culminating in Pope John Paul’s 1992 statement expressing regret for the way the Church responded to Galileo’s scientific theses.
The Pontifical Council for Social Communications, which is responsible for promoting a Christian vision of the world of mass communications. The council has recently put out documents on advertising and the Internet. As a practical matter, the council also handles all requests from broadcast media for access to the Holy See. The council takes special interest in Catholic newspapers and periodicals, as well as radio and television stations, to ensure that they faithfully represent the teaching of the Church and spread religious news accurately.
Other Offices
The Roman Curia also features a number of other offices for handling tasks not subsumed under any other dicastery. They include:
The Apostolic Camera, which is a department of the Curia created in the eleventh century to deal with the financial and administrative affairs of the Papal States. According to a 1967 constitution of Paul VI, the Apostolic Camera manages the financial holdings of the papacy during the interregnum. It is headed by the
camerlengo
, or chancellor, who governs the Church during the interregnum, although rules call for him to make no decisions that can await the next Pope.
The Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, the office responsible for administering the property and goods of the Holy See. According to 2003 Vatican figures, that patrimony was worth almost $800 million, representing largely real estate holdings and investment portfolios. This does not include, however, what most people conventionally think of as the patrimony of the Vatican, meaning masterpieces of Western art such as Michelangelo’s
Pietà
, or the Basilica of St. Peter itself. These treasures, which can never be sold or borrowed against and hence have no practical value, are listed on the Vatican books at 1 Euro each.
The Prefecture of the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, which is responsible for overseeing the annual operating budget of the Vatican, which in 2003 was $260 million.
The Prefecture of the Papal Household, which is responsible for audiences with the Pope and administering the Papal apartments. The prefect, currently American Archbishop James Harvey, receives visiting heads of state and escorts them to the papal apartments. He is also generally seated next to the Pope during public functions. The papal household also includes those who are on most intimate terms with the Pope, including his butler, Angelo Gugel, and the Polish nuns who prepare his meals and take care of his clothes.
The Office of the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, which is responsible for organizing all papal liturgies and assisting the Pope at those liturgies, including all the ceremonies on papal trips. As such, the office has the capacity to set the liturgical tone for the Catholic Church, since the way the Pope celebrates Mass and the other rites of the Church is widely studied and imitated.
PAST AND PRESENT
Very briefly, it’s worth noting where these structures came from, because the Roman Curia has not always had its current configuration. The first mention of the phrase “Roman Curia" to describe the civil service around the Bishop of Rome came in a document of Pope Urban II in 1089, though popes had already drawn upon the services of aides and advisors for centuries. Niccolò del Re distinguishes five stages in the growth and development of the Roman Curia.
Presbyters and Synods Up to the eleventh century, the papal bureaucracy consisted of secretaries who handled correspondence and registered decrees. The decision-making functions associated with the Roman Curia were performed by the presbyterate, or clergy, of the Rome diocese, and by occasional synods of bishops. Ignatius of Antioch, for example, mentions the body of clergy in Rome that assists the Pope as early as the second century. By the third century the Roman
The Pontifical Council for Social Communications, which is responsible for promoting a Christian vision of the world of mass communications. The council has recently put out documents on advertising and the Internet. As a practical matter, the council also handles all requests from broadcast media for access to the Holy See. The council takes special interest in Catholic newspapers and periodicals, as well as radio and television stations, to ensure that they faithfully represent the teaching of the Church and spread religious news accurately.
Other Offices
The Roman Curia also features a number of other offices for handling tasks not subsumed under any other dicastery. They include:
The Apostolic Camera, which is a department of the Curia created in the eleventh century to deal with the financial and administrative affairs of the Papal States. According to a 1967 constitution of Paul VI, the Apostolic Camera manages the financial holdings of the papacy during the interregnum. It is headed by the
camerlengo
, or chancellor, who governs the Church during the interregnum, although rules call for him to make no decisions that can await the next Pope.
The Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, the office responsible for administering the property and goods of the Holy See. According to 2003 Vatican figures, that patrimony was worth almost $800 million, representing largely real estate holdings and investment portfolios. This does not include, however, what most people conventionally think of as the patrimony of the Vatican, meaning masterpieces of Western art such as Michelangelo’s
Pietà
, or the Basilica of St. Peter itself. These treasures, which can never be sold or borrowed against and hence have no practical value, are listed on the Vatican books at 1 Euro each.
The Prefecture of the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, which is responsible for overseeing the annual operating budget of the Vatican, which in 2003 was $260 million.
The Prefecture of the Papal Household, which is responsible for audiences with the Pope and administering the Papal apartments. The prefect, currently American Archbishop James Harvey, receives visiting heads of state and escorts them to the papal apartments. He is also generally seated next to the Pope during public functions. The papal household also includes those who are on most intimate terms with the Pope, including his butler, Angelo Gugel, and the Polish nuns who prepare his meals and take care of his clothes.
The Office of the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, which is responsible for organizing all papal liturgies and assisting the Pope at those liturgies, including all the ceremonies on papal trips. As such, the office has the capacity to set the liturgical tone for the Catholic Church, since the way the Pope celebrates Mass and the other rites of the Church is widely studied and imitated.
PAST AND PRESENT
Very briefly, it’s worth noting where these structures came from, because the Roman Curia has not always had its current configuration. The first mention of the phrase “Roman Curia" to describe the civil service around the Bishop of Rome came in a document of Pope Urban II in 1089, though popes had already drawn upon the services of aides and advisors for centuries. Niccolò del Re distinguishes five stages in the growth and development of the Roman Curia.
Presbyters and Synods Up to the eleventh century, the papal bureaucracy consisted of secretaries who handled correspondence and registered decrees. The decision-making functions associated with the Roman Curia were performed by the presbyterate, or clergy, of the Rome diocese, and by occasional synods of bishops. Ignatius of Antioch, for example, mentions the body of clergy in Rome that assists the Pope as early as the second century. By the third century the Roman
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