Holy Office

Palace of the Holy Office

---

Explore the year a word first appeared.

Navigation menu

Statistics for Holy Office Look-up Popularity. Get Word of the Day daily email! Need even more definitions? Word of the Year 'Justice' is our Word of the Year. Ask the Editors Word of the Year: Literally How to use a word that literally drives some people nuts. Is Singular 'They' a Better Choice? Take the quiz True or False? At the beginning of this epoch the suppression of heresy, which had formerly been the responsibility of diocesan bishops, came to be exercised also by the Holy See directly, and special legates were appointed for this purpose.

Later, this work was undertaken by religious orders, in particular the Dominicans and Franciscans. From this developed a characteristic ecclesiastical institution — the Inquisition — which consisted of a network of tribunals, whose leaders were given express pontifical delegation to judge and, if need be, condemn those charged with the crime of heresy.

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

Following a practice in force in all European judicial systems until the end of the eighteenth century, this process made allowance for the use of torture in certain very specific circumstances, and, in the most serious cases, for condemnation to death by burning. In fact, the temporal powers were generally eager to assist in the struggle against heresy, because the heretic was perceived to be a threat to society at large.

By the middle of the fifteenth century, the institution of the Inquisition entered into a period of decline. With the extinction of mass movements of heresy such as the Cathars , some tribunals were disbanded, while others became inactive or saw their judicial activity greatly reduced. A new phase in the history of the Inquisition opened with the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition.

In Sixtus IV , in response to a forceful request by the Catholic rulers, Isabella of Castille and Ferdinand of Aragon, agreed to restore and extend the Inquisition to the kingdoms and dominions of the Iberian Peninsula. Following an initial period of transition, the system established itself according to the following pattern: The Pope would confer upon him jurisdiction in matters concerning offenses against the faith and grant the faculty for him to sub-delegate his proper authority to regional inquisitors.

Local tribunals enforced Pontifical inquisitorial law, although subsequent privileges had the effect of granting to the internal workings of these tribunals a certain amount of autonomy in respect to papal authority. During these same years, the so-called Roman Inquisition was established.

Spanish Inquisition

Arising from the ashes of the medieval Inquisition, it was instituted to combat and suppress the spread of the doctrines of the Reformers into the Italian peninsula. In the face of the growth of Protestantism, Paul III had in fact instituted, with the Constitution Licet ab initio of 12 July, , a special commission of six cardinals who were competent to judge offenses in matters of faith. It is very likely that from the outset these cardinals were assisted by theologians and canonists in the capacity of consultors.

In the years immediately following, the organizational structure of the Commission grew: This organization — then called the Congregation of the Holy Roman and Universal Inquisition or Congregation of the Holy Office , whose sphere of influence, at least in theory, should extend to the entire Christian world, starting from Italy and the Roman Curia — had the faculty to send its own delegates, where necessity demanded, who could judge possible appeals and had the power to act against apostates, heretics, those suspected of heresy and their defenders, followers, and supporters, regardless of their office or dignity.

The general inquisitors could also have recourse to the secular arm. To establish the universal character of the Roman Inquisition, which was explicitly stated in its name, would mean to centralize jurisdiction in the matter of heresy in Rome, the seat of the Papacy. In fact, as will be seen elsewhere, such universal jurisdiction was not fully exercised prior to the beginning of the nineteenth century.

The Pope determined that it would concern itself primarily with religious life in Italy, where he had been warned that there were still many heretics. He also confirmed that it was the central authority responsible for proceeding judicially in defense of the faith in all Christian countries.

The Pope published on 15 February the Constitution Licet a diversis , which condemned the claim of the civil authorities of some states that they were authorized to interfere in the process of charging heretics, as had been attempted, for example, in the Republic of Venice. Cardinal Gian Pietro Carafa, who was an ardent supporter of the Roman Inquisition from its inception and had shown himself to be one of the most active of the general inquisitors, ascended to the papal throne in May, , taking the name Paul IV.

He immediately devoted himself to developing this institution, and for this purpose he repaired its offices on the Via di Ripetta, which he himself had purchased as a cardinal at his own expense when the Inquisition was established in With the motu proprio of 11 February , Attendentes onera , the Pope extended a series of privileges and fiscal exemptions to the building and those who served there; further, he granted new faculties to the members of the tribunal, greatly expanding their sphere of jurisdiction.

In view of the wider responsibilities of this tribunal, the Pope increased the number of Cardinal members: Abandoning his initial idea of abolishing the Inquisition altogether, Pius IV sought to return its ordinary functions to a reasonable level. He began, in a congregation of 11 January , by reducing the jurisdictional authority of the Cardinal inquisitors, restoring the proper competence of the institution to matters concerning the protection of the integrity of the faith.

