Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 1.djvu/198

ADVOCATES  advocates proper were originally only seven in number, forming the Consistorial College. Sixtus IV added five more (called juniors), and this number of twelve was definitely fixed by Benedict XIV in 1744. The other advocates are called titular or simple advocates.

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Advocates of St. Peter, a body of jurists constituting a society whose statutes were confirmed by a brief of Leo XIII, 5 July, 1878. As the name indicates, its main object is the defense of the Holy See in its rights and privileges, both in the spiritual and temporal order. It binds its members to refute calumnies of enemies of the Church, whether derived from distortions of history, jurisprudence, or dogma, but above all are they to devote their legal knowledge to a defense of the Church's rights before civil tribunals. The society was formed in 1877, on the occasion of the Golden Episcopal Jubilee of Pope Pius IX, and the Advocate Count Cajetan Agnelli dei Malherbi, of Rome, became its first president. Pope Pius IX warmly approved of the undertaking, and desired a wide extension of the society, as the immunities of the Church need defence everywhere, and under every system of government. It has spread rapidly over the Catholic world, and branches of the society are found among the principal nations of Christendom. The ordinary members must be jurists, but the society also enrolls as honorary members distinguished ecclesiastics or laymen who have made it a practice to defend Church interests along the lines of this organization. Colleges of the Advocates of St. Peter, numbering many hundred members, exist in Italy, England, Austria, France, Spain, Germany, Canada, and South America. All of these bodies are affiliated to the directory in Rome.

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Advocatus Diaboli (Advocate of the Devil), a popular title given to one of the most important officers of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, established in 1587, by Sixtus V, to deal juridically with processes of beatification and canonization. His official title is Promoter of the Faith (Promotor Fidei). His duty requires him to prepare in writing all possible arguments, even at times seemingly slight, against the raising of any one to the honours of the altar. The interest and honour of the Church are concerned in preventing any one from receiving those honours whose death is not juridically proved to have been "precious in the sight of God" (see ). Prospero Lamertini, afterwards Pope Benedict XIV (1740–58), was the Promoter of the Faith for twenty years, and had every opportunity to study the workings of the Church in this most important function; he was, therefore, peculiarly qualified to compose his monumental work "On the Beatification and Canonization of Saints," which contains the complete vindication of the rights of the Church in this matter, and sets forth historically its extreme care of the use of this right. No important act in the process of beatification or canonization is valid unless performed in the presence of the Promoter of the Faith formally recognized. His duty is to protest against the omission of the forms laid down, and to insist upon the consideration of any objection. The first formal mention of such an officer is found in the canonization of St. Lawrence Justinian under Leo X (1513–21). Urban VIII, in 1631, made his presence necessary, at least by deputy, for the validity of any act connected with the process of beatification or canonization.

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Advocatus Ecclesiæ, a name applied, in the Middle Ages, to certain lay persons, generally of noble birth, whose duty it was, under given conditions, to represent a particular church or monastery, and to defend its rights against force. These advocates were specially bound to represent their clients before the secular courts. They exercised civil jurisdiction in the domain of the church or monastery, and were bound to protect the church with arms in the event of actual assault. Finally, it was their duty to lead the men-at-arms in the name of the church or monastery, and to command them in time of war. In return for these services the advocate received certain definite revenues from the possessions of the church, in the form of supplies or services, which he could demand, or in the form of a lien on the church property. Such advocates are to be found even in Roman times; a Synod of Carthage decreed, in 401, that the emperor should be requested to provide, in conjunction with the bishops, defensores for the churches (Hefele, "Conciliengeschichte," 2d ed., I, 83). There is evidence, moreover, for such defensores ecclesiæ in Italy, at the close of the fifth century. Gregory I, however, confined the office to members of the clergy. It was the duty of these defensores to protect the poor, and to defend the rights and possessions of the church. In the Frankish kingdom, and under the Carlovingians, the duties of the church advocate were enlarged and defined according to the principles of government which prevailed in the reign of Charlemagne; henceforward we meet with the advocatus ecclesiæ in the medieval sense. A Capitulary of about 790 (Mon-Germ. Hist., Cap. Reg. Francor., I, 201) ordained that the higher clergy, "for the sake of the churches honour, and the respect due to the priesthood (pro ecclesiastico honore, et pro sacerdotum reverentia)" should have advocates. Charlemagne, who obliged bishops, abbots, and abbesses to maintain advocati, commanded that great care should be exercised in the choice of persons to fill the office; they must be judicious men, familiar with the law, and owning property in the county (Grafschaft.—See Capitulary of 802, and 801–13, 1. c. I, 93, 172). The churches, monasteries, and canonries, as such, alike received advocates, who by degrees assumed the position above defined. In the time of Charlemagne the king had the right to appoint the advocates, but many ecclesiastical institutions obtained the right of election. The office was not, at first, hereditary, nor even for life; in the post-Carlovingian period, however, it developed into an hereditary one, and was held by powerful nobles, who constantly endeavoured to enlarge their rights in connection with the church or the monastery. Conciliar decrees were passed as early as the ninth century to protect ecclesiastical institutions against the excessive claims of their advocates, who, indeed, grew to be in many ways a heavy burden to their clients. They dealt with the possessions entrusted to them as with their own property, plundered the church estate, appropriated the tithes and other revenues, and oppressed in every possible way those whom they were appointed to protect. The office, since it offered many advantages, was eagerly sought after. The excessive claims of the advocates gave rise to many disputes between them and the churches or monasteries. The bishops and abbots, who found their rights seriously curtailed, appealed to the emperor and to the Pope for protection. In the twelfth century grave warnings issued from Rome, restraining the high-handed actions of the advocates under pain of severe 