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28 that he had cherished a further plan, which, however, for special reasons he left to his successor to carry out.

Although the most weighty considerations prompted both St Pius V and Gregory XIII to form the separate Congregation of the Index, times and circumstances have changed in these more than three hundred years. In 1917 Pope Benedict XV reunited the Congregation of the Index with that of the Holy Office, to form a special section of that body. The aim and activity of this section remain unchanged, but its acts and decrees will now be invested with the authority of the Holy Office. Only the affairs which refer to Indulgences will be handled by the Tribunal of Penance, the Sacra Poenitentiaria, one of the Courts of the Church, because of their close relation to the Sacrament of Penance. Practically the Holy Office is the successor of the former Congregation of the Index. It is natural, the Pope says, that a Congregation whose purpose it is to supervise the teaching of Faith and Morals, should also be commissioned to watch over the publication of