Apostolic Penitentiary

The Apostolic Penitentiary (

Latin: Paenitentiaria Apostolica), formerly called the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Penitentiary, is a dicastery of the Roman Curia and is one of the three ordinary tribunals of the Apostolic See. The Apostolic Penitentiary is chiefly a tribunal of mercy, responsible for issues relating to the forgiveness of sins in the Catholic Church

.

The Apostolic Penitentiary has jurisdiction only over matters in the

internal forum

. Its work falls mainly into these categories:

the absolution of
latæ sententiæ reserved to the Holy See

the dispensation of sacramental impediments reserved to the Holy See
the issuance and governance of indulgences.

The head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Major Penitentiary, is one of the few Vatican officials who retain their positions

cardinal. Since 6 April 2024, the Major Penitentiary is Cardinal Angelo De Donatis. The second-highest-ranking official in the Apostolic Penitentiary, the regent, is Krzysztof Józef Nykiel

.

History

During the Middle Ages, the Apostolic Penitentiary had two major functions. The officium minus related to the spiritual care of Christians, and the ability to listen to confessions and absolve sins of grave nature, whose absolving was reserved to the Pope. The officium maius related to the power to grant grace to those petitioned the Pope in relation to: (1) absolution for breaking the regulations of canon law (2) dispensations to act against Church regulations (3) licenses not to observe ecclesiastical norms regarding the exercise of the Catholic faith and (4) official declarations. The Penitantiary developed around the 12th century, with its powers gradually increasing and being expanded by subsequent popes.[3]

Absolutions and dispensations

Normally confessions of
Cardinal Stafford said this offense is occurring with more and more frequency, by ordinary faithful who receive Communion and then spit it out or otherwise desecrate it.^[4]

Indulgences

The Apostolic Penitentiary also specifies
Jesus Christ the Eternal High Priest, offer any other good work they do that day, and satisfy the conditions for any plenary indulgence (detachment from all sins, the Sacrament of Penance within the last or next couple of weeks, holy communion (Eucharist in the Catholic Church), and praying for the Pope's intentions).^[6] There are also adaptations for those unable to go to church, and daily indulgences available only to priests.^{[citation needed}
]

Misericordiae vultus

In the
Holy Day of Obligation) on Tuesday, December 8, 2015, until the Solemnity of the Feast of Christ the King of the Universe on the last Sunday before Advent, in November 2016. For this, he allowed certain qualified priests to serve as "Missionaries of Mercy" to each Diocese, with the faculties to absolve even sins that are reserved to the Holy See through the Apostolic Penitentiary. Normally, a priest or even a bishop would not be able to do this unless the person was in danger of imminent death. The Pope has the power, as the earthly absolute sovereign of the Catholic Church, to make this special change for the year.^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10]

List of major penitentiaries

Part of a series on
Penance and Reconciliation
in the Catholic Church

Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation

Contrition

Seal of the Confessional

Misericordia Dei

Reconciliatio et paenitentia

Denial and Restoration of Peter

Apostolic Penitentiary

Lamentabili sane exitu

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1216–1405

Nicola de Romanis
(1216–1219)

Tommaso da Capua
(1219–1239)

Bishop
O. Cart.
(1244–1251)

Hugh of Saint-Cher (ca.1256–1263)

Gui Foucault (1263–1265)

Henry of Susa
(1266–1271)

Pierre de Tarentaise (1273–1276)

(1276–1279 – probably vacant)

Bentivenga de Bentivengis
(1279–1289)

Matteo di Aquasparta (1289–1302)

Gentile Partino (1302–1305)

Berengar Fredol (1306–1323)

Gauscelin de Jean (ca.1327–1348)

Etienne Aubert (1348–1352)

Egidio Albornoz
(1352–1367)
Francesco degli Atti (substitute penitentiary c. 1353–1361)

Guillaume Bragose (substitute penitentiary 1361–1367, grand penitentiary 1367)
Galhardus de Boscoviridi (regent of the Apostolic Penitentiary 1367–1369)

Etienne de Poissy (1369–1373)

Jean du Cros (1373–1378^[11]
)
Giovanni d'Amelia (regent of the Apostolic Penitentiary 1378)

