Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 3.djvu/259

 CAMERLENGO

217

CAMILLUS

brought about a peace; Agapito Rufo (1465), of whom Pius II said "that it was doubtful if there ever was a more joyous poet or a more illustrious orator" — he was also a prudent and zealous pastor; Berardo Buongiovanni (1537), legate in Poland and present at the Council of Trent, where he gave proof of great erudition; Alfonso Binarino (1547) and Girolamo Bobo (15,80), who distinguished themselves by their zeal for reform; Innocenzo del Bufalo (1601), legate to Henry II of France. In the last century the local university was widely known. Camerino was the cradle of the Capuchin Order. The famous medieval Abbey of Fiastra is now abandoned. The diocese contains 1S2 parishes, 45,900 inhabitants, 13 religious orders of men and 13 of women.

Cappelletti, he chiese d'ltalia (Venice, 1S44). IV, 231; Turchi, De Ecclesicc Camerinensis pontificibua (Rome, 1762).

U. Benigni.

Camerlengo (Lat. camerarius), the title of certain papal officials. The Low Latin word camera (cham- ber) means the treasure of the prince, monastery, etc.; also in general the royal treasury (fiscits), the tem- poral administration of a monastery. The term camerarius was. therefore, very frequently equivalent to civil treasurer, and in the case of monasteries meant the monk charged with the administration of the monastic property. This is also the sense of the Italian term camerlengo, still borne at Rome by three ecclesiastics, (1) the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, (2) the Camerlengo of the Sacred College (of Cardinals), and (3) the Camerlengo of the Roman Clergy. The Roman confraternities have also an officer similarly entitled. (1) The Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church is the administrator of the prop- erty and the revenues of the Holy See, and as such is successor both of the Archdeacon of Rome and of the Vicedominus, the former of whom administered the property of the entire Roman Church, i. e. the Dio- cese of Rome, while the latter was especially charged with the administration of the mensa of the pope and the entire personnel of the patriarchium Lateranense (St. John Lateran).

This latter official was the same as the syncellus at Constantinople. The office of Archdeacon of Rome was suppressed by Gregory VII, himself its last in- cumbent under Alexander II; owing to its numerous ancient privileges and rights it had come to be a fre- quent hindrance to independent papal action. When these were lopped off, the (Roman) office of arch- deacon shrank to its original proportions. There- after the cardinal to whom was committed the super- vision of the Camera Apostolica (a term even then customary for the administration of the temporalities of the Holy See) was known as Camerarius or. in popular language. Camerlengo. The subordinates of this offi- cial are known as clerks (chierici) of the Camera; chief among them are the treasurer and the auditor di Camera. Their body is known as Reveri nda Camera Apostolica (see Apostolic Camera). When the car- dinal-eamerlengo happened to be absent on some pon- tifical business, a vice-camerlengo was chosen in his place. The office of camerlengo included not only the supervision of the immediate properties of the Holy See, but also the fiscal administration of the Pontifical States, the Patrimonium Petri.

The following were its chief attributions: (a) the collection of the Usate, or dues paid for the delivery of the Bulls of appointment to dioceses and abbeys (see Chancery, Apostolic); (b) the registry of the obla- tions or gifts of the faithful; (c) charge of the papal coinage ( Moneta); (d) jurisdiction, civil and criminal, over officials of the Camera (chierici di Canu Under the Avignon popes and their successors the office of camerlengo received more definite organiza- tion; at the same time its rights and jurisdiction were increased. Win n Boniface YI11 founded the Roman University (Sapienza) he decreed that the cardinal-

camerlengo should be always its archchancellor. Briefly the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church was, for the Papal States, Minister of Finance, Public Works, and Commerce. From the sixteenth century the office was purchasable from the Papal Govern- ment. Cardinal Cibo bought it in 1521 for 35,000 scudi ; Cardinal Vitellozzo, under Pius IV, for 70,000 scudi, and under Pius V Cardinal Cornaro paid as much for the place; the revenue thus gained served to keep up the wars against the Turks, etc. By the Constitution "Post Diuturnos" Pius VII restricted greatly the authority of the camerlengo, in keeping with the thorough reorganization of the Papal Government undertaken by him. Between the death of the pope ami the election of his suc- cessor (side racante) the cardinal-camerlengo is the head of the Sacred College. It is his duty to verify the death of the pope (see Pope), to direct the pre- parations for the Conclave, anil to take charge of the same.

(2) The Camerlengo of the Sacnd College (of Car- dinals) does not antedate Leo X (1513-21). He ad- ministers all fees and revenues belonging to the College of Cardinals, pontificates at the requiem Mass for a deceased cardinal, and is charged with the registry of the "Acta Consistoralia" (see Consistory, Papal). (3) The Camerlengo of the Roman Clergy is elected by the canons and parish priests of Rome; he has an honorary place in the great processions, presides over the ecclesiastical conferences of the parochial clergy, acts as arbiter in all questions of precedence, and ad- ministers the "oath of free estate" (juramentum de statu libero), obligatory on persons desirous of marry- ing.

Bouix, De Curia romand (Paris, 1880); Bangen, Die rom- ische Curie (Miinster, 1S54); Humphrey, t'rl,s et Orbis (Lon- don, 1899), 359-60.

U. Benigni.

Camilleri, G. M. See Gozo, Diocese of.

Camillus de Lellis, Saint, b. at Bacchianico, Naples, 1550; d. at Rome, 14 July, 1614. He was the son of an officer who had served both in the Neapoli- tan and French armies. His mother died when he was a child, and he grew up absolutely neglected. When still a youth he became a soldier in the service of Venice and afterwards of Naples, until 1574, when his regiment was disbanded. While in the service he became a confirmed gambler, and in consequence of his losses at play was at times reduced to a condition of destitution. The kindness of a Franciscan friar in- duced him to apply for admission to t hat order, but he was refused. He then betook himself to Rome, where he obtained employment in the Hospital for Incur- ables. He was prompted to go there chiefly by the hope of a cure of abscesses in both his feet from which he had been long suffering. He was dismissed from the hospital on account of his quarrelsome dis- position and his passion for gambling. He again be- came a Venetian soldier, and took part in the cam- paign against the Turks in 1569. Alter the war he was employed by the Capuchins at Manfredonia on a new building which they were erecting. His old gambling habit still pursued him, until a discourse of the guardian of the convent so startled him that he determined to reform. He was admitted to the order as a lay brother, but was soon dismissed on account of his infirmity. He betook himself again to Rome, where he entered the hospital in which he had prev- iously been, and after a temporary cure of his ailment became a nurse, and winning the admiration of the in- stitution by his piety and prudence, he was appointed director of the hospital.

While in this office, he attempted to found an order of lay infirmarians. but the scheme was opposed, and on the advice of his friends, among whom was his spir- itual guide, St. Philip Neri. he determined to become a