ROMAN
144
ROMAN
tionum in negotiis religionis (Breslau, 1775) ; Zaccaria, Storia
poUmica deUa proibizione dei libri (Rome, 1777) ; Peignot, Dic-
tionrmire critique, litUraire et bibliographique des principaux
litres condanmis au feu, supprimis ou censuris (Paris, 1806) ;
Mexdham, The Literary Policy of the Church of Rome exhibited
iri ari Account of Her DamruUory Catalogues or Indices (London,
1826); Erxesti, Ueber das rechi bes. der Hierarchic auf
Censur und Biicherverbote (1829); Heymaxs, De ecclesiastica
librorum aliorumque scriptorum in Belgio prohibilione (Brussels,
1849); Fessler, £)a-s kirchliche BUcherverbot (Vienna, 1858);
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1863); BALiiis, La s. congregation de Vindex mieux connue et
tengce (1866); Sachse, Die Anfange der BUchercensur in Deutsch-
land (1870); ZiguaR-v. II dimiUatur e la spiegazione datane
daUa s. congr. deli indice ed il cardinal Zigliara (Rome,
1882); Reusch, Der Index d. rerbotenen Backer (Bonn, 1883);
PocLAlx, L'index; son origine, son but et so taleur (Dieppe,
1884); Petit, L'index; son histoire, ses lois, sa force obligatoire
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dangereux in Journal du droit canon. (1892); Arxdt, Delibris
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(1891-97); HoLLWECK, Das kirchliche Biicherverbot (Mainz,
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VIII. Congregation of Rites. — This congregation was established by Sixtus V in his Constitution "Immensa", to which frequent reference has already been made. The organization of the Congregation of Rit«s does not differ from that of other Roman congregations, there being a certain number of cardi- nals, assisted by a secretary and a surrogate {sosti- iuloj, and also by an adequate number of minor officials. Besides these, the Congregation of Rites, in view of special functions to which reference will be ma^ie further on, has a great number of prelates, officials, and consultors. The order of precedence among the consultors is determined by length of service in their office. The prelate-officials sit in the following order: first, after the secretary of the congregation, is the sacristan to His Hohness, after whom comes one of the Apostolic prothonotaries permanently attached to this office, next is the dean of the Rota, with the two oldest auditors, after these the master of the Sacred Palace, the promotor of the Faith, and the a«se.ssor, or sub-promotor. .Although there are no ex-officio consultors, that is, no consultors who by reason of their office in the Curia are entitled to sit among the consultors of this congregation, there are, nevertheless, certain religious orders— the Fnars Minor, the Servitcs, th(; Harnabites, the .Jesuits —which have obtained from difff rent popes the privi- I^e of being repn'.s<nted by one member each in this wllfge of consultors.
The C<;ngn-gatif)n of Rites has a double function. It JH charged with the direetion of the J/iturgy of the Latin Church, anri therfforc, with the supervision of the pfrformarice f)f thf rites prescribed by the Church ff)r th*- cclrbration of the saered mysteries and othfT ecclfsi:tHtic:i| functions and offices, and also, with the granting of all privileges, personal or local, temporary or perpetual, which rcljite to the ntes or ceremonies of the Church. It is manifest that
the duties of this congregation are of the highest
importance: they are concerned wath the solemnity
of the worship offered to God, the maintcTiance of
the Faith, and the development of devotion and of
Christian sentiment among the faithful. 1 lie same
congregation has another charge of no less import
tance: the decision of causes of beatification and
canonization of servants of God, and of the venera^-
tion of their relics.
In the process of beatification and canonization the most important official is the promotor of the Faith, whose chief duty it is to diligently examine the local investigations carried out by the authority of the bishops, or, at Rome, of the pope, and to bring out in them all that maj' in any way cast doubt upon the heroic virtue of the servant of God whose cause is under consideration. It is on account of this duty, w^hich implies a sj^stematic opposition to the proofs of sanctity, that the official in question has come to be popularly called "the devil's advocate". It is easy to see, however, that this office conduces to the splendour of the Church and to the honour of the Faith; for to declare a servant of God to be a saint is to propose him as a model to the faithful, and one cannot fail to see how necessary it is that this be done only in the case of one truly heroic, of whose virtue in the heroic degree the pontiff has acquired the great- est moral certainty that human means can establish. It is true that the assistance of the Holy Ghost can- not fail the head of the Church of Jesus Christ in a matter of this kind; but the sovereign pontiff is not on that account exempt from the obligation of acting in the premises with all the circumspection that human prudence requires. And in this effort to attain human certainty the pope is greatlj^ assisted by the promotor of the Faith, who, after a prelim- inary study of the cause, has to propose objections in regard to the validity of the proceedings and the credibility of the testimony as well as all the ob- jections possibly to be found in the life of the servant of God whose cause is being examined, and in the miracles alleged to have been performed by God at the intercession of that servant. These objections are presented in the three congregations, or meetings, held to consider the question of virtue, and in the other three which are held to consider the question of the miracles. The promotor of the Faith is al- ways selected from among the Consistorial advocates, and always has the assistance of a sub-advocate who takes his place, upon occasion, and who in every instance acts in the name of the promotor. The latter official formerly had the power to appoint, and to remove, his assistant. Besides these two chief oflficials, the congregation has a special notary for that part of its functions which concerns canonizar tion.
The congregations, or meetings held to consider the question of virtue, like those at which the ques- tion of miracles is considered, are generally three in number. The first of them is called the ante-prepara- tory, and is attended by the prelate-officials and the consultors, under the presidency of the cardinal relator of the cause, who does not vote, but who, upon the votes of the others who are present, deter- mines whether the case deserves to go beyond this hearing. The second meeting, called the preparatory, is attend('d by all the cardinals of the congregation, by the prelate-offif^ials, and by the consultors. At this meeting the cardinals do not vote, but, after hearing the votes of the oth(;rs present, determine wh«'ther the cause; may be carried to a discussion before the pojjc, whi(;h is done only when there is moral certamty of a sucf;essful is.sue. This meeting is the most interesting of all; in it the cause not infre- qur'ntly falls to th*- ground. Assuming, however, that the cardinals do not throw out the case defini- tively, it very often happens that another preparaixjry