Recognizing the effectiveness of the activity undertaken by the Holy Office up to that time, with the Constitution Pastoralis officii munus of 14 October , Pius IV newly delineated the activities of the Cardinal members, determining at the same time the exact limits of their jurisdiction, which became broader. On October 31 st , with the motu proprio Saepius inter arcana , he confirmed that the Roman Inquisition had the power to carry out processes against prelates, bishops, archbishops, patriarchs, and cardinals, always reserving to the Pope, however, the right to pronounce final sentence in consistory.

Again, with the motu proprio Cum sicut accepimus of 2 August , he reduced to eight the number of cardinal inquisitors formerly there had been a total of twenty-three , adding a ninth, however, to clarify their functions. Finally, with the motu proprio Cum inter crimina of the following August 27 th , he granted cardinal inquisitors the faculty to possess and read heretical literature and other prohibited books, and to permit others in turn to possess and read such works. He furnished the organization with new offices. This had been rendered necessary by the destruction of the original site on the via di Ripetta, after which the cardinal inquisitors had been required to meet in the home of their senior member.

Spanish Inquisition

To that end, Pius V acquired and set about restoring a building located near the site where the Vatican basilica was undergoing construction. Work on the basilica was interrupted for the purpose of hastening the reconstruction of the new palace of the Holy Office.

This building was useable as early as , but was only completed in , when Sixtus V attached a prison to it. This was torn down in the last century during work to enlarge the palace which is now occupied for the most part by the offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Pius V also ordered the establishment of an appropriate archive in which to preserve all the procedural acts.

It was strictly forbidden to make copies of these, although they could be consulted on the spot in case of need; confidentiality was strictly enforced regarding all matters concerning questions in the processes, and a violation of this was viewed as a personal insult to the Pope. Later, arrangements were made to protect the Cardinal inquisitors and their assistants from threats or violence, and to safeguard witnesses from harassment or reprisals from the accused themselves or from their relatives and friends.

With the motu proprio Cum felicis recordationis of 5 December , the Pope decreed that the involvement of only two cardinals was sufficient for decisions of the Holy Office to be valid, rather than three, as was prescribed for every other curial office. Its specific purpose was to examine suspect works, to correct or edit those books which, after the required review by censors, were allowed to continue to circulate, and to add periodically to the list of forbidden books Index librorum prohibitorum.

Within fifty years of its establishment the Holy Roman Office attained an absolutely privileged position in the process of a general reorganization of the central government of the Church and the Papal States brought about by Sixtus V with the Constitution Immensa aeterni Dei of 22 January In fact, at the head of the fifteen congregations established by Sixtus V which included the five already existing congregations was placed the Congregatio sanctae Inquisitionis haereticae pravitatis , which preserved its character as a tribunal.

Placed under the direct supervision of the Pope because of the important matters it dealt with, the Roman Inquisition came to be endowed with greater powers by Sixtus V; the result was that anything concerning the faith came within its jurisdictional responsibility.

Its power extended not only to Rome and the Papal States, but to every place and person: Latin and Eastern Catholics alike were answerable to it. The only exceptions were the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions, whose respective privileges could only be modified with the explicit agreement of the Pope. In any case, the Congregation held absolute jurisdiction in all matters pertaining to offenses concerning the faith — heresy, schism, apostasy, divination, witchcraft, magic — and had the faculty to dispense from the impediments of mixed religion and disparity of cult, with special competence regarding the so-called Pauline Privilege for dissolving a matrimonial bond.

The Congregation also was responsible for all matters which, although not directly concerning the faith, were related to it: Although the Sistine constitution said nothing about it, the Congregation was also responsible for the censure and proscription of books recognized to be heretical, once the suspect books had been examined by the Congregation of the Index and its decision was confirmed by Sixtus V.

The Congregation of the Index integrated its activity with the work of the section of the Inquisition dedicated to writings; responsible as it was for the most serious questions regarding faith and morals, it was proving impossible for the Inquisition to exercise complete supervision over printed works, which were being published in great numbers everywhere. The great importance accorded to the Congregation of the Inquisition by Sixtus V increased the desire of cardinals to belong to it.

Following the complete reorganization of the Roman Curia by Sixtus, the Congregation of the Inquisition maintained its pre-eminent place among the various congregations. It remained almost entirely unchanged in its structure and its institutional responsibilities up to the beginning of the nineteenth century. With the Constitution Universi dominici gregis of 30 August Gregory XV confirmed the competence of the Congregation of the Inquisition to deal with the crime of solicitation ad turpia , a competence reaffirmed by Benedict XIV with the Constitution Sollicita ac provida of 9 July , which he developed and wrote personally.

The Pope exhorted the members of the Congregation of the Index to undertake a more attentive and impartial examination of works submitted to prevent complaints by their authors. He arranged to have the theologians joined by men renowned for their culture, to have more objective processes, and to hear from the accused or their representatives.

The Pope tried to settle the question, never resolved, of the overlapping jurisdictions of the Holy Office and the Congregation of the Index concerning censorship. He determined that the latter should concern itself solely with works expressly condemned as dangerous, but only if they had not already undergone an examination by the Congregation of the Index.

