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The second highest-ranking departments of the Roman Curia (the central administration of the Catholic Church) are called congregations. Above them are the three Secretariats. Lower-ranking are the pontifical councils and pontifical commissions. Others are tribunals and offices.〔(The Roman Curia, index to departments )〕 In origin, the congregations were selected groups of cardinals, not the whole College of Cardinals, commissioned to take care of some field of activity that concerned the Holy See. Today, as a result of a decision of the Second Vatican Council, the membership includes diocesan bishops from diverse parts of the world who are not cardinals. Each congregation also has a permanent staff to assist it in dealing with the business that comes before it. Each congregation is led by a prefect, who is usually a cardinal.〔René Metz, ''Twentieth Century Encyclopedia of Catholicism, Vol. 80: What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960), pp. 99-101〕 Until recently, a non-cardinal appointed to head a congregation was styled pro-prefect until made a cardinal. This practice has been abandoned. ==History and functioning== Certain curial departments have been organized by the Holy See at various times to assist it in the transaction of those affairs which canonical discipline and the individual interests of the faithful bring to Rome. Of these the most important are, without doubt, the Roman Congregations (''Sacræ Cardinalium Congregationes''), as is evident from the mere consideration of the dignity of their membership, comprising cardinals who are officially the chief collaborators of the pope in the administration of the affairs of the Universal Church, though Cardinals have not always participated in the administration of ecclesiastical affairs in the same way.〔Catholic Encyclopedia, (Roman Congregations )〕 Ecclesiastical business used to be handled by the pontifical chancery. However, the every-growing number of business items and the ever-increasing complexity of the issues necessitated the creation of separate, specialised administrative-legislative bodies〔 (the administrative and legislative functions of ecclesiastical government are not as sharply separated in the Catholic Church as in a secular government with the separation of powers).〔 The Roman Congregations originated in the necessity, felt from the beginning, of studying the questions submitted for pontifical decision, in order to sift the legal questions arising and to establish matters of fact duly. This work, at first entrusted to the papal chaplains, was afterwards divided between the penitentiarii and the auditores, according as questions of the internal or the external forum (i.e., jurisdiction) were to be considered. Thereafter, cardinals in greater or less number were associated with them. Often, however, they were not merely entrusted with the preparation of the case, but were given authority to decide it. As, on the other hand, the increased numbers of cases to be passed upon occupied a great number of persons, while the proper administration of justice required that those persons should be of the most experienced, it appeared to be advisable, if not necessary, to divide this business into various and distinct groups. This division would evidently facilitate the selection of wise and experienced men in all branches of ecclesiastical affairs. Hence also a natural division into executive cases, assigned to the offices (''officia''), judicial cases, reserved to the tribunals, and administrative cases, committed to the Roman Congregations.〔 Pope Sixtus V was the first to distribute this administrative business among different congregations of cardinals; and in his Apostolic Constitution ''Immensa Aeterni Dei'' (22 Janunary 1588) he generalized the idea, already conceived and partly reduced to practice by some of his predecessors, of committing one or another case or a group of cases to the examination, or to the decision, of several cardinals. By a judicious division of administrative matters, he established that permanent organization of these departments of the Curia, which since then have rendered such great services to the Church. The congregations at first established by Sixtus V were officially designated as〔 *for Holy Inquisition *Congregation for the Signature of Grace *Congregation for the erection of churches and consistorial provisions *for the abundance of supplies and prosperity of the Church's temporal dominions *Congregation for sacred rites and ceremonies *for equipping the fleet and maintaining it for the defence of the Church's dominions *for an index of forbidden books *Congregation for the execution and interpretation of the Council of Trent *for relieving the ills of the States of the Church *for the University of the Roman study (or school) *Congregation for regulations of religious orders *Congregation for regulations of bishops and other prelates *for taking care of roads, bridges, and waters *Congregation for the Vatican printing-press *for regulations of the affairs of the Church's temporal dominions While the chief end of the Congregations of Cardinals was to assist the sovereign pontiff in the administration of the affairs of the Church, some of these congregations were created to assist in the administration of the temporal States of the Holy See. The number of these varied according to circumstances and the requirements of the moment; in the time of Cardinal De Luca there were about nineteen of them, as he tells in his "Relatio Romanæ Curiæ forensis", without counting other congregations of a lower order, consisting of prelates, as were, for example, the "Congregatio baronum et montium" and the "Congregatio computorum".〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Congregation (Roman Curia)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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