Government of the Roman Catholic church

The government of the Roman Catholic church is organized in a hierarchical way. The Church is directed since the the Holy See by the Pape, elected with life by the cardinal joined together in Conclave, in the majority of two thirds, and by the Roman Curia, which gathers a certain number of organizations called Dicastère S.

Roman curia

See also: Roman Curia

Chancery of State

See also: Chancery of State

Most important of the dicastères is the Secrétairerie of State, chaired by a cardinal called Secretary of State. It is in particular in load of the Diplomatie of the Holy See. Since 1988, Chancery is divided into two sections:

• the section for the general Affairs;

• the section for the Relations with the States (equivalent of a Ministry for Foreign Affairs), in which the Council for the public affairs of the Church was melted.

Roman congregations

See also: Roman Congregation

The others Dicastère S important are the nine Roman congregations:

• Congregation for the doctrines of the faith, most important (formerly known like the Holy Office and before Inquisition), on which depend:

• the pontifical biblical Commission,
• the international theological Commission,
• the Commission interdicastèriale for the catechism of the Catholic church;
• Congregation for the divine worship and the discipline of the sacraments;
• Congregation for the Eastern Churches;
• Congregation for the causes of the saints;
• Congregation for the evangelization of the people, more known under the name of Propaganda Fide (“propagation of the faith”), on which the pontifical Œuvres missionaries depend;
• Congregation for the clergy;
• Congregation for the Institutes of consecrated life and the Companies of apostolic life;
• Congregation for catholic education;
• Congregation for the bishops, on which the pontifical Commission on the Latin America depends.

Secretariats and councils

On a lower floor, the pontifical councils are:

• the pontifical Council for laic the;

• the pontifical Council for the promotion of the unit of the Christians;
• the pontifical Council for the family;
• the pontifical Council “Justice and Peace”;
• the pontifical Council “Horn unum” for human and Christian promotion;
• the pontifical Council for the pastoral one of the migrants and the people in displacement;
• the pontifical Council for the pastoral one of the health services;
• the pontifical Council for the legislative texts;
• the pontifical Council for the interrreligieux dialog (formerly Secretariat for the Not-Christians);
• the pontifical Council of the culture;
• the pontifical Council of the social communications.

Courts

The Roman Catholic church also has a certain number of courts :

• the apostolic Pénitencerie: draft of the businesses of conscience, as well as concession and use of the Indulgence S;

• the Supreme court of the apostolic Signature: take care of the correct administration of justice in the Church;
• the Court of the Rote Roman: higher authority of call near the apostolic Seat.

Old dicastères

Before the reorganization of the Curia decided by Paul VI in 1967, this one included/understood five offices, among which only the Secrétairerie of State and the apostolic Chambre survived. The three others were:

• the apostolic Daterie;

• the apostolic Chancellery;
• the Chancery of the Latin letters and the briefs to the princes.

Temporary bodies of the government of the Roman Catholic church

The pope joins together Synode S of bishop S and cardinal in ordinary assemblies (at regular periodicity) or extraordinary to consider the businesses in progress, either on the general level (Synod of bishops for the universal Church, called episcopal Synode more simply), or in particular geographical areas. Since 2001, the activity is strong in the synod for the Europe. The college of the cardinals is for its part called into question, its main role being to elect the new pope. Much, inside the Church, wishes its suppression and its replacement by the episcopal Synod (cardinals being in any event bishops since Jean XXIII).

Temporal power

The temporal power of the Roman Catholic church is materialized by small a State in the middle of the town of Rome, the State of the Vatican City. This one strikes the Euro. The the Holy See profits as for him from a station from State observant non-member to the United Nations.

Since the Agreements of Lateran, signed in 1929 by the cardinal Gasparri and Mussolini (the Reconciliazione ), this State is located in a district of Rome, on Right Bank of the the Tiber. Formerly and until the unification of the Italy by Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Papal States occupied the center of the Italy.

Institutions attached to the Holy See

A certain number of institutions are attached to the the Holy See, and thus to the Roman Curia. Here is the list:

• secret Files of the Vatican;

• apostolic Library vaticane;
• ecclesiastical pontifical Academy;
• pontifical Academy of sciences;
• pontifical Academy of social sciences;
• pontifical Academy for the life;
• polyglot Typography vaticane;
• the Osservatore Romano (newspaper of the Vatican);
• Bookstore editor vaticane;
• Radio Vatican;
• Center of Television of the Vatican;
• Factory of Saint-Pierre;
• apostolic Chaplaincy.

See the culture in the Vatican.

For this list, it is advisable to add various offices and organizations:

• apostolic Room;

• Administration of the Inheritance of the apostolic Seat;
• Prefecture for the Economic affairs;
• Prefecture of the pontifical House;
• Office of the liturgical celebrations of Sovereign pontiff;
• Press room of the Holy See;
• central Office of the statistics of the Church;
• pontifical Commissions (cultural Goods of the Church, crowned Archeology, '' Ecclesia Dei '');
• Commissions biblical pontifical, theological international, disciplinary of the Roman Curia;
• pontifical Committees (international Congresses eucharistic, historical Sciences);
• pontifical Swiss Guard.

Controversies

The men of the curia were criticized for their careerism. They were denounced by Paul VI and Benoit XVI.

In 1999, the prelate of curie Luigi Marinelli published a book with scandal in which it revealed multiple abuses at the top of the hierarchy: flights, homosexuality, maconnism. etc He affirms that serious abuses and that should absolutely be reformed the curia is made.

See too

External bonds

• Papacy and culture at the XIXe century by Philippe Boutry.
• the Organization of the Roman Curia on the site of the Conference of the Bishops of France.
• Chronology of the popes
• the Site of the Holy See

Random links:

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