Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs

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The Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affiars (Italian: Congregatio de Negotiis Ecclesiasticis Extraordinariis) was a congregation of the Roman Curia, erected in 1793 (as the Congregation Super Negotiis Ecclesiasticis Regni Galliarum) by Pope Pius VI under the jurisdiction of the Cardinal Secretary of State, reorganized by later popes, and finally spun off into the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church by Pope Paul VI on August 15, 1967 after the Second Vatican Council.

[edit] History

On July 19, 1814, Pope Pius VII expanded the Congregation, naming it the Sacred Congregation for the Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs. On June 29, 1909, Pope Pius X—in the apostolic constitution Sapienti Consilio—divided the Congregation into three sections, which were solidified in the Code of Canon Law (1917) (Can. 263): one for extraordinary affairs, another for ordinary affairs, and a third for the preparation and promulgation papal briefs (formerly the independent Chancery of Apostolic Briefs).

Following the recommendations of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI in August 15, 1967 with the apostolic constitution Regimini Ecclesiae Universae suppressed the Chancery of Apostolic Briefs and transformed the rest of the Congregation into the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church, which was separate from the Secretariat of State. With the apostolic constitution Pastor Bonus, Pope John Paul II re-integrated the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church into the Secretariat of State as the Section for Relations with States.