Roman Curia
The
Roman Curia - usually (though inaccurately) called the
Vatican - is the administrative apparatus of the
Holy See, coordinating and providing the necessary organisation for the correct functioning of the
Roman Catholic Church and the achievement of its goals. It is generally considered as representing the international government of the Church.
Curia in medieval and later Latin usage means "court" in the sense of "royal court" rather than "court of law" (though those two meanings are related in history). The Roman Curia, then, is the Papal Court, and assists the
Pope in carrying out his functions.
The Roman Curia was originally established in the 16th Century by Pope Sixtus V and had both religious and civil functions, though the latter were greatly transformed in the
19th century when the expansion of the Piedmontese State to include the greater part of Italy included the seizure of most of the
Papal States in
1860 and the city of Rome itself in
1870, and hence effectively ended much of the
Papacy's
temporal power. An agreement was reached on this issue when in
1929 the
Holy See concluded the
Lateran Treaties with the Italian State, which had since
1919 occupied the whole of the peninsula, plus
Sicily and
Sardinia. By this act, the Roman Curia gave up any claim to an administrative role in the defunct
Papal States, though it has such with regard to the successor
Vatican City State. In practice, the Curia is now mainly dedicated to the support of the Pope's ecclesiastical responsibilities.
The following organs or charges, according to the official website of the
Holy See ([
1]), compose the Curia:
*The
Secretariat of State - created in the 15th century, it is now the
dicastery most involved in coordination of the Holy See's activities [
2]. It is headed by the
Cardinal Secretary of State.
**Section for General Affairs
**Section for Relations with States
*The
Congregations [
3] -
**The
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (once the Sacred Congregation of the Universal
Inquisition, later Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office) ([
4]),
**The
Congregation for the Oriental Churches [
5] (once the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide pro negotiis ritus orientalis)
**The
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments [
6]
**The
Congregation for the Causes of Saints [
7]
**The
Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples [
8] (better known as the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide)
**The
Congregation for the Clergy [
9] (originated in the wake of the
Council of Trent as Sacra Congregatio Cardinalium Concilii Tridentini Interpretum)
**The
Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life [
10]
**The
Congregation for Catholic Education (for Seminaries and Educational Institutions) [
11] (born as Congregatio pro universitate studii romani, then Congregatio de Seminariis et Studiorum Universitatibus)
**The
Congregation for Bishops (Congregatio pro Episcopis)
*
The Tribunals**The
Apostolic Penitentiary**The Supreme Tribunal of the
Apostolic Signatura**The
Sacra Rota Romana*The
Pontifical Councils[
12]
**The
Pontifical Council for the Laity**The
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity**The
Pontifical Council for the Family**The
Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace**The
Pontifical Council Cor Unum**The
Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants**The
Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Workers**The
Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts**The
Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue**The
Pontifical Council for Culture**The
Pontifical Council for Social Communications *The
Synod of Bishops*
The Offices**The
Apostolic Chamber**The Administration of the
Patrimony of the Holy See**The
Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See**The
Prefecture for the Pontifical Household**The
Office of the Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations*
The Pontifical Commissions [
13]
**The
Pontifical Commission for the cultural heritage of the Church**The
Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archeology**The
Pontifical Biblical Commission**The
Pontifical Commission for revision of the Vulgata**The
International Theological Commission**The
Pontifical Commission for International Eucharistic Congresses**The
Pontifical Committee of Historical Sciences **The
Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei**The
Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State**The
Pontifical Commission for Latin America **The
Discipline Commission of the Roman Curia*The
Swiss Guard [
14] [
15]
*The
Pontifical Academies [
16]
*The Labour office [
17]
*Other institutions [
18]
It should be noted that it is normal for every Latin Catholic diocese to have a
curia in 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
Vicar General, traditionally a Cardinal, and his deputy the Vicegerent, who holds the personal title of Archbishop, supervise the governance of the diocese by reference to the Pope himself, but no more dependence on the Roman Curia as such than other Catholic dioceses throughout the world.
*
Legal systems of the world *
Politics of the Vatican City*
The Roman Curia by Giga-Catholic Information
