Ever since the election of Pope Francis last month we have been told
that ‘curial reform’ will, or at least should, be top of the new
Pontiff’s agenda.Almost every Vatican watcher, and more than a few Vatican insiders, think the Roman Curia is broken and in need of an overhaul if it is to help the Pope’s evangelical mission.
There is no doubt that the cardinals who support a curia shake-up, and those who resist one, brought those divisions to the conclave that selected Francis.
Curial reform is now emerging as one of the biggest issues for the new Pope, as the Church seeks a fresh start under a new leader.
Those hoping for reform under the new Pope may well get their wish sooner rather than later.
Pope Francis has decided to reappoint the Vatican officials who lost their jobs when the previous papacy ended, but he made clear he was only doing so donec aliter provideatur - "until other provisions are made."
"The Holy Father wants to reserve some time for reflection, prayer and dialogue before any definitive nominations or confirmations," a Vatican statement said.
Although calls for curial reform have been echoing in Catholic ears of late, many are still curious about what the curia actually is.
The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope. It coordinates and provides the necessary central organisation for the correct functioning of the Church and the achievement of its goals.
According to the Decree concerning the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church, Christus Dominus: "In exercising supreme, full, and immediate power in the universal Church, the Roman pontiff makes use of the departments of the Roman Curia which, therefore, perform their duties in his name and with his authority for the good of the churches and in the service of the sacred pastors.”
In its long and eventful history, the Roman Curia has repeatedly undergone organisational changes.
The word ‘curia’ was first used in the Church by a Papal document in 1089, during the reign of Pope Urban II. Curia in medieval and later Latin usage means ‘court’ in the sense of a ‘royal court’ rather than a court of law.
Like every bishop, the Pope was surrounded by a college of priests. The college met regularly to form councils to lead his diocese.
Additionally, the Pope surrounded himself with other bishops around Rome to hear their advice. Gradually, these consistories took an almost permanent presence.
Later, specialised committees of cardinals were established to advise the Pope on particular topics. These commissions, first in temporary mandate, became more and more important and stable. Gradually, consistories lost their effectiveness and the real work was done within the congregations.
In 1542, the first congregation, the Holy Office was established by Pope Paul III. Then other congregations were created on this model.
After the Council of Trent, Pope Sixtus V reorganised the curia in 1588 with the papal bull Immensa Aeterni Dei. Another reorganisation occurred under Pope Pius X, which took into account the concentration on ecclesiastical matters alone that resulted from the loss of the Papal States in central Italy.
While the Pope was sovereign of that region, the curia had both religious and civil functions.
The latter were lost when the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, expanding to include the greater part of Italy, seized most of the Papal States in 1860 and the city of Rome itself and its surrounding area in 1870. The curia was from then on dedicated in practice entirely to the Pope's ecclesiastical responsibilities.
When the Holy See concluded the Lateran Pacts with the Italian State in 1929, the Holy See recognised the annexation by Italy of the Papal States, and Vatican City State was created. The curia has continued to devote itself exclusively to ecclesiastical affairs, and a distinct body was established for the governance of the state.
The Second Vatican Council was followed by further changes. Some offices ceased to exist because their former functions were abolished.
The functions of some others were transferred to different offices; some were split into separate entities; while others again were simply given a new name.
Further steps toward reorganisation were begun by Pope Paul VI in the 1960s. Among the goals of this curial reform were the modernisation of procedures and the internationalisation of the curial staff. These reforms are reflected in the second Code of Canon Law in 1983.
Responsibility for the coordination of curial activities belongs to the Cardinal Secretary of State who directs both the Secretariat of State and the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church.
The Secretariat of State is the oldest dicastery (department with jurisdiction) in the Roman Curia, the government of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Secretariat of State was created in the 15th century and is now the dicastery most involved in coordination of the Holy See's activities.
The Roman Congregations are a type of dicastery of the Roman Curia. Each Congregation is led by a prefect, who is a Cardinal. Until recently, a non-cardinal appointed to head a congregation was styled as pro-prefect until he was made cardinal in a consistory. This practice has recently been abandoned.
The various congregations of the curia are concerned with administrative matters. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is responsible for safeguarding the Catholic doctrine on faith and morals.
Though a successor of the notorious Roman Inquisition and, more recently, the Holy Office, this congregation is now primarily intended to make positive efforts to promote theological orthodoxy and to protect the rights of those accused of failure in this regard.
Other sacred congregations are those for the Oriental Churches, for Bishops, for the clergy, for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, for the Causes of Saints, for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Religious and Secular Institutes, for Catholic Education and for the Evangelisation of Peoples.
The judicial branch of the curia consists of three tribunals: the Apostolic Signatura, the Roman Rota and the Apostolic Penitentiary.
The Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura is the highest judicial authority in the Catholic Church besides the Pope himself, who is the supreme ecclesiastical judge. In addition, it is an administrative office for matters pertaining to the judicial activity of the whole Church.
As an administrative office, it exercises jurisdiction over all the tribunals of the Catholic Church. It can also extend the jurisdiction of tribunals, grant dispensations for procedural laws and establish inter-diocesan tribunals.
The Tribunal of the Roman Rota is the highest appeals court in the Church. The Roman Rota hears ecclesiastical cases appealed to the Vatican, especially those concerning the nullity of marriage, fosters the unity of jurisprudence and is a help to lower tribunals.
The court is named Rota, the Latin for wheel, because the judges, or auditors, originally met in a round room to hear cases.
The Apostolic Penitentiary is chiefly a tribunal of mercy, responsible for issues relating to the forgiveness of sins in the Catholic Church. It has jurisdiction only over matters in the internal forum, where an act of governance is made without publicity, for matters of conscience.
Pontifical Councils also exist within the curia. These are a group of several mid-sized agencies, each led by a cardinal or archbishop as president.
Some of the better known councils include the Pontifical council for Promoting Christian Unity, for the Laity, for the Family, for Justice and Peace and for Interreligious Dialogue.
Others include the Council for Culture, for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers and Cor Unum, for Human and Christian Development.
The Synod of Bishops was formed during the Second Vatican Council, introduced by the decree Christus Dominus. The synod acts as an advisory body to the Pope, whose members are elected by bishops from around the world.
The Pope serves as its president or appoints its president, determines its agenda, summons, suspends, and dissolves the synod, and can also appoint additional members to it.
Members of the synod express their opinions on matters on an individual basis; so no decrees or resolutions are issued by the synod.
However, the Pope can grant it that power, in which case its decrees or resolutions are approved and promulgated by him alone.
The Holy See's financial authorities are made up of three Offices.
The Apostolic Camera is the central board of finance in the Papal administrative system, led by the Camerlengo. Chief among the present responsibilities of the Camerlengo is the formal determination of the death of the reigning Pope. After the Pope is declared dead, the Camerlengo takes possession of the ‘Fisherman’s Ring’ and cuts it with shears in the presence of the cardinals, symbolising the end of the late Pope's authority. Until a successor Pope can be elected, the Camerlengo serves as acting head of State of the Vatican.
The Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See is part of the Roman Curia that deals with the properties owned by the Holy See in order to provide the funds necessary for the curia to function.
The Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See is entrusted with overseeing all the offices of the Holy See that manage finances, regardless of their degree of autonomy.
The prefecture does not manage finances itself, but instead audits the balance sheets and budgets of the offices that do. It then prepares and publishes annually a general financial report. It must be consulted on all projects of major importance undertaken by the offices in question.
There also exists within the Roman Curia a number of Pontifical Commissions, committees of Catholic experts convened by them Pope for a specific purpose. These include, among others, the Pontifical Biblical Commission, the International Theological Commission and the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
Pontifical Academies are academic honorary societies established by or under the direction of the Holy See. Currently there are eleven Pontifical academies at the Vatican in Rome, in areas such as Theology, science, fine arts and archaeology.
Returning to reform, Fr Thomas Reese SJ, Vatican analyst with the National Catholic Reporter, believes the curia is in dire need of better management. In a recent publication, he noted that much of the scandals surrounding the curia recently are simple management problems: financial corruption, sexual impropriety, petty infighting among factions, leaking of documents.
“Dealing with these issues is neither rocket science nor theology,” he said.
But reform will not come easily. “Speaking about reforming the curia is like speaking about reforming the U.S. tax code,” Fr Reese said. “Everyone is for it until it affects them.”
Fr Reese’s own prescription for reforming the curia is based on the supposition that it should be in service to the Pope as head of the college of bishops. “It is staff and should be organised as a civil service and not part of the hierarchy of the church,” he said.
“The current curia is not even a 19th-century bureaucracy; it is a 17th-century court. It is organised like the royal courts of the time where princes and nobles helped the king run the nation. This governance model is antiquated.”
Additionally, Fr Reese noted the Papacy is operating “out of the model of the absolute monarchies of the 17th century where the legislative, executive and judicial powers were held by the monarch”.
“Modern governments recognise the need for a separation of powers. Agencies like the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith should not be allowed to make the rules, and then act as police, prosecutor, judge, jury and executor in dealing with theologians. This is not due process in the modern sense of the word.
“The role of the synod of bishops also needs to be strengthened in providing input on policy and supervision of the curia. No political theory today would leave everything to the executive without a role for a legislature,” he said.
According to Fr Reese, better management is needed in the curia, and is certainly possible.
“Comprehensive reform, however, is not likely.”