Italian). Roma: nella stamperia di Giovanni Zempel. 1781. p. 256.
• Prudlo, Donald S., ed. (2025). A Companion to the History of the Roman Curia. Brill's Companions to the Christian Tradition. Vol. 107. Brill. ISBN 90-04-18462-7.
• Ojetti, Benedetto (1913). "Roman Curia". Catholic Encyclopedia.
• Boudinhon, Auguste (1911). "Curia Romana". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.).