Toward the end of the eighteenth century the Congregation of the Inquisition was entrusted with some offenses that were not concerned, strictly speaking, with doctrinal matters. During the pontificate of Pius VI it was also given responsibility for everything having to do with Holy Orders, both dogmatic and disciplinary matters.

Palace of the Holy Office - Wikipedia

In the nineteenth century, Gregory XV I also entrusted the Inquisition with the causes of saints for a time, in matters touching on doctrine and in determining what constitutes martyrdom. One final extension of the responsibilities of the Congregation of the Inquisition, prior to a major reform of the Curia carried out by Pius X in , was brought about by this same Pope with the motu proprio Romanis pontificibus of 17 December , in virtue of which it was decreed that the former Congregation for the Election of Bishops be merged with the Holy Office.

With some appropriate exceptions, all material pertaining to the selection and promotion of bishops was to be submitted to the Holy Office, except for those that were the responsibility of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith and the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, respectively. More varied and important changes were made to the old Congregation of the Holy Roman and Universal Inquisition by the first total reorganization of the Roman Curia in the twentieth century. This was almost entirely a personal initiative of Pius X , and it passed through five different plans — one of which was formulated by the Pope himself — and was completed by him with the Constitution Sapienti consilio of 29 June The purpose of the reorganization was to impart a modern direction to the various curial structures so that they could respond to the changing demands of the times.

With regard to various areas of responsibility, everything pertaining to the observance of the precepts of the Church devolved to the Congregation of the Council today the Congregation for the Clergy , which was welcomed by the same Pius X in his personal project of reform. Matters pertaining to the selection of bishops was transferred to the Congregation of the Consistory now the Congregation for Bishops , and the dispensation from religious vows was reserved to the new Congregation of Religious today the Congregation for Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

Matters concerning Indulgences were now to be referred to the Holy Office. In the wake of the Constitution Sapienti consilio the Ordo servandus in sacris congregationibus tribunalis officiis Romanae curiae was published, which contained general and particular norms to be observed by each congregation and the various offices of the Roman Curia. It was formally established that the highest positions in the Holy Office would be the Assessor and the Commissary.

The Holy Office was directed to draft as soon as possible its ratio agendi , and this was published in with the name Lex et ordo Sancti Officii ; it established the norms proper to the Congregation, indicating precisely the roles, functions, and structures of the Holy Office. Its jurisdictional competence remained the defense of the doctrine of the faith and morals, processes against heresy, as well as other offenses that created a suspicion of heresy the celebration of Mass or hearing of confessions by one who was not ordained a priest, solicitation ad turpia by a priest in confession, divination, witchcraft, casting spells, etc.

Benedict XV addressed the specific responsibilities of the Holy Office, decreeing in his motu proprio Alloquentes of 25 March the suppression of the Congregation of the Index as an autonomous office and its reintegration into the Holy Office. This had originally been considered at the time of the reorganization of Pius X and was rendered necessary to avoid conflicts regarding the competence of each of the two congregations. In order to lessen the burdens placed on the Holy Office, in this same document Benedict XV removed responsibility for all matters touching on Indulgences with the exception of a doctrinal review of new prayers and devotions and entrusted this to the Apostolic Penitentiary.

Following the reorganization brought about by Pius X , the presidency of the Holy Office continued to be reserved to the Pope, who ordinarily exercised his activity through the Cardinal Secretary, a position traditionally held by the Dean of the Cardinal members of the Congregation, who were called General Inquisitors the last time this title was used was in a decree of 2 August The structure of the Congregation of the Holy Office comprised a certain number of officials.

The Assessor, from the secular clergy, assisted the Cardinal Secretary to deal with ordinary matters and general discipline. All three of these Dominicans came from the Lombardy province of the Order of Preachers in virtue of a privilege accorded to that province by Pius V, who, when he served as Commissary from to , had been a religious of that province.

The third major official of the Congregation was the Sostituto , responsible for the special section of the Congregation dealing with Indulgences, during the ten years that this was within the competence of the Congregation The minor officials of the Congregation consisted of: Numerous consultors also served the Congregation, chosen from among secular and religious clergy, theologians and jurists. They were called upon to submit in writing, subject to examination by the consultors, the degree of error found in a book or teaching submitted to the Congregation for judgment.

A complete renovation of the building was made by Pietro Guidi between and From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article is about the palace in Rome.

For the one in Birgu, Malta, see Inquisitor's Palace. Catalogo mostra a Roma, Museo Centrale del Risorgimento. Archived from the original on 5 March Retrieved from " https: Views Read Edit View history.

• Understanding Social Research: Thinking Creatively about Method
• Afraid - The Complete First Series - Books 1-12
• The Plagiarism Allegation in English Literature from Butler to Sterne
• Capture the Flag
• The Absolute Top Heart Healthy Recipes Cookbook
• Outside the Box Origami: A New Generation of Extraordinary Folds: Includes Origami Book With 20 Projects Ranging From Easy to Complex