Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 12.djvu/525

 PROPAGANDA

459

PROPAGANDA

ment of which reference to the pertinent set of documents may be necessary, he gives oral informa- tions etc. After hearing the report of the minutante and the opinion of the Secretary concerned, sometimes of all others present, the cardinal prefect issues an order to reply, or to defer the case, or to send it up to the general congregation. The scrittori copy all documents that are to be despatched, while the protocollisti stamp, number, and register all papers received and sent out. Records of the earliest pro- ceedings of the congregation, dating from its first estabUshment, are preserved in the General Archives, or Record Office. Finally, there is the Despatch Office {ufficio di spedizione), which keeps its own regis- ter of all documents issuing from Propaganda, and sees to their actual forwarding. The office of con- suitor is filled gratuitously by a number of prelates, to whom the secretariates send such of the ponenze as are of litigious na- t u r e — matrimonial causes, diocesan dif- ficulties, etc. These consultors are re- quested to express their opinions, which are then attached to the ponenze and pre.sentcd therewitli to the cardinals at the General Congre- gation. The Oriental Secretariate emplo.ys interpreters — eccle- siastics who translate all current correspon- dence in Arabic, Ar- menian, etc., and who are sworn to perform their work faitlifviUy. The method of treatment aiiplied by Propaganda to an ordinary case may be described as fol- lows: A letter ad- dressed to the con- gregation is opened by the cardinal pre- fect who annotates it with some terse official formula in Latin, embodying his first instructions (e.g. that a precis of the antecedent correspondence relating to this matter is to be made). Then the letter goes to the Prolocollo, where it is stamped and registered, and its object noted on the outside. The chief minutanle reports on its object and on the note made by the cardinal to the secre- tary concerned, and writes the corresponding order of the secretary. Supposing the order should be to write a letter, the folio is given to the minutante, who draws up his minute according to the instruc- tions of the cardinal prefect and of the secretary, he then passes it on to the scrittore, who copies it, and verifies the copy. This copy, with all the cor- respondence in the case, is returned (supposing it to be matter to be sent away from Rome) to the cardinal prefect, who signs it and remits it to the secretary. The secretary countersigns it and passes it on to the Despatch Office, which, after returning to the pro- tocollo (for preservation) the other correspondence of the case under consideration, registers it, encloses all matter to be forwarded in an envelope, writes thereon the postal weight, and sends it on to the Account- ing Office. Here the postal weight is verified, the stamps affixed, and the letter forwarded to the Post Office. By this sj'stem everything is under control, from the subject-matter of the correspondence to the cost of postage. The whole routine is completed

Palace op Propaganda. Piazza di Spagna, Ho

with rapidity and regularity under the immediate responsibility of the several persons who have charge of the matter in its various stages.

Before the Constitution "Sapienti Consilio" the second cardinalitial Prefecture of Propaganda was that of the cardinal prefect of finance, to whom are entrusted the finances of Propaganda, the ex- penses, subsidies etc. Decisions regarding subsidies pertained either to the cardinal prefect or to the General Congregation, or to the Board of Finance {congresso economico), which met as an executive committee for the transaction of the most important ordinary business with which the General Congre- gation was entrusted. This Prefecture of Finance was composed of the general prefect, the cardinal prefect of finance, and of some other cardinal of the General Congregation. Pius X, however, by the above mentioned Constitution, suppressed the Prefecture of Fi- nance, and its func- tions are now dis- charged by the Gen- eral Prefecture. With the Prefecture of Finance was joined the executive office of the Rev- erend Chamber of Chattels (Azienda delta Reverenda Ca- mera degli Spogli), i. e. the effective administration of the revenues collected from vacant bene- fices (spogli), one of the sources of rev- enue of Propaganda. The two perma- nent commissions of Propaganda are: one for the revision of Synodal Decrees (provincial or dio- cesan) in countries subject to Propa- ganda and one for the revision of Utur- gical books of the Oriental rites. Each of these Commissions is presided over by a cardinal, has for secretary a prelate, and is always in close communication with its own secre- tariate.

V. Faculties. — -The faculties (authority) of the Congregation of Propaganda are very e.xtensive. To the other pontifical congregations are assigned quite specific matters: the only restriction on Prop- aganda is that of territory, i. e. while one congre- gation is concerned with rites, a second with bishops and regulars, a third with marriage, a fourth with subsidies etc.. Propaganda deals with all such matters, in a practical way, for all the countries subject to it. Thus, the nomination of a bishop, the settlement of a matrimonial case, the granting of an indulgence, are within the jurisdiction of Propaganda. The limits of its jurisdiction are practical rather than theoretical; in general, it may be said that Propaganda is au- thorized to deal with matters peculiar to the other congregations, when such matters are presented aa practical cases, i. e. when they do not raise questions of a technical character, or of general bearing, or are not of a class specifically reserved to some other de- partment of the pontifical administration. This is more particularly true of the Congregation of the Holy Office. Matrimonial cases are very frequently brought before Propaganda, especially those in which the marriage is alleged to be invaUd, either as null