Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

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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 1908 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 Archbishop Luis Ladaria Ferrer, who was appointed by Pope Francis for a five-year term beginning July 2017.[2][3]

History

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

On 21 July 1542, Pope 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 1908 by Pope 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 7 December 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 is established "to maintain and defend the integrity of the faith and to examine and proscribe errors and false doctrines."
1622 Pope Gregory XV writes 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, reiterates 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."[4]
1908 The Inquisition is renamed Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office by Pope Pius X.
1965 The Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office is renamed Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (SCDF).
1985 All dicasteries of the Roman Curia no longer use the adjective "sacred" as part of their title. The Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith becomes the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).
1988 Pope John Paul II reaffirms the authority of the CDF on 28 June: "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."[5]
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."[6]
2014 On 11 November Pope Francis sets up within the CDF a special body to expedite consideration of appeals by priests against laicization or other penalties imposed on them in cases of sexual abuse.[7]
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 CDF and with the congregation that has oversight over the bishop.[8]

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."[5]

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 Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela a motu proprio of 2001, come under the competency of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In effect, it is the "promoter of justice" which deals with, among other things, the question of priests accused of paedophilia.[6][9][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 held the title of prefect and appointed a 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 and the title of Secretary refers to the second highest-ranking officer of the Congregation. As of 2012 the Congregation had a membership of 18 cardinals and a smaller number of non-cardinal bishops, a staff of 38 (clerical and lay) and 26 consultors.[13]

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.[14]

Recent canonical judgments and publications

The following is a list of recent documents and judgments issued by the CDF. Lengthy CDF documents usually have Latin titles. A short document that briefly states objections to one or more writings by a Catholic theologian is typically called a "notification."

Leadership

Secretaries until 1965

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). Until 1968 the Pope himself was a prefect of the Congregation. However, from 1564 the daily administration of the affairs of the Congregation were entrusted to the Cardinal Secretary.[24][25](pp19–26)

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

Prefects since 1965

When Pope Paul VI changed the name of the dicastery on 7 December 1965, he changed the title of its head from Secretary to Prefect and reserved that title to himself, appointing a Pro-Prefect to direct the Congregation on his behalf.[26] He discontinued the practice in 1968 when he named a prefect.[27]

Secretaries since 1965

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 held the title of Secretary:

Present composition

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.[10][11][12]
  4. ↑ Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, previously Secretary, continued to head the Congregation when it was renamed on 7 December 1965, and his title of Pro-Prefect was confirmed on 8 February 1966. Upon his retirement he was termed Prefect emeritus of the Congregation, and not Pro-Prefect emeritus.
  5. ↑ Since the appointment of 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.[27]

References

  1. 1 2 Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Profile)
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Pope names Jesuit prelate to succeed Müller at doctrine office". Crux. Catholic News Service. 1 July 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 Pongratz-Lippitt, Christa (8 July 2017). "Müller hits out at Francis, says the way pope dismissed him was unacceptable". La Croix International. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
  4. ↑ Benedict XIV (1 June 1741). "Sacramentum poenitentiae" (PDF). richardsipe.com (in Latin and English). Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 November 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2012. Includes English translation by unknown.
  5. 1 2 John Paul II (28 June 1988). "Pastor bonus". vatican.va. Articles 48–55. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  6. 1 2 John Paul II (30 April 2001). "Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela". vatican.va. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  7. ↑ Wooden, Cindy (11 November 2014). "Pope sets up new body to speed handling of sex abuse appeals". United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Catholic News Service. Archived from the original on 30 December 2015.
  8. ↑ Povoledo, Elisabetta; Goodstein, Laurie (10 June 2015). "Pope creates tribunal for bishop negligence in child sexual abuse cases". nytimes.com. New York: The New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  9. ↑ Scicluna, Charles (13 March 2010). "Promoter of justice at Doctrine of Faith on paedophilia" (Interview). Interview with Gianni Cardinale of Avvenire. Vatican City: Vatican Information Service. VIS 20100313 (2070). Translated from "Il «pm» vaticano: «Chiesa rigorosa sulla pedofilia»". Avvenire (in Italian) (Milan, IT: Avvenire Nuova Editoriale Italiana S.p.a.). 13 March 2010.
  10. ↑ Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. "The norms of the motu proprio 'Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela' (2001): historical introduction". vatican.va. Archived from the original on 20 December 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  11. ↑ Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (21 May 2010). "A brief introduction to the modifications made in the Normae de gravioribus delictis, reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith". vatican.va. Archived from the original on 29 December 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  12. ↑ Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (21 May 2010). "[Norms concerning the more grave delicts reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]". vatican.va (2010 rev. ed.). Archived from the original on 20 December 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  13. ↑ Annuario Pontificio 2012 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2012 ISBN 978-88-209-8722-0), pp. 1159-1160
  14. ↑ Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: Complete List of Documents
  15. ↑ Pullella, Philip (15 April 2013). "Pope Francis reiterates 'radical feminist' criticism of US nuns' group". worldnews.nbcnews.com. New York: NBC News Digital. Reuters. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013.
  16. ↑ Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (18 April 2012). "Doctrinal assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious". usccb.org. Washington, DC: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015.
  17. ↑ "Vatican letter directs bishops to keep parish records from Mormons". 2 May 2008. Archived from the original on 13 May 2008.
  18. ↑ Hargett, Malea (6 October 2007). "Six Arkansas nuns excommunicated for supporting heresy: women operate Hot Springs day care". arkansas-catholic.org. Little Rock, AR: Arkansas Catholic. Archived from the original on 24 March 2015.
  19. ↑ Pullella, Philip (23 April 2007). "Gay marriage evil, abortion terrorism: Vatican". Reuters. Archived from the original on 26 April 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2007.
  20. ↑ Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (24 November 2002). "Doctrinal note on some questions regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life". vatican.va. Archived from the original on 7 April 2003.
  21. ↑ "Considerations regarding proposals to give legal recognition to unions between homosexual persons". Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Vatican. Archived from the original on 13 June 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  22. ↑ Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. "Dominus Iesus". vatican.va. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013.
  23. ↑ "Some considerations concerning the response to legislative proposals on the non-discrimination of homosexual persons". Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Vatican. Archived from the original on 2 August 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  24. ↑ Mayer, Thomas F. (2013). The Roman Inquisition: a papal bureaucracy and its laws in the age of Galileo. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-8122-4473-1.
  25. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Black, Christopher (2009). The Italian Inquisition. New Haven [u.a.]: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11706-6.
  26. ↑ Doty, Robert C. (9 January 1968). "Ottaviani Quits Post in Vatican; Croat, a Progressive, Is Named". New York Times. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  27. 1 2 Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1997). "Holy Office". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Third ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 786. ISBN 9780192802903. Retrieved 8 August 2017. Revised 2005
  28. ↑ https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/francis-names-italian-priest-gregorian-connection-doctrinal-congregations-deputy

Coordinates: 41°54′04″N 12°27′22″E / 41.90111°N 12.45611°E / 41.90111; 12.45611

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