The Roman Curia 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 government of the Church. The Roman Catholic Church is the largest Christian body in the world. ...

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 Pope is the Catholic Bishop and patriarch of Rome, and head of the Catholic Church. ...

In this sense, the Roman Curia has grown little by little in the history of the Catholic Church, its importance reaching an apogee during the later times of Papacy's temporal power, de facto ended in 19th century (with the unification of Italy) and later formally too concluded in 1929 with the Lateran Treaties, or Concordato. After this act, the Curia obviously does not care any more about the administration of the Stati Pontificii (the extensive Papal States in central Italy), and is now mainly dedicated to the support of the Pope's ecclesiastical responsibilities. City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Democratici di Sinistra) Area  - City Proper  1290 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,823,210 almost 4,000,000 1... This article is about several astronomical terms (apogee & perigee, aphelion & perihelion, generic equivalents based on apsis, and related but rarer terms. ... The Pope is the Catholic Bishop and patriarch of Rome, and head of the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches. ... By the expression temporal power is commonly indicated the political and governmental activity of the Popes of the Roman Catholic Church, as distinguished from their spiritual and pastoral activity (also called eternal power). ... 1929 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Lateran Treaties of February 11, 1929 provided for the mutual recognition of the then-Kingdom of Italy and the Vatican City. ... The Papal States (Gli Stati della Chiesa or Stati Pontificii, States of the Church) was one of the historical states of Italy before the peninsula was unified under the crown of Savoy. ...

Purpose

"In exercising supreme, full, and immediate power in the universal Church, the Roman pontiff makes use of the departments of the Roman Curia which, therefore, perform their duties in his name and with his authority for the good of the churches and in the service of the sacred pastors." (Christus Dominus, 9)

Christus Dominus is the Second Vatican Councils Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops. ...

Structure

The following organs or charges, according to the official website of the Holy See ([1]), compose the Curia:

• The Secretariat of State (Secretaria Apostolica ) - created in the 15th century, it is the dicastery of the closest assistants of the Pope [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 the Promotion of the Unity of the Christians
  • The Pontifical Council for the Family
  • The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
  • The Pontifical Council Cour 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 Inter-religious 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 the Vatican State City
  • 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 Roman 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 the Vicegerent, who holds the personal title of Archbishop, supervise the governance of the diocese with occasional reference to the Pope himself, but no responsibility to the Roman Curia as such. The Secretariat of State is the oldest dicastery in the Roman Curia, the government of the Roman Catholic Church. ... 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. ... The Cardinal Secretary of State presides over the Vatican Secretariat of State, which is the oldest and most important dicastery of the Roman Curia. ... A congregation is a type of dicastery of the Roman Curia, the Roman Catholic Church government. ... The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) (Congregatio pro Doctrina Fidei) is the oldest of the nine congregations of the Roman Curia. ... Pedro Berruguete. ... The Congregation for the Oriental Churches (Congregatio pro Ecclesiis Orientalibus) is the congregation of the Roman Curia responsible for contact with the Oriental Catholic Churches for the sake of assisting their development, protecting their rights and also maintaining whole and entire in the one Catholic Church, alongside the liturgical, disciplinary... The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (Congregatio de Cultu Divino et Disciplina Sacramentorum) is the congregation of the Roman Curia that oversees liturgical observance in the Catholic Church. ... Governing the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope makes use of the Roman Curia, the administrative apparatus of the Holy See. ... The headquarters of the Propaganda fide in Rome, housed by architects Borromini and Bernini: etching by Giuseppe Vasi, 1761 The Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide (Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith) is an organ of the Roman Catholic Church responsible for missionary work and related activities. ... The Congregation for the Clergy (Congregatio pro Clericis) is the congregation of the Roman Curia responsibile for overseeing matters regarding priests and deacons, and overseeing the religious education of all Roman Catholics. ... The Council of Trent (Italian: Trento) was an ecumenical council of the Catholic Church held in discontinuous sessions between 1545 and 1563 in response to the Protestant Reformation. ... The Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (Congregatio pro Institutis Vitae Consecratae et Societatibus Vitae Apostolicae) is the congregation of the Roman Curia responsible for everything which concerns institutes of consecrated life (orders and religious congregations, both of men and of women, secular institutes) and... The Congregation for Catholic Education is a dicastery of the Roman curia responsible for: (1) seminaries (except those regulated by the Congregations for the Evangelization of Peoples and for Oriental Churches) and houses of formation of religious and secular institutes; (2) universities, faculties, institutes and higher schools of study, either... The Congregation for Bishops (Congregatio pro Episcopis) is the congregation of the Roman Curia which oversees the selection of new bishops pending papal approval. ... The Apostolic Penitentiary, more formally the Tribunal of the Apostolic Penitentiary, is one of three bodies in the Roman Curia that make up the judiciary within the Holy See. ... The Sacra Rota Romana or Sacred Roman Rota is the second highest tribunal of the Roman Catholic Church. ... A synod (also known as a council) is a council of a church, usually a Christian church, convened to decide an issue of doctrine or administration. ... Swiss Guards have been Swiss who fought for various European powers from the 15th century until the 19th century, called up from the separate Swiss cantons and placed at the disposal of various foreign powers by treaties (the capitulations), in return for money payments. ... A vicar general is an ecclesiastical office in the Latin rite of the Roman Catholic Church existing in each particular church. ...

See also

Politics of the Vatican City The pope exercises supreme legislative, executive, and judicial power over the Holy See and the State of the Vatican City, a rare case of elective non-hereditary monarchy. ...