Roman Curia

The Roman Curia (Latin Curia Romanae) is usually called "The Curia". It is the cabinet of the Vatican City and the Roman Catholic Church.

It has parts to look after

• the independent country of the Vatican
  • such as the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State which is the Vatican's parliament.
• the business of the Roman Catholic Church and members of the church
  • such as the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity for meeting other churches and
  • and the Apostolic Penitentiary for dealing with excommunications.

The names of the parts of the curia are:

The Secretariat of State coordinates the Holy See's activities. It is headed by the Cardinal Secretary of State. It has two parts:

• • Section for General Affairs
  • Section for Relations with States

The Roman Congregations
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith	Looks after Catholic doctrine (beliefs)
The Congregation for the Oriental Churches	Maintains contact with the Eastern Catholic Churches
The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments	Responsible for the liturgy (the way of worshipping)
The Congregation for the Causes of Saints	Controls the process of declaring someone a saint
The Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples	Responsible for missionary work
The Congregation for the Clergy	Looks after priests and deacons not in a Religious Order
The Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life	Looks after members of religious orders
Congregation for Catholic Education (in Seminaries and Institutes of Study)	Oversees catholic education in schools, universities and seminaries (places were priests are trained).
The Congregation for Bishops	Helps select new bishops
The Tribunals
The Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Penitentiary	The Supreme Court for some matters of faith
The Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura	The Supreme Court for other matters (e.g. marriage annulment)
The Sacred Roman Rota	The ordinary appeal court, below the supreme tribunals.
The Pontifical Councils
The Pontifical Council for the Laity	helps the Pope in dealings with ordinary Catholics (not priests but "laity")
The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity	Arranges working with other Churches and promotes ecumenism
The Pontifical Council for the Family	Promotes the care of families, rights and dignity of families.
The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace	Promotes of justice, peace, and human rights
The Pontifical Council Cor Unum	Humanitarian relief operations following disasters, fostering charity, and coordinating similar catholic organisations
The Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants	function
The Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers	Looks after the religious care of Health Care Workers
The Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts	interpreting the laws of the Church
The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue	promotes the study of and understanding with non Christian
The Pontifical Council for Culture	Deals with the differences between the Gospel and cultures, and indifference about religion
The Pontifical Council for Social Communications	Responsible for using the media to spread the Gospel.
The Special Council for Africa of the General of the Synod of Bishops	function
The Synod
The Synod of Bishops	A group of Bishops chosen to advise the Pope
The Offices
The Apostolic Camera	The Churches central board of finance
The Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See	Manages the deals Holy See's properties.
The Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See	Manages the financial investments and budget of Vatican City and the Roman Catholic Church (except the Vatican Bank)
The Prefecture of the Pontifical Household	Organises the pope's ceremonies and household
The Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff	Organises religious ceremonies the pope and the cardinals
The Disciplinary Commission of the Roman Curia	function
The Pontifical Commissions
The Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church	function
The Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archeology	function
The Pontifical Biblical Commission	Responsible for interpreting and defending the Bible
The Pontifical Commission for Revision of the Vulgata	function
The International Theological Commission	Advises the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
The Pontifical Commission for International Eucharistic Congresses	function
The Pontifical Committee of Historical Sciences	function
The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei	Ending certain schisms (disagreements) in the churh
The Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State	The parliament of the Vatican City
The Pontifical Commission for Latin America	function
The Discipline Commission of the Roman Curia	function
Other institutions
The Swiss Guard	Responsible for the security of the Apostolic Palace, the entrances to the Vatican City and the safety of the Pope
The Pontifical Academies	There are ten academies in which leading teachers and scientists help to advise the pope.
The Labour Office	function