1.
Vatican City
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Vatican City, officially Vatican City State or the State of Vatican City, is a walled enclave within the city of Rome. With an area of approximately 44 hectares, and a population of 842, however, formally it is not sovereign, with sovereignty being held by the Holy See, the only entity of public international law that has diplomatic relations with almost every country in the world. It is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state ruled by the Bishop of Rome – the Pope, the highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergy of various national origins. Vatican City is distinct from the Holy See, which dates back to early Christianity and is the episcopal see of 1.2 billion Latin. According to the terms of the treaty, the Holy See has full ownership, exclusive dominion, within Vatican City are religious and cultural sites such as St. Peters Basilica, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums. They feature some of the worlds most famous paintings and sculptures, the unique economy of Vatican City is supported financially by the sale of postage stamps and tourist mementos, fees for admission to museums, and the sale of publications. The name Vatican City was first used in the Lateran Treaty, signed on 11 February 1929, the name is taken from Vatican Hill, the geographic location of the state. Vatican is derived from the name of an Etruscan settlement, Vatica or Vaticum meaning garden, located in the area the Romans called vaticanus ager. The official Italian name of the city is Città del Vaticano or, more formally, Stato della Città del Vaticano, although the Holy See and the Catholic Church use Ecclesiastical Latin in official documents, the Vatican City officially uses Italian. The Latin name is Status Civitatis Vaticanæ, this is used in documents by not just the Holy See. The name Vatican was already in use in the time of the Roman Republic for an area on the west bank of the Tiber across from the city of Rome. Under the Roman Empire, many villas were constructed there, after Agrippina the Elder drained the area and laid out her gardens in the early 1st century AD. In AD40, her son, Emperor Caligula built in her gardens a circus for charioteers that was completed by Nero, the Circus Gaii et Neronis, usually called, simply. Even before the arrival of Christianity, it is supposed that this originally uninhabited part of Rome had long considered sacred. A shrine dedicated to the Phrygian goddess Cybele and her consort Attis remained active long after the Constantinian Basilica of St. Peter was built nearby, the particularly low quality of Vatican water, even after the reclamation of the area, was commented on by the poet Martial. The Vatican Obelisk was originally taken by Caligula from Heliopolis in Egypt to decorate the spina of his circus and is thus its last visible remnant and this area became the site of martyrdom of many Christians after the Great Fire of Rome in AD64. Ancient tradition holds that it was in this circus that Saint Peter was crucified upside-down, opposite the circus was a cemetery separated by the Via Cornelia. Peters in the first half of the 4th century, the Constantinian basilica was built in 326 over what was believed to be the tomb of Saint Peter, buried in that cemetery
2.
Didache
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The Didache, also known as The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, is a brief anonymous early Christian treatise, dated by most modern scholars to the first century. The first line of this treatise is The teaching of the Lord to the Gentiles by the twelve apostles. The text, parts of which constitute the oldest extant written catechism, has three main sections dealing with Christian ethics, rituals such as baptism and Eucharist, and Church organization, the opening chapters describe the virtuous Way of Life and the wicked Way of Death. The Lords Prayer is included in full, baptism is by immersion, or by affusion if immersion is not practical. Fasting is ordered for Wednesdays and Fridays, Two primitive Eucharistic prayers are given. Church organization was at a stage of development. Itinerant apostles and prophets are important, serving as chief priests, meanwhile, local bishops and deacons also have authority and seem to be taking the place of the itinerant ministry. The Didache is considered the first example of the genre of Church Orders, the Didache reveals how Jewish Christians saw themselves and how they adapted their practice for Gentile Christians. The Didache is similar in ways to the Gospel of Matthew. The opening chapters, which appear in other early Christian texts, are likely derived from an earlier Jewish source. The Didache is considered part of the group of second-generation Christian writings known as the Apostolic Fathers, however, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church broader canon includes the Didascalia, a work which draws on the Didache. Lost for centuries, a Greek manuscript of the Didache was rediscovered in 1873 by Philotheos Bryennios, a Latin version of the first five chapters was discovered in 1900 by J. Schlecht. Many English and American scholars once dated the text to the late 2nd century CE, a view still held today, additionally, apart from two minuscule fragments, the Greek text of the Didache has only survived in a single manuscript, the Codex Hierosolymitanus. Dating the document is made difficult both by the lack of hard evidence and its composite character. The Didache may have compiled in its present form as late as 150. The Two Ways section is based on an earlier Jewish source. The community that produced the Didache was probably based in Syria, the text was lost, but scholars knew of it through the writing of later church fathers, some of whom had drawn heavily on it. In 1873 in Istanbul, metropolitan Philotheos Bryennios found a Greek copy of the Didache, written in 1056, hitchcock and Brown produced the first English translation in March 1884
3.