Eleazario da Sabrano (1378–1379)
Augustin de Lanzano (regent of the Apostolic Penitentiary 1379–1382)

Luca Rodolfucci de Gentili (1382–1388)
Augustin de Lanzano (regent of the Apostolic Penitentiary 1388–1389)

Niccolo Caracciolo Moschino (1389)

Francesco Carbone Tomacelli (1389–1405)

1405–1899

Antonio Caetani (1405–1412)^[12]

Pierre Girard (1409–1415)^[12]

Giovanni Dominici (1408–1415^[13]
)

Giordano Orsini (1415–1438)

Niccolo Albergati
(1438–1443)

Giuliano Cesarini
(1444)

Giovanni Berardi (1444–1449)

Domenico Capranica (1449–1458)

Filippo Calandrini (1459–1476)

Giuliano della Rovere
(1476–1503)

Pedro Luis de Borja-Lanzol de Roman
í (1503–1511)

Leonardo Grosso della Rovere (1511–1520)

Lorenzo Pucci (1520–1529)

Antonio Pucci (1529–1544)

Roberto Pucci (1545–1547)

Ranuccio Farnese, O. S. Io. Hieros. (1547–1565)

Carlo Borromeo
(1565–1572)

Giovanni Aldobrandini (1572–1573)

Stanisław Hozjusz
(1574–1579)

Filippo Boncompagni (1579–1586)

Ippolito Aldobrandini (1586–1592)

Giulio Antonio Santori
(1592–1602)

Pietro Aldobrandini (1602–1605)

Cinzio Passeri Aldobrandini
(1605–1610)

Scipione Borghese (1610–1633)

Antonio Marcello Barberini, O.F.M.Cap. (1633–1646)

Orazio Giustiniani, Orat. (1647–1649)

Niccolò Albergati-Ludovisi (1650–1687)

Leandro Colloredo, Orat. (1688–1709)

Fabrizio Paolucci, pro-penitentiary (1709–1710); penitentiary (1710–1721)

Bernardo Maria Conti, O.S.B.Cas. (1721–1730)

Vincenzo Petra, pro-penitentiary (1730); penitentiary (1730–1747)

Gioacchino Besozzi, O.Cist. (1747–1755)

Antonio Andrea Galli, C.R.SS.S. (1755–1767)

Giovanni Carlo Boschi (1767–1788)

Francesco Saverio Zelada
(1788–1801)

Leonardo Antonelli (1801–1811)

Michele di Pietro (1811–1821)

Francesco Saverio Castiglioni (1821–1829) who was elected Pope Pius VIII

Emmanuele de Gregorio (1829–1839)

Castruccio Castracane degli Antelminelli (1839–1852)

Gabriele Ferretti (1852–1860)

Antonio Maria Cagiano de Azevedo (1860–1867)

[Antonio Maria Panebianco], O.F.M.Conv. (1867–1877)

Luigi Bilio, C.R.S.P. (1877–1884)

Raffaele Monaco La Valletta (1884–1896)

Isidoro Verga (1896–1899)

1899–present

Serafino Vannutelli (20 November 1899 – 19 August 1915)

CSSR
(1 October 1915 - 12 March 1918)

Oreste Giorgi (12 March 1918 – 30 December 1924)

O.P.
(8 January 1925 – 31 July 1927)

Lorenzo Lauri (31 July 1927 – 8 October 1941)

Nicola Canali (15 October 1941 – 3 August 1961)

Arcadio Larraona Saralegui, C.M.F. (13 August 1961 – 2 February 1962)

Fernando Cento (12 February 1962 – 7 April 1967)

Giuseppe Ferretto (7 April 1967 – 1 March 1973)

Giuseppe Paupini (21 March 1973 – 8 April 1984)

Luigi Dadaglio (Pro-Major Penitentiary: 8 April 1984 – 27 May 1985; Major Penitentiary: 27 May 1985 – 6 April 1990)

William Wakefield Baum (6 April 1990 – 22 November 2001)

Luigi De Magistris (Pro-Major Penitentiary: 22 November 2001 – 4 October 2003)

James Francis Stafford
(4 October 2003 – 2 June 2009)

Fortunato Baldelli (2 June 2009 – 5 January 2012)

Manuel Monteiro de Castro (5 January 2012 – 21 September 2013)

Mauro Piacenza (21 September 2013 – 6 April 2024)

Angelo De Donatis (6 April 2024 - current)

See also

Vatican City portal

References

Citations

^ Pope John Paul II (22 February 1996). "Universi Dominici Gregis, art. 14". Archived from the original on 6 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-07.

