Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

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"The Holy Office" redirects here. This article is about the department of the Roman Curia. For the prayer, see Liturgy of the Hours. For the 1974 Mexican film, see The Holy Office (film).

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The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Latin: Congregatio pro Doctrina Fidei, CDF) is the oldest among the nine congregations of the Roman Curia. It was founded to defend the church from heresy; today, it is the body responsible for promulgating and defending Catholic doctrine.[1] Formerly known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition,[lower-alpha 1] it is informally known in many Catholic countries as the Holy Office and between 1904 and 1965 was officially known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office.

Founded by Pope Paul III in 1542, the congregation's sole objective is to "spread sound Catholic doctrine and defend those points of Christian tradition which seem in danger because of new and unacceptable doctrines".[1] Its headquarters are at the Palace of the Holy Office, just outside Vatican City. The congregation employs an advisory board including cardinals, bishops, priests, lay theologians, and canon lawyers. The current Prefect is Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller.

History

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Further information: Roman Inquisition
Astronomer Galileo Galilei presented before the Holy Office, a 19th-century painting by Joseph-Nicolas Robert-Fleury

On July 21, 1542, Paul III proclaimed the Apostolic Constitution Licet ab initio, establishing the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition, staffed by cardinals and other officials whose task it was "to maintain and defend the integrity of the faith and to examine and proscribe errors and false doctrines". It served as the final court of appeal in trials of heresy and served as an important part of the Counter-Reformation.

This body was renamed the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office in 1904 by Pope Saint Pius X. In many Catholic countries, the body is often informally called the Holy Office (e.g. Italian: Sant'Uffizio and Spanish: Santo Oficio ).

The Congregation's name was changed to Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (SCDF) on December 7, 1965, at the end of the Second Vatican Council. Soon after the 1983 Code of Canon Law came into effect, the adjective Sacred was dropped from the names of all Curial Congregations,[lower-alpha 2] and so the dicastery adopted its current name, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Timeline

1542 Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition established "to maintain and defend the integrity of the faith and to examine and proscribe errors and false doctrines".
1622 Pope Gregory XV wrote a letter addressing the issue of priests abusing the confessional to solicit "shameful and dishonorable conduct". The letter is referenced in Sacramentum Poenitentiae (1741).
1665 The General Congregation of the Universal Inquisition, in the presence of Pope Alexander VII, reiterated that propositions by confessors to solicit or provoke sex from penitents are "alien and discordant by the Evangelical truth and clearly so by the sixth and seventh doctrines of the Holy Fathers" and are to be "checked, condemned, and prohibited." "The Inquisitors of Heretical Depravity, ..., [should] seek out and proceed against everyone - every priest [...] who has essayed to tempt a penitent."[2]
1908 The Inquisition is renamed Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office by Pius X.
1965 The Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office is renamed Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (SCDF).
1981 Joseph Ratzinger is appointed prefect of the SCDF (November 25).
1985 All dicasteries of the Roman Curia no longer use the adjective "Sacred" as part of their title; hence The Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was renamed as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).
1988 Pope John Paul II reaffirms the authority of the CDF: according to Article 48 of the Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia, Pastor Bonus, promulgated by John Paul II on June 28, 1988: "The proper duty of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is to promote and safeguard the doctrine on faith and morals in the whole Catholic world; so it has competence in things that touch this matter in any way."[3]
2001 John Paul II issues Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela "by which are promulgated Norms concerning the more grave delicts reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith". It, again, reaffirms the CDF's responsibilities, expressing that it was necessary to define more precisely both "the more grave delicts whether against morals or committed in the celebration of the sacraments" for which the competence of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith remains exclusive, and also the special procedural norms "for declaring or imposing canonical sanctions."[4] On 11 November 2014, Pope Francis set up within the congregation a special body to expedite consideration of appeals by priests against laicization or other penalties imposed on them because of being accused of such delicts.[5]
2015 Francis establishes an ecclesiastical judicial commission, which will have its own staff and Secretary, to try Bishops, which will work with other units of the Congregation and with the respective Bishop's Congregation that normally has oversight over the Bishop – either the Congregation for Bishops (for most bishops of the Latin Church), the Congregation for the Eastern Churches (for most bishops of the Eastern Catholic Churches), or the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (for any Catholic bishop in mission territories).[6]

Role

According to the 1988 Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia, Pastor Bonus, article 48, promulgated by John Paul II: "The proper duty of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is to promote and safeguard the doctrine on faith and morals in the whole Catholic world; so it has competence in things that touch this matter in any way."[3]

The Palace of the Holy Office, seat of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

This includes investigations into grave delicts; i.e., acts which the Catholic Church considers as being the most serious crimes: crimes against the Eucharist and against the sanctity of the Sacrament of Penance, and crimes against the sixth Commandment ("thou shall not commit adultery") committed by a cleric against a person under the age of eighteen. These crimes, in a "motu proprio" of 2001, "Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela", come under the competency of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In effect, it is the "promoter of justice" who deals with, among other things, the question of priests accused of paedophilia.[4][7][lower-alpha 3]

Within the CDF are the International Theological Commission, the Pontifical Biblical Commission and the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. The Prefect of the CDF is ex officio president of these commissions.