Apostolicae curae
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Apostolicae curae is the title of a papal bull, issued in 1896 by Pope Leo XIII, declaring all Anglican ordinations to be absolutely null and utterly void. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York of the Church of England responded to the charges with the encyclical Saepius officio in 1897. The principal objection to validity of Anglican ordinations, according to Pope Leo XIII, was the deficiency of intention. In the Roman Catholic view, the differences between these rites are a matter of tradition or custom, and indicate no intention to exclude a sacrificing priesthood, prior to Apostolicae curae, decisions had already been given by Rome that Anglican orders were invalid. The practices of the Roman Catholic Church had supposed their invalidity, whenever former Anglican priests desired to be priests in the Roman Catholic Church they were unconditionally ordained. Those who were interested in a reunion of Rome and Canterbury thought that, as a condition to such reunion. He commissioned a number of men, whose opinions on the matter were known to be divergent and he then summoned them to Rome and directed them to exchange writings. The pope placed at their disposal all the available and directed them to further investigate. Thus prepared, he ordered them to meet in special sessions under the presidency of an appointed by him. Twelve such sessions were held in all were invited to free discussion. The final result was the papal bull Apostolicae curae, in which Anglican orders were declared to be invalid, according to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, to attempt to confer orders a second time on the same person would be a sacrilege. Rome, by allowing the practice of ordaining former Anglican priests. The bull points out that orders received in the Church of England and this was not through a custom grown up gradually, but from the date of that change in the ritual. Those powers were not intended to deal with an abstract state of things. They were directed towards providing for holy orders in England as the condition of the circumstances. The mind of Julius III appears also from the letter dated 29 January 1555 by which Cardinal Pole delegated his powers to the Bishop of Norwich, to the same effect was a bull issued by Pope Paul IV on 20 June 1555 and a brief dated 30 October 1555. Apostolicae curae also cites John Clement Gordon who had received orders according to the Edwardine Ritual, Pope Clement XI issued a decree on 17 April 1704 that he should be ordained unconditionally and he grounded his decision on the defect of form and intention. The intrinsic reason for which Anglican orders were pronounced invalid by the bull, was the defect of form and intention
4.
