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VATICAN

rvice. The Noble Guard makes its appearance in iblic only when the pope takes part in a public nction; when the pope withdraws, he is followed by e Noble Guard. During a vacancy of the Holy e, the corps stands at the service of the College of irdinals. The Gonfaloniere, or standard-bearer, of e Holy Roman Church, with the rank of lieutenant- neral, has the right of wearing the uniform of the Me Guard. (Cf. Baumgarten, "Kathol. Kirche .serer Zeit", I, 290-93.) E. The Giiardie del loco. — The Vatican fire-brigade, which is organized cording to the most modern methods, is emjjloyed io for other duties, since they are rarely needed their main duty. The brigade possesses no special itures.

XIV. The Vatican as a Business Centre. — le Vatican must be regarded as the administrative ntre of the Catholic Church, since it is the residence the supreme head of that Church, and from it the lole Church is governed. From here the pope lies a Decree or Motu Proprio, advises the prefects managing cardinals of the congregations, and in all port ant matters his per.sonal business activity is vays clearly indicated. From this standpoint the tican is a business centre of the first rank. Other [ensive business transacted in the palace is less 11 known. Since the seizure of the Papal States by ? Piedmontese makes it impossible to hold the con- ■ve for the election of a new pope (notwithstanding ' assurances of the Law of Guarantees — see below, siness must be transacted there. Conclaves were Id at the Vatican in 1878 and 190.3. On each occa- n such exact particulars of their distinctive features re given to the newspapers and other periodicals, It there is no need of giving any details here (cf. iNCLAVE, Pius X).
 * tion XVI) outside the Vatican, this important

rhe most important of the numerous bodies which ve their general offices in the palace is the Secre- iate of .State. All the offices of this department

so far as it deals with pohtical and ecclesiastico- litical matters) are situated on the third floor of )se portions of the old Apostolic Palace which were ilt by Nicholas V, Callistus III, Pius II, and .lulius

and .surround the Cortile del Papagallo and the rtile del Maresciallo. They lie above the Sala dei iaroscuri, the Chapel of Nicholas V, and the ioining rooms. Before 1870 the Secretariate of ite had its seat in the Quirinal, but was on 20 Sep- nber of that year changed provisionally to the tions of the Vatican Palace erected by Gregorv II, Sixtus V, and Clement VIII, and situated [ler the Sala Concistoriale, the Sala degli Arazzi, i the Throne Room and some adjacent rooms. >anwhile, by raising the walls and the roof, Cardinal tonelli had a number of new apartments created, i thereby found at his disposal twenty-one rooms, which are now found not alone the offices of the •retariate of State, but also those (7) of the earher lependent Congregation for Extraordinary p]ccle- stical Affairs (see Roman Congreg.^tions, The). re are transacted all the nimierous affairs which, •ording to the existing regulations, fall within the i.-idi'tion of these two congregations. When re- itly the Secretariate of Briefs was placed under the ection of the secretary of state, the offices of this at department were transferred to the Vatican lace and established in the unoccupied halls of the

picture-gallery. All the bureaux of the Secre- iate of State are now on the .same floor. The ex- it of business transacted here is evidenced by the hives. In the archives for "Ordinary " affairs (the it section of the Secretariate), all the "positions" — the huge fa-scicles are called — from the year lSt)0 ■ preserved. Every ten years the then oldest dec- "■ here preserved is removed Io the secret archives. e inventories (called rubricelle), which are added to

the collections from day to da.\-, render it possible to discover immediately any particular document. The exceedingly difficult and tedious task of making these inventories^ is persevered in only on account of their proved utibty. Regarding the work and organization of the above-named, formerly independent, congrega- tions (now treated as the Second Section of the Secre- tariate of State) see Romax CoNiaiEiiATioNs, The.

A whole series of Roman Ciiiii;rri;at ions hold either regularly or on special occasidus their scissions in the Vatican. When not held in the council-room in the suite of the Secretariate of State, special rooms are provided for them. Every Tuesday and Friday morning the secretary of state receives the ambassa- dors and envoys accredited to the Holy l^ee, so that all diplomatic affairs not transacted by correspondence are conducted in the Vatican. The secret, semi- public, and public consistories are held either in the Sala Concistoriale or in the Sala Regia. Only in exceptional cases is a consistory held outside the palace — in the Aula situated above the porch of St. Peter's. Accessible only from the Sala Regia (except by the small staircase for servants), this enormous and lengthy hall forms no organic portion of the palace. The last of the consistories was held there on 30 November, 1911. The offices of the Secretariates of Latin Briefs and of Briefs to Princes, which form dis- tinct departments, are also found in the palace (cf. Baumgarten, "Die kathol. Kirche unserer Zeit", I, 491-94). A place of gi'cat activity is the Secret Chancery of the Holy Father; here are discharged all affairs pertaining to the pope in so far as they do not belong to any of the special departments. Within the sphere of this department, besides the purely private affairs of the pope, are numberless petitions which were formerly referred to the now abohshed Secretariate of Memorials.

The Ahns, to be distributed according to certain principles, are entrusted to the Secret Almoner of the pope, who is always a titular archbishop. His offices lie near the quarters of the Swiss Guards. All donations accruing in the form of Peter-spence are administered separately by the "Commissione Cardi- nalizia amministratrice dei Beni della Santa Sede". The offices lie in the loggie of the third story in the eastern wing of the palace. To ensure in so far as feasible the possessions of a number of small chapters from possible seizure by the Italians, the pope has directed that all titles to annuities from these should be preserved in the Vatican. For the administration of this property a "Commissione per le opere di reli- gione" ha-s been instituted, which pays over to the proper parties the accruing interests and assists the cori'orations both with advice and actively, when they are meditating some financial transaction, whether the purchase of a new title or the exchange of old titles for others. The "Commissione Cardinal- izia per gli studi storici", whenever they hold their meetings, also assemble in the Vatican. In conclu- sion must still be mentioned the numerous offices of the palatine administration, which is naturally very extensive. This collection of heterogeneous depart- ments for the transaction of business is inevitable, since the Holy See is compelled to concentrate every- thing in the Vatican as far as possible.

XV. The TiPonRAFiA Poliglotta Vaticana. — By the Bull, "Eam semper ex" of 27 April, 1.587, Sixtus V established a printing-office for the printing of the official edition of the Latin Vulgate which he had undertaken (cf. Baumgarten, "Die Vulgata Sixtina von l.'iOO u. ihre Einfvihrung.sbuUe", Miinster, 1911, pp. 1-12). Since that time there has existed a Typographia Vaticana, in the rooms on the ground floor in the middle of the southern wing of the ])alace, and thus under the old reading-room of the Vatican Library. Shortly after its foimdation in 1626, the Congregation of the Propaganda also established a