Secretariat of State (Holy See)
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The Secretariat of State (
History of the Secretariat of State
The origins of the Secretariat of State go back to the fifteenth century. The apostolic constitution Non Debet Reprehensibile of 31 December 1487 established the Secretaria Apostolica comprising twenty-four apostolic secretaries, one of whom bore the title Secretarius Domesticus and held a position of pre-eminence. One can also trace to this Secretaria Apostolica the Chancery of Briefs, the Secretariat of Briefs to Princes and the Secretariat of Latin Letters.
Pope Leo X established another position, the Secretarius Intimus, to assist the Cardinal who had control of the affairs of State and to attend to correspondence in languages other than Latin, chiefly with the Apostolic Nuncios (who at that time were evolving into permanent diplomatic representatives). From these beginnings, the Secretariat of State developed, especially at the time of the Council of Trent.
For a long time, the Secretarius Intimus, also called Secretarius Papae or Secretarius Maior, was almost always a prelate, often endowed with episcopal rank. It was only at the beginning of the pontificate of Innocent X that someone already a Cardinal and not a member of the Pope's family was called to this high office. Pope Innocent XII definitively abolished the office of Cardinal Nephew, and the powers of that office were assigned to the Cardinal Secretary of State alone.
On 19 July 1814,
With the apostolic constitution
Loss of assets and corruption investigation
In December 2020, Pope Francis enacted legislation stripping the Secretariat of State of its financial assets and real estate holdings following its bungled management of hundreds of millions of euros in donations.[3] Controversial investments which were made by the Vatican Secretariat of State department also became subject to a corruption investigation.[3]
Structure
On 28 June 1988,
The head of the Secretariat of State is the Secretary of State, who is a cardinal. The Cardinal Secretary of State is primarily responsible for the diplomatic and political activity of the Holy See, in some circumstances representing the Pope himself.
Section for General Affairs
The Section for General Affairs handles the normal operations of the Church including organizing the activities of the
Substitute for General Affairs
The Section for General Affairs is headed by an archbishop known as the Substitute for General Affairs, or more formally, Substitute for General Affairs to the Secretary of State. The position of Substitute (substituto) has also been regarded as being equivalent to the papal chief of staff, with Crux even describing the Substitute as being "the only figure in the Vatican system with the right to see the pope on a routine basis without an appointment."[7][8][9] The current Substitute for General Affairs to the Secretary of State is Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra. There have been 10 substitutes since 1953:
- Nicola Canali (21 March 1908 – 24 September 1914)
- Federico Tedeschini (24 September 1914 – 31 March 1921)
- Giovanni Battista Montini(13 December 1937 – 17 February 1953) (Later Pope Paul VI)
- Angelo Dell'Acqua (17 February 1953 – 29 June 1967)
- Giovanni Benelli (29 June 1967 – 3 June 1977)
- Giuseppe Caprio (14 June 1977 – 28 April 1979)
- Eduardo Martínez Somalo (5 May 1979 – 23 March 1988)
- Edward Idris Cassidy(23 March 1988 – 12 December 1989)
- Giovanni Battista Re (12 December 1989 – 16 September 2000)
- Leonardo Sandri (16 September 2000 – 1 July 2007)
- Fernando Filoni (1 July 2007 – 10 May 2011)
- Giovanni Angelo Becciu (10 May 2011 – 29 June 2018)
- Edgar Peña Parra (15 October 2018 – present)
Assessor for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State
The deputy to the Substitute for General Affairs, effectively deputy chief of staff, is called the Assessor for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State. The current Assessor for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State is Monsignor Luigi Roberto Cona.
- Eduardo Martínez Somalo (1970 – 11 December 1975)
- Giovanni Battista Re (12 January 1979 – 9 October 1987)
- Crescenzio Sepe (10 October 1987 – 2 February 1992)
- Leonardo Sandri (4 February 1992 – 22 July 1997)
- James Michael Harvey (22 July 1997 – 7 February 1998)
- Pedro Lopez Quintana(7 February 1998 – 12 December 2002)
- Gabriele Giordano Caccia (17 December 2002 – 16 July 2009)
- Peter Bryan Wells (16 July 2009 – 9 February 2016)
- Paolo Borgia (4 March 2016 – 3 September 2019)
- Luigi Roberto Cona (24 October 2019 – 26 October 2022)
- Roberto Campisi (26 October 2022 -
Section for Relations with States
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Origin
The Congregation for the Ecclesiastical Affairs of the Kingdom of France was set up by
Responsibilities
The Section is responsible for the Holy See's interactions with civil governments. According to the relevant articles of the apostolic constitution Pastor bonus,[10] the responsibilities of the Secretary for Relations with States are:
- for the Holy See's diplomatic relations with states, including the establishment of concordats or similar agreements;
- for the Holy See's presence in international organizations and conferences such as the United Nations;
- in special circumstances, by order of the Supreme Pontiff and in consultation with the competent dicasteries of the Curia, provides for appointments to particular Churches, and for their establishment or modification;
- in close collaboration with the Congregation for Bishops, it attends to the appointment of bishops in countries which have entered into treaties or agreements with the Holy See in accordance with the norms of international law.
Structure
The Section is headed by an
The current Secretary for Relations with States is Archbishop Paul Gallagher. The current Undersecretary for Relations with States is Francesca Di Giovanni, the first woman to hold this office.[11] The current Delegate for Pontifical Representations is Archbishop Jan Pawłowski and the current Head of Protocol is Monsignor Joseph Murphy.
Section for Diplomatic Staff
On 21 November 2017, the Secretariat announced that Pope Francis had created the Section for Diplomatic Staff, expanding the responsibilities of the Delegate for Pontifical Representations.
In 2022, this section was included in the organizational structure of the Roman Curia detailed in the apostolic constitution Praedicate evangelium.[14]
See also
- Latin Letters Office
- Index of Vatican City-related articles
References
- ^ Brockhaus, Hannah (15 August 2018). "Pope names long-time Vatican diplomat as deputy of Secretariat of State". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- Regimini Ecclesiae Universae [1]
- ^ a b Winfeld, Nicole (28 December 2020). "Pope formally strips Vatican secretariat of state of assets". Associated Press. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- Pastor Bonus [2]
- ^ a b "Third Section Established in Secretariat of State". Zenit. 21 November 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ Ibid, Articles 41–44
- ^ Allen Jr., John (16 December 2023). "Cardinal sentenced to five and a half years in jail in Vatican 'trial of the century'". Crux. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
- ^ Lamb, Christopher (18 December 2023). "Vatican's 'trial of the century' sees cardinal given five-and-a-half-year jail sentence". Retrieved 18 December 2023.
- ^ "Becciu meets with Pope Francis to 'clarify' secret recording amid mounting scandals". The Pillar. 28 November 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
- ^ Ibid, Articles 45–47
- ^ "Resignations and Appointments, 15.01.2020" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. 15 January 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
- ^ "Communiqué of the Secretariat of State, 21.11.2017" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. 21 November 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
- ^ Gagliarducci, Andrea (20 November 2017). "Curia reform: Pope Francis reorganizes Vatican Secretariat of State". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
- ^ Pope Francis. "Praedicate Evangelium, sulla Curia Romana e il suo servizio alla Chiesa nel Mondo (19 marzo 2022)". Dicastero per la Comunicazione – Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Article 52. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
External links
- Profile of the Secretariat from vatican.va
- Official Twitter account, @TerzaLoggia
- Secretariat of State by GCatholic.org