Decretum Gratiani
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It forms the first part of the collection of six legal texts, which together became known as the Corpus Juris Canonici. It was used by canonists of the Roman Catholic Church until Pentecost 1918 and he did this to obviate the difficulties which beset the study of practical, external theology, i. e. the study of canon law. In spite of its reputation and wide diffusion, the Decretum has never been recognized by the Church as an official collection. It is divided into three parts, the third part, entitled De consecratione, treats of the sacraments and other sacred things and contains 5 distinctions. Each distinction or question contains dicta Gratiani, or maxims of Gratian, Gratian himself raises questions and brings forward difficulties, which he answers by quoting auctoritates, i. e. canons of councils, decretals of the popes, texts of the Scripture or of the Fathers. These are the canones, the remaining portion, even the summaries of the canons. It is to be noted that many auctoritates have been inserted in the Decretum by authors of a later date and these are the Paleœ, so called from Paucapalea, the name of the principal commentator on the Decretum. The Roman revisers of the 16th century corrected the text of the Decree, the Decretum is quoted by indicating the number of the canon and that of the distinction or of the cause and the question. XI indicates the first part of the Decree, VI, refers to the second part, 33rd cause, question 3, distinction VI, canon 1, c. 8, de Cons. d. II refers to the part, distinction II. XII, q.3 refers to the part, cause XII, question 3. Sometimes, especially in the case of well-known and much-quoted canons,4, i. e. the 29th canon of the second part, cause XVII, question 4. Occasionally the first words alone are quoted, in both cases, to find the canon it is necessary to consult the alphabetical tables that contain the first words of every canon. Gratian was a lawyer from Bologna. He flourished in the mid 12th century, little else is known about his biography. He is sometimes referred to as Franciscus Gratianus, Johannes Gratian. For a long time he was believed to have born at the end of the 11th century. Since the 11th century, Bologna had been the centre of the study of law, as well as of Roman law
5.
Summorum Pontificum
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The document, dated 7 July 2007 and in force since 14 September 2007, was released along with a letter in which Pope Benedict explained his reasons for issuing it. The document replaced the motu proprio Ecclesia Dei of 1988, which allowed individual bishops to establish places where Mass could be using the 1962 Missal. As is customary for papal documents, the motu proprio is referred to by its incipit, Supreme Pontiff is a title of the popes, and the opening sentence states that it has always been a concern of the Supreme Pontiffs that the Church should offer fitting worship to God. Pope Benedict XVI released the document after much reflection, numerous consultations, in article 1 of the document, he spoke of the typical edition of the Roman Missal, which was promulgated by Blessed John XXIII in 1962, as never abrogated. In the letter he specified this as never juridically abrogated, for such a celebration with either Missal, the priest needs no permission from the Apostolic See or from his own Ordinary. g. He also allowed bishops, on the condition, to use the earlier Pontifical in administering Confirmation. Bishops may establish personal parishes or appoint chaplains for administering the sacraments according to the old form, the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, whose role the document confirmed, was given authority to ensure observance of the rules laid down in the document. Stable groups of the mentioned in article 5 whose parish priest does not grant them their request should inform the diocesan bishop. If he does not wish to do so, they should inform the Pontifical Commission and he recognised that there have been exaggerations and at times social aspects unduly linked to the attitude of the faithful attached to the ancient Latin liturgical tradition. This will bring out the spiritual richness and the depth of this Missal. Benedict cited interior reconciliation in the heart of the Church as a reason for the motu proprio. Traditionalist groups, such as the Society of St, the total exclusion of the new rite would not in fact be consistent with the recognition of its value and holiness. Thus, while opening the door to the Tridentine Mass, the Pope expects the SSPX to acknowledge the legitimacy of the Mass of Paul VI, SSPX Superior General, Bishop Fellay wrote, The letter which accompanies the Motu Proprio does not hide however the difficulties that still remain. Fellay then stated that the Society is eager after the decree of excommunication which still affects its bishops has been withdrawn—to consider more serenely the disputed doctrinal issues, the Pope stressed, There is no contradiction between the two editions of the Roman Missal. In the history of the liturgy there is growth and progress, what earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer and he continued by demanding recognition also of the value and holiness of celebration according to the new books. For such a celebration with either Missal, the priest need no permission from the Apostolic See or from his own Ordinary, the celebrations of Mass mentioned above. May be attended also by members of the lay faithful who spontaneously request to do so, in churches other than parish or conventual churches, it is for the rector of the church to grant the above permission
6.
