ROMAN
136
ROMAN
priests, and the students attend the lectures at S.
Apollinare.
CoLLEGio Apostolico Leoniano owes its origin to P. Valentini, a Lazarist, who, aided by a pious lady, received in a private house the students who could not gain admittance to the other colleges. This college and the re\enue left by the lady were taken over later by the Holv See and a large building was erected in the Prati dl Castello. The direction was committed to the Jesuits. The students, mainly of the southern pro\-inces that have no special college at Rome, at- tend the lectures in the Gregorian University.
L'organisaiion el administration centrale de Veglise (Paris, 1900), 600 sqq. D.^xiel; Baumgartex; de Waau Rome. Le chef supreme; MoROXi, Dizionario, XIII (Venice, 1S42), LXIV
(ibid., 1S53^
U. Benigni.
Roman Congregations, The. — Certain depart-
ments have been organized by the Holy See at various
times to assist it in the transaction of those affairs
which canonical disciphne and the individual interests
of the faithful bring to Rome. Of these the most
important are, without doubt, the Roman Congrega-
tions {Sacrce Cardinalimn Congregationes), as is evi-
dent from the mere consideration of the dignity of
their membership, consisting, as it does, of cardinals
who are officially the chief collaborators of the sover-
eign pontiff in the administration of the affairs of the
Universal Church. Nevertheless it should be noted
that cardinals have not always participated in the ad-
ministration of ecclesiastical affairs in the same way.
A research on the various usages that have obtained
in this connexion would lead us too far from our pres-
ent subject, but is taken up imder Cakdinal; Con-
sistory, Papal.
The Roman Congregations originated in the neces- sity, felt from the beginning, of studying the questions submitted for pontifical decision, in order to sift the legal questions arising and to establish matters of fact duly. This work, at first entrusted to the papal chaplains, was afterwards divided between the pxni- tenliarii and the auditores, according as questions of the internal or the external forum (i. e., jurisdiction) were to be considered. Thereafter, cardinals in greater or less number were associated with them. Often, however, they were not merely entrusted with the preparation of the ca.se, but were given authority to decide it. As, on the other hand, the increased num- bers of cases to be pa.s.sed upon occupied a great num- ber of persons, while the proper administration of justice required that those persons should be of the most experienced, it appeared to be advisable, if not nece.s.sarj', to divide this business into various and dis- tinct groups. This division would evidently facilitate the selection of wi.se and experienced men in all branches of ecclesia-stical affairs. Hence also a nat- ural division into executive ca.ses, assigned to the officf^ (officifi), judicial cases, reserved to the tribu- nals, and a<lministrative cases, committed to the Roman Congregations.
Sixtus V was the first to dLstribute this adminis- trative business among different congregations of cardinals; and in his Constitution "Immensa" (22 Jan., 1.588) he generalized the id(!a, already conceived and partly rwluced to practice by some of his prede- cessors, of committing one or another ca.se or a group of cases to the examination, or to the decision, of wjveral cardinals. By a judicious division of admin- istrative matters, he estaj^lished that p(!rman(!nt organization of thf«e departments of the Curia, which since then have n-ndcred such great services to the Church. The c()ngrcgatif)ns at first establislied by Sixtus V were ofTicially designated as: (1) for Holy Inquisition; (2) for the Signature of Grace; Ci) for the erection of churches and fonsiKtorial provisions; (4) for the abundanf*- of supplifs and prosperity of the Church's temporal dominions; (Ty) for sacred rites and ceremonies; ((>) for equipping the fleet and main-
taining it for the defence of the Church's dominions;
(7) for an index of forbidden books; (8) for the execu-
tion and interpretation of the Council of Trent;
(9) for relieving the ills of the States of the Church;
(10) for the University of the Roman study (or school); (11) for regulations of religious orders; (12) for regulations of bishops and other prelates; (13) for taking care of roads, bridges, and waters; (14) for the Vatican printing-press; (15) for regulations of the af- fairs of the Church's temporal dominions. — From this it will be seen that, while the chi(>f end of the Con- gregations of Cardinals was to assist the sovereign pontiff in the administration of the affairs of the Church, some of these congregations were created to assist in the administration of the temjwral States of the Holy See. The number of these varied according to cir- cumstances and the requirements of the moment. In the time of Cardinal De Luca there were about nineteen of them, as he himself tells us in his admi- rable work "Relatio Romana; Curiae forensis", with- out counting other congregations of a lower order, consisting of prelates, as were, for example, the "Congregatio baronum et montium" and the "Con- gregatio computorum ' ' .
Other congregations were added by different popes, until the present organization was estabhshed by Pius X in his Constitution "Sapienti consilio" of 29 June, 1908, according to which there are thirteen con- gregations, counting that of the Propaganda as only one. As, however, the last-named congregation is divided into two parts: Congregation of the Propa- ganda for Affairs of the Latin Rite, and Congregation of the Propaganda for Affairs of the Oriental Rites, it may well be considered as two congregations; so that the total number of the congregations is fourteen. Sixtus V granted ordinary jurisdiction to each of the congregations which he instituted within the hmits of the cases assigned to it, reserving to himself and to his successors the presidency of some of the more im- portant congregations, such as the Congregation of the Holy Inquisition and that of the Signature of Grace. As time went on, the congregations of cardinals, which at first dealt exclusively with administrative matters, came to pass upon the legal points of the cases submitted to them, until the congregations over- shadowed the ecclesiastical tribunals and even the Roman Rota in fact almost took their places. In time the transaction of business was impeded by the cumulation of jurisdictions, different congregations exercising jurisdiction rendering decisions, and enact- ing laws in the same matters. Pius X resolved to define the competency of each congregation more precisely and to provide otherwise for the better exer- cise of its functions. It would not bo possible to re- late here all the changes effected in this connexion. The reader seeking detailed information may consult the commentaries that have already appeared on the Constitution "Sapienti consilio" (see Cieiieral Bibli- ography at the end of this article). Mention will be made here of only the chief among tho.se innovation.s which, besides the principal one of the demarcation of competency, are to hv. found in t he following j)rovisions.
All decisions of the sacred congregations require pontifical approval, unless special powers have been given previou.sly by the pope. The officials of the congregations are divided into two classes: minor officers who are to be chosen by competitive exam- ination and named by a letter of the cardinal pre- fect, and major officers, freely selected by the pope, and named by a not(! of the cardinal secretary of State. Th(Te is to b(! henc(>forth no cumulation of oflfices in the hands of one; individual, not only to satisfy the requiremcints of distributive justice, but also because the tenun; of several offices by the .same person often results in detriment to the service. Wherefore, it is forbidden for an officer of one of the congregations to s(!rve in any way as an agent, or as a
