Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 12.djvu/524

 PROPAGAKDA

458

PROPAGANDA

ceses. The vicariates Apostolic are missions at the head of e-ach of which is placed a bishop who acts as representative of the pope in the local government. The prefectures ApostoUc are mis sions of minor im- portance, each of which has at its head an ecclesaistic, not a bishop, with the title of prefect Apostolic. Those territories of Propaganda which are not or- ganized as dioceses are either \'icariates or prefec- tures; their number increases rapidly, since everj' year some \icariate Apostohc is divided, or some prefecture is raised to the dignity* of a %-icariate or some new prefecture is created. The simple missions are few and mostly in Africa. They represent an uncertain or transitorj- condition that may be readily strengthened by the establishment of an Apostolic prefecture.

The colleges are institutions for the education of the clergT,-, intended either to supply clergj' for mis- sions that have no native clergy or to give a better education to the native clergj* for the apostolate in their own country. The central seminary of Prop- aganda is, as has been said, the Urban College, established in the palace of the congregation at Rome. The immediate superiors are two prelates, one the general secretarj' of the congregation, and the other the rector. In this college may be found students from aU the territories subject to Propaganda, but from nowhere else. The average number of its resident students is about one hundred and ten. It has its own schools, which are attended by many other students not subject to Propaganda — e. g. the Bohemian College. Besides the preparatory training, these schools offer courses of philosophy and theology, and confer the academic degrees of Bachelor, Licentiate, and Doctor of Theology. The number of students in these schools exceeds five hundred. In Rome the College of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, for Italian missionaries (Lower California and China), and the College of St. Anthony, for Franciscan missionaries (especially in China), are subject to Propaganda, which also exercises jurisdiction over the following missionary colleges outside of Rome: St. Calocerus, at Milan, for Itahan missionaries to China and India; St. Charles, at Parma (China); Brignole-Sale, at Genoa (without local designation of mission); Instituto per la Nigrizia (for negroes of the Sudan), at Verona; College for African Missions, at Lyons, especially for French missionaries to Africa; Seminary of Foreign Missions, at Paris (India, Indo-China, China, Japan) ; MOl HUl Seminary, near London, for the missionaries of the Society of St. Joseph (India, Central Africa, Malay Peninsula); House of St. Joseph, Rozendaal (for Dutch students of the Mill HiU Society); House of St. Joseph, Brixen in the Tyrol (for German stu- dents of the same society) ; four colleges of the Society of the Di\-ine Word, at Steyl (Holland), at Heihgen- kreuz (Germany), and at St. Gabriel, near Vienna, for the students of the same society whose missionarj' fields are in the United States, South .America, Oceania, China, and Africa; College of All Hallows, Dublin, for Irish missionaries; American College at Louvain, for missionaries to the L'nited States. The national colleges at Rome subject to the Prop- aganda are: the Greek, Ruthenian, Armenian, and Maronite colleges. It also exercises jurisdiction over the Albanian College at Scutari, the College of Pulo-Penang (Prince of Wales Island) in Indo- China, belonging to the Society of Foreign Missions at Paris for the native Indo-Chinese clerg}'. Before the appearance of the Constitution "Sapienti Consilio", the American, Canadian, English. Irish, and Scots Colleges at Rome, the English College at Lisbon, the Enghsh and the Scots College at Valla- dolid, and the Irish College at Paris were all subject to Propaganda.

The auxiliaries of this vast organization are all

religious orders and regular congregations of men and women to which foreign missions are confided. Their number is verj- great. The principal orders (Bene- dictine, Franciscan, Dominican, Carmelite, Jesuit etc.) have charge of numerous missions. During the nineteenth century many regular societies of mis- sionary priests and missionary sisters entered ac- tively, and with great success, on missionary labours under the direction of the congregation. The prin- cipal colleges of these aiLxiharj' bodies (not directly subject to Propaganda) are: at Rome, the Colleges of St. Fidelis (Capuchin) and St. Isidore (Irish Franciscans), and the Irish Augustinian College; outside of Rome, the coUege at Schooten near Brussels (Missionaries of the Immaculate Heart, of Marj'), the seminary of the African Missions at Lyons (^Miite Fathers) etc.

IV. Internal Org.vniz.\tiox. — The internal or- ganization of Propaganda is the result of almost three centuries of experience. All its works are carried on by means of a general cardinalitial congregation, two cardinalitial prefectures, and several permanent commissions. The general congregation is composed of all the cardinals of Propaganda chosen by the Pope " Eminentissimi Patres Consilii Christiano nomini Propagando". The chief authority of Propaganda resides in this body. The creation and division of dioceses, %'icariates, and prefectures, the selection of bishops and other ordinari- superiors of missions, matrimonial causes, ecclesiastical appeals, and the like, all come under its jurisdiction. It holds a regular meeting twice a month and deals alternately with the affairs of the Latin and the Oriental rites. Only the cardinal-members of Propaganda are present, together with two prelates, the general secretary, and the secretary of the Oriental rites. To the general prefect of Propaganda, a cardinal, belongs the duty of despatching all current business and all matters pertaining to the General Congregation. He is the ordinary head of Propaganda. The General Pre- fecture has subject to it two secretariates: the Gen- eral Secretariate and the Secretariate of Oriental rites. The general secretan,' (always a prelate, Monsignor) is the chief assistant of the cardinal pre- fect, and the immediate head of the General Secre- tariate. He countersigns all letters addressed by the cardinal prefect to persons outside of Rome, and signs all letters from the prefecture destined to points in Rome (except to cardinals and ambassadors, letters for whom are signed by the cardinal prefect alone). An under-secret arj- has been added by the Constitution "Sapienti Consilio". The Secretary of the Oriental rites is the head of his secretariate, and is charged with duties analogous to those of the general secretary, of whom he is independent.

Each of the secretariates has its minutanii, scrittori, and protocollisti. There are also the General Ar- chives, and a Despatch Office. The minutanii (so called because one of their duties is to prepare the minutes of decrees and letters which are afterwards re-copied by the scrittori) are officials occupied with the subordinate affairs of certain regions. We may note here the simplicity and the industry of the Prop- aganda secretariate: only six minutanti attend to the affairs of the countries of the Latin Rite subject to the congregation. Apropos of the authority of Propaganda we shall see what a vast deal of work is involved in the ordinary despatch of this work. The minulanti, in addition to making minutes of the ordinan,' acts of the secretariate, prepare the ponenze, i. e. the printed copies of the propositions or cases destined to come before the general cardinalitial congregation. Every week each of the two secre- tariates holds a meeting (congresso) in the presence of the cardinal prefect, of its own secretary, and of the head of the other secretariate. At this meeting each minutanle reports on all matters for the settle-