^ Pope John Paul II (22 February 1996). "Universi Dominici Gregis, art. 44". Archived from the original on 6 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-07.

ISBN 9789004315280
.

^ Squires, Nick (15 Jan 2009). "Vatican reveals secrets of worst sins". www.telegraph.co.uk. The Telegraph. Retrieved 12 Sep 2019.

^ "ENCHIRIDION INDULGENTIARUM: DECRETUM" (in Latin). Archived from the original on 2010-01-14. Retrieved 2009-12-05.

^ "Special Indulgence for the Year for Priests, Decree, Apostolic Penitentiary". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 2019-06-13.

^ Wooden, Cindy (2015-04-11). "Pope: Mercy is "the beating heart of the Gospel"". CNS Blog. Retrieved 2019-06-13.

^ Newsroom (2015-04-09). "Proclaiming the Holy Year at the Holy Door". CNS Blog. Retrieved 2019-06-13.

^ Schneible, Ann. "Pope Francis: Now is the time for mercy". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 2019-06-13.

^ "Misericordiae Vultus - Bull of indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy (11 April 2015) | Francis". w2.vatican.va. Retrieved 2019-06-13.

^ He retained the post in the obedience of Avignon until his death in 1383. He was then succeeded by Pierre Amiel de Sarcenas (1383–89) and Pierre Girard (1394–1408)

^ ^a ^b During the Council of Pisa penitentiaries originated from both obediences (Roman and Avignon) retained their posts and divided the duties between themselves (Kubelbeck, p. 16)

^ He was penitentiary of Pope Gregory XII of the Roman obedience.

Sources

John Paul II. Pastor bonus, art. 117–120.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Benedetto Ojetti (1913). "Roman Curia". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

William J. Kubelbeck, The Sacred Penitentiaria and Its Relations to Faculties of Ordinaries and Priests, 2004.

External links

Wikisource has the text of a 1921 Collier's Encyclopedia article about Apostolic Penitentiary.

Apostolic Penitentiary at the Vatican website.

GCatholic.org

Apostolic Penitentiary

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Apostolic_Penitentiary&oldid=1217831586"

[udg14-1] Pope John Paul II (22 February 1996). "Universi Dominici Gregis, art. 14". Archived from the original on 6 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-07.

[udg44-2] Pope John Paul II (22 February 1996). "Universi Dominici Gregis, art. 44". Archived from the original on 6 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-07.

[3] ISBN 9789004315280
.

[4] Squires, Nick (15 Jan 2009). "Vatican reveals secrets of worst sins". www.telegraph.co.uk. The Telegraph. Retrieved 12 Sep 2019.

[5] "ENCHIRIDION INDULGENTIARUM: DECRETUM" (in Latin). Archived from the original on 2010-01-14. Retrieved 2009-12-05.

[6] "Special Indulgence for the Year for Priests, Decree, Apostolic Penitentiary". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 2019-06-13.

[7] Wooden, Cindy (2015-04-11). "Pope: Mercy is "the beating heart of the Gospel"". CNS Blog. Retrieved 2019-06-13.

[8] Newsroom (2015-04-09). "Proclaiming the Holy Year at the Holy Door". CNS Blog. Retrieved 2019-06-13.

[9] Schneible, Ann. "Pope Francis: Now is the time for mercy". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 2019-06-13.

[10] "Misericordiae Vultus - Bull of indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy (11 April 2015) | Francis". w2.vatican.va. Retrieved 2019-06-13.

[11] He retained the post in the obedience of Avignon until his death in 1383. He was then succeeded by Pierre Amiel de Sarcenas (1383–89) and Pierre Girard (1394–1408)

[pisa-12] During the Council of Pisa penitentiaries originated from both obediences (Roman and Avignon) retained their posts and divided the duties between themselves (Kubelbeck, p. 16)

[13] He was penitentiary of Pope Gregory XII of the Roman obedience.

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