The Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura is the administrative appellate tribunal of the Holy See and, consequently, the highest judicial authority of the Roman Catholic Church outside of the Pope himself. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Appeal. ... Catholic Church redirects here. ...

Appeals in standard judicial process, if appealed to the Holy See, normally do not reach the Signatura. Those go to the Sacra Rota Romana. However, a few special processes are adjudicated before the Signatura: The Sacra Rota Romana or Sacred Roman Rota is the normal appellate tribunal of the Holy See and the second highest ecclesiastical court in the Roman Catholic Church. ...

• Conflicts of jurisdiction between two or more tribunals or dicasteries,
• Administrative acts of ordinaries and dicasteries (including penal cases decided without using a court),
• Petitions for a retrial of a Rotal decision due to the decision being null, and
• Matters involving advocates and inter-diocesan first instance and appellate tribunals.

Whereas a Rotal decision could, if not res judicata, be appealed to another turnus of the Rota, there is no right of appeal from the decision of the Signatura (can. 1629 §1 CIC). Dicasteries (from Greek: δικαστ, judge/juror) are the central offices of the Roman Curia in which the stewardship of the Roman Catholic Church is entrusted. ... Pope Pius XI, depicted in this window at Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, Honolulu, was ordinary of the universal Roman Catholic Church and local ordinary of Rome. ...

History

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 since consisted of six cardinals, appointed by the pope, one of whom is its prefect, complemented by a secretary, a notary, who must be a priest, some consultors, and a few subordinate officers. The Signatura became a genuine tribunal with ordinarily jurisdiction in four kinds of cases, namely: Pope Pius X (1903-1914), pictured in 1904, wearing the 1834 Triple Tiara of Pope Gregory XVI Saint Pius X, né Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, (2 June 1835 - 20 August 1914) was Pope from 1903 to 1914, succeeding Pope Leo XIII. He was the first pope since the Counter-Reformation Pope... A CONSULTOR, in Latin, is one who gives council, i. ...

• 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.

Membership

The following are the present members of the Apostolic Signatura:

• Most Rev. Agostino Cardinal Vallini (Prefect)
• Józef Cardinal Glemp
• Antonio Cardinal Rouco Varela
• Edward Cardinal Egan
• Peter Cardinal Erdo
• Agostino Cardinal Cacciavillan
• Sergio Cardinal Sebastiani
• Walter Cardinal Kasper
• Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran
• Julian Cardinal Herranz
• Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski
• Most Rev. Joseph Mercieca
• Most Rev. Emilio Eid
• Most Rev. Eduardo Davino
• Most Rev. Heinrich Mussinghoff
• Most Rev. Francesco Coccopalmerio
• Most Rev. Thomas Doran
• Most Rev. Javier Echevarria Rodriguez
• Most Rev. Raymond Leo Burke
• Most Rev. Lluis Martinez Sistach

Agostino Cardinal Vallini is a Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal deacon. ... Józef Cardinal Glemp (born 28 December 1929) is the Archbishop of Warsaw and Primate of Poland and Ordinary for the faithful of the Oriental Rite residing in Poland. ... Antonio María Cardinal Rouco Varela (born 24 August 1936) is a Cardinal Priest and Archbishop of Madrid in the Roman Catholic Church. ... His Eminence Edward Michael Cardinal Egan (born April 2, 1932 in Oak Park, Illinois) is a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. ... Péter Cardinal ErdÅ‘s Coat of Arms Péter ErdÅ‘ (born June 25, 1952 in Budapest) is the archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, Primate of Hungary and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. ... Agostino Cardinal Cacciavillan (born 14 August 1926) is a Cardinal Deacon and the President Emeritus of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See in the Roman Catholic Church. ... Sergio Cardinal Sebastiani (born April 11, 1931) is a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and the most recent President of Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See. ... His Eminence Walter Cardinal Kasper (born March 5, 1933) is a Cardinal Deacon and President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in the Roman Catholic Church. ... Jean-Louis Tauran His Eminence Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran (born 3 April 1943) is a Cardinal Deacon and the Archivist and Librarian of the Roman Catholic Church. ... Julián Cardinal Herranz Casado (born March 31, 1930) is a Roman Catholic cardinal and President Emeritus of Interpretation of Legislative Texts for the Roman Curia. ... His Eminence Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski (born October 11, 1939 in Bródki, Poland) is a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. ... Javier Echevarria Rodriguez, a Roman Catholic prelate, was born in Madrid on June 14, 1932. ... Archbishop Raymond Burke Most Reverend Raymond Leo Burke (b. ...

External Links

• Giga-Catholic Information
• This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia. [1]