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 Catholic 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, sometimes anglicized as Roman Court, is the Papal Court, and assists the Pope in carrying out his functions.

History
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.

In its long and eventfull history, it underwent numerous organisational changes. Among its former components are:
 * three of the former five so-called offices: Apostolic Chancery; Apostolic Dataria; Secretariate of Briefs
 * various former Roman Congregations

Structure
The following organs or charges, according to the official website of the Holy See, 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 . It is headed by the Cardinal Secretary of State.
 * Section for General Affairs
 * Section for Relations with States


 * The Roman Congregations -
 * The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (once the Sacred Congregation of the Universal Inquisition, later Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office) ,
 * The Congregation for the Oriental Churches (once the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide pro negotiis ritus orientalis)
 * The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
 * The Congregation for the Causes of Saints
 * The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (better known as the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide)
 * The Congregation for the Clergy (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
 * The Congregation for Catholic Education (for Seminaries and Educational Institutions) (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
 * 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
 * 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
 * The Pontifical Academies
 * The Labour office
 * Other institutions

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.

Sources & external links

 * The Roman Curia by Giga-Catholic Information
 * Catholic Encyclopaedia (not yet fully exploited)