ROMAN
141
ROMAN
refer it to the Rota (unless there be a special commis-
sion of the pope to the contrary), seeing that the very
nature of causes concerning the matrimonial bond, in
which not private interests are at issue, but the pub-
lic welfare, demands that those causes be determined
judicially, and not administratively.
None of this, however, appUes to dispensation from a ratified, but not consummated, marriage, because the nature of such a case requires that it be determined administratively, since it relates to the concession of a grace. This does not do away with the neces- sity of establishing beyond doubt the non-consumma- tion, or the existence of the requisite conditions for the dispensation, since these conditions constitute the proof that the sovereign pontiff has power, in the concrete case under consideration, to grant the dispen- sation validly and licitly, and therefore come within the domain of administrative power. On the other hand the congregation is always free to refer to the Rota the establishment of the fact of non-consumma- tion.
C. The third section of this congregation deals with all matters concerning the other six sacraments than matrimony. It has authority in all matters touching the validity of ordinations, in all matters of discipUne that concern these six sacraments and also the dis- pensations in such matters. In the Special Rules, as examples to illustrate the competency of this congre- gation, specification is made of some of the dispensa- tions or graces reserved to it ; these may be mentioned here for the guidance of those who may wish to apply to the Holy See. This section grants permission to preserve the Bles.sed Sacrament in churches or chapels which are not so authorized by common law; to cele- brate Mass in private chapels, exercising over them due supervision; to celebrate Mass before dawn, after midday, or in the open air; to celebrate Mass on Holy Thursday, or the three Masses of Christmas, at night, in private chapels; to wear a skull-cap or a wig either while celebrating Mass or in the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament; to blind and partially blind priests to celebrate the Votive Mass of the Blessed Virgin; to celebrate Mass aboard ship; to consecrate a bishop on a day other than those established by the Pontifi- cal, or to confer Holy orders extra tempora, that is, on other days than those appointed by law; finally, to dispense the faithful — even members of religious or- ders — from the Eucharistic fast in cases of necessity.
The competency of this congregation is limited in relation both to persons and to places; its authority does not extend to places subject to Propaganda, or to members of religious orders, who for dispensa- tions, relating even to the sacraments, must go to the Congregation of Religious (an exception being made in regard to the Eucharistic fast, as stated above). As to the sacrament of matrimony, however, the com- petency of the Congregation of the Sacraments is universal in relation to place; objectively, however, all that concerns the impediments of mixed religion or of disparity of worship and the Pauline privilege pertains exclusively to the Holy Office.
IV. Congregation of the Council. — When the Council of Trent had brought its gigantic work to an end, the Fathers were greatly concerned for the prac- tical application of their disciplinary decrees. The council therefore made a strong appeal to the sovereign pontiff to make provision for this important end, as is shown by the last (the twenty-fifth) session of the council, entitled De recipiendis et observandis decretis. Pius IV, in his zeal for the execution of the Decrees of the Council of Trent, besides other measures taken by him to this end (see the Constitution "Benedictus Deus" of 26 January, 1.563), by a Motu Proprio of 2 August, 1564, commissioned eight cardinals to su- pervise the execution of the Tridentine Decrees and gave them ample faculties to that end, providing, however, that cases of doubt or of difficulty, as he had
already decreed in the Constitution "Benedictus
Deus", should be referred to him. In this Motu
Proprio, Pius IV referred to the congregation of cardi-
nals thus created as "Congregatio super exsecutione
et observatione S. Concilii Tridentini". As time
went on, and in view of the interpretation of frequent
doubts, the congregation received from the succes-
sors of Pius IV the power also to interpret the De-
crees of the Council of Trent, so that Sixtus V, in his
Constitution "Immensa", already calls it "Congre-
gatio pro exsecutione et interpretatione Concilii Tri-
dentini", a title given to it before his time. Gregory
XIV afterwards conferred upon it authority to reply
to questions in the name of the pope.
The number of cardinals composing the Congrega- tion of the Council was never restricted to eight, for to that number, which had been assigned by Pius IV, four more were soon added. The number was generally greater than the original eight, and always variable, depending upon circumstances and upon the wishes of the Holy Father. One of its cardinals has the office of prefect, it also has a secretary, and that office has always been filled by eminent men, some of them famous — to take a few examples, Fagnano, Petra, and Prospero Lambertini, afterwards Benedict XIV. A sub-secretary and other minor officials complete the personnel of the Congregation of the Council. In its origin, and indeed until the new Constitution on the Curia, this congregation was without consultors, although a special congregation created by Pius IX for the revision of provincial councils had consultors from 1849, and these con- sultors in course of time were employed in the trans- action of the business of the Congregation of the Council. The recent Constitution, which suppressed the special congregation for the synods, endowed the Congregation of the Council with consultors, to be selected by the pope, some of whom must be conver- sant with matters of administration.
The competency of this congregation, extending to the interpretation and to the execution of the Decrees of the Council of Trent, which relate to almost all the branches of canon law, was very great. When the Rota cea.sed to exercise judicial functions, matrimonial causes were referred to the Congregation of the Council. There were also add(!d to this con- gregation a Commission of prelates, established by Benedict XIV, for the examination of the reports of bishops on the state of their dioceses (which was commonly called "the Little Council"), and the special congregation, mentioned above, created by Pius IX, for the revision of provincial councils. At present, the interpretation of the Decrees of the Council of Trent is no longer of the exclusive compe- tency of the Congregation of the Council, but is shared by each congregation within the limits of its partic- ular jurisdiction. On the other hand, the tribunals of the Curia may, upon occasion, interpret those Decrees judicially, in their application to concrete cases. The present competency of the Congregation of the Council, although differing a good deal from what it formerly was, is nevertheless extensive. In general this congregation has the supervision of discipline of the secular clergy and of the Christian people. From which it may be seen that, while this congregation has lost jurisdiction in many matters that formerly pertained to it — the sacraments, the rehgious orders, matrimonial causes, and other matters— it has almost absorbed the business of the former Congregation of Bishops and Regulars — in so far as relates to bishops. It has charge of the observ- ance of ecclesiastical precepts; consequently, fasting, abstinence, tithes, and the ob.servance of feast days are within its jurisdiction, and to it recourse must be had for dispensations in those matters. Parish priests and canons, pious sodalities, pious unions, beneficent societies, stipends for Masses, rural banks,