Organization

Until 1968, the Pope himself held the title of prefect but never exercised this office. Instead, he appointed one of the cardinals to preside over the meetings, first as Secretary, then as Pro-Prefect.

Since 1968, the Cardinal head of the dicastery has borne the title of Prefect, without further qualification. Therefore, from 1968 onwards, the title of Secretary refers to the second highest-ranking officer of the Congregation. The Congregation has a membership of some 18 other cardinals and a smaller number of non-cardinal bishops, a staff of some 38 priests, religious and lay men and women, and some 26 consultors.[11]

The work of the CDF is divided into four sections: the doctrinal, disciplinary, matrimonial, and clerical offices. The CDF holds biennial plenary assemblies, and issues documents on doctrinal, disciplinary and sacramental questions that occasionally include notifications concerning books by Catholic theologians (e.g., Hans Küng, Charles Curran, and Leonardo Boff) that it judges contrary to Church doctrine.[12]

Staff (2012):

On 6 May 2006 Cardinals Antonio Cañizares Llovera and Jean-Pierre Ricard were named members of the Congregation.

Recent canonical judgments and publications

Heads of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

Secretaries

When the Supreme Sacred Congregation for the Roman and Universal Inquisition was first established in 1542, it was composed of several Cardinal Inquisitors styled as "Inquisitors-General", who were formally equal to each other, even if some of them were clearly dominant (e.g. Cardinal Gian Pietro Carafa from 1542, who was elected Pope Paul IV in 1555). The Pope himself was a prefect of the Congregation until 1965. However, from 1564 the daily administration of the affairs of the Congregation were entrusted to the Cardinal Secretary.[22][23](pp19–26)

Unless stated otherwise, the secretaryship ended with the relevant man's death.

Pro-Prefect

On December 7, 1965, along with changing the name of the dicastery, Pope Paul VI changed the title of the head of the Congregation from Secretary to Pro-Prefect, the Roman Pontiff retaining the role of Prefect. Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, who was then Secretary, having been appointed to lead the Holy Office in 1959, continued leading the newly reorganized dicastery without any break in continuity since that date. In spite of that, a few months later, on February 8, 1966, Ottaviani was formally confirmed as Pro-Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

  • Alfredo Ottaviani (December 7, 1965 – January 6, 1968)

Prefects

Since the appointment of Cardinal Franjo Šeper in 1968, the head of the dicastery has the title of Prefect. The Pope no longer holds the office of Prefect of the CDF himself. Although Ottaviani had served as Pro-Prefect, upon his retirement he was declared Prefect emeritus of the Congregation, and not Pro-Prefect emeritus. The following Prelates have presided over the Congregation as Prefects since then:

  • Franjo Šeper (January 8, 1968 - November 25, 1981) (his retirement)
  • Joseph Ratzinger (November 25, 1981 - April 2, 2005) (John Paul II's death) - elected Pope Benedict XVI
  • William Levada (May 13, 2005 – July 2, 2012) (his retirement)
  • Gerhard Ludwig Müller (July 2, 2012 – present)

Modern Secretaries of the CDF

With the December 1965 reorganization of the Holy Office as the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the head of the Congregation was no longer titled Secretary. The dicastery's second-in-command, until then titled assessor, was then given the title of Secretary, as was already the case with the other Roman Congregations. The following Archbishops have served as the CDF's second-in-command with the title of Secretary:

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ From where the names "Roman Inquisition" or "Holy Inquisition" arose, terms later popularly used in reference to the 16th-century tribunals against witchcraft and heresy.
  2. ↑ it remained in use throughout 1984, as can be seen in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis of that year, but no longer appeared in the 1985 issues of that official bulletin of the Holy See
  3. ↑ The revision of Norms concerning the more grave delicts reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith currently in force is the revision approved by Benedict XVI in 2010.[8][9][10]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Profile)
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Annuario Pontificio 2012 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2012 ISBN 978-88-209-8722-0), pp. 1159-1160
  12. ↑ Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: Complete List of Documents
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Vatican letter directs bishops to keep parish records from Mormons
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 23.5 23.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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