Indulgentiarum Doctrina
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Indulgentiarum doctrina, so called from its incipit, is an apostolic constitution about indulgences, dated 1 January 1967. By this document Pope Paul VI, responding to suggestions made at the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul explained that sin bring punishments inflicted by Gods sanctity and justice, which must be expiated either here on earth or else in the life to come. Such expiation generally takes the form of penance, traditionally described as prayers, fasting, and alms, the document stressed that the Churchs aim was not merely to help the faithful make due satisfaction for their sins, but chiefly to bring them to greater fervour of charity. For all men who walk this earth daily commit at least venial sins, indulgences cannot be gained without a sincere conversion of outlook and unity with God. An indulgence is the remission before God of the punishment due sins already forgiven as far as their guilt is concerned. An indulgence is partial or plenary according as it removes either part or all of the punishment due sin. Indulgences can always be applied to the dead by way of suffrage, the Enchiridion Indulgentiarum reached its fourth edition in Latin in 1999, and is available on the Holy Sees website. An English translation of the edition is available online. The Enchiridion Indulgentiarum differs from the Raccolta in that it only the most important prayers and works of piety, charity. In this way, the Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, in spite of its smaller size, there are four general grants of indulgence, which are meant to encourage the faithful to infuse a Christian spirit into the actions of their daily lives and to strive for perfection of charity. Devoting oneself or ones goods compassionately in a spirit of faith to the service of ones brothers and sisters in need, freely abstaining in a spirit of penance from something licit and pleasant. Freely giving open witness to ones faith before others in particular circumstances of everyday life, adoration of Jesus in the Eucharist for at least half an hour. The pious exercise of the Stations of the Cross, a plenary indulgence may also be gained on some occasions, which are not everyday occurrences. They include, Receiving, even by radio or television, the blessing given by the Pope Urbi et Orbi or that which a bishop is authorized to give three times a year to the faithful of his diocese. Taking part devoutly in the celebration of a day devoted on a level to a particular religious purpose. Under this heading come the annual celebrations such as the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, taking part for at least three full days in a spiritual retreat. Taking part in some functions during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity including its conclusion, a specific plenary indulgence is normally authorized to those properly disposed who attend a newly ordained priests First Mass. This is not the same as any indulgence granted, if any, from attending the Ordination Mass itself, since he only concelebrates that Mass, with the ordaining Bishop being the principal celebrant
7.
Pastor bonus
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Pastor bonus is an apostolic constitution promulgated by Pope John Paul II on 28 June 1988. It thus strengthens the unity of the faith and the communion of the people of God and it replaced the previous governing document, Regimini Ecclesiæ universæ, which was released by Paul VI in 1967. It delineated the roles of the Secretariat of State, Congregations, Tribunals, Pontifical Councils, Administrative Services and it also established the norms for the Ad limina visits of bishops to Rome and the relationship between the Holy See and the particular Churches and episcopal conferences. Among the changes formulated in the constitution was the re-integration of the Council for Public Affairs of the Church into the Secretariat of State as the Section for Relations with States. The Council for Public Affairs of the Church had previously been a section of the Secretariat of State, the constitution also opened membership in dicasteries to priests, deacons, religious, and lay persons. Pastor bonus continued the opening of the government of the church by allowing representatives of all the faithful to have a role in the Roman Curia. As of March 2016, Pastor bonus has been amended in 2011, by Quaerit semper, in 2013, by Ministrorum institutio and Fides per doctrinam, and in 2014, by Confermando una tradizione. On the same day the Apostolic Letter Fides per doctrinam transferred the competence of catechesis from the Congregation for Clergy to the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, in October 2013, Pope Francis and his Council of Cardinals were reviewing Pastor bonus for possible further revisions. It also established the Secretariat for the Economy as a dicastery of the Roman Curia, original text Full text, translated to English by Francis C. C. F. Kelly, James H. Provost, and Michel Thériault and revised by Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Secretariat of State, changing needs, changing names, Reform of Curia is Vatican tradition, Catholic New Service,13 July 2014
8.
1917 Code of Canon Law
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The 1917 Code of Canon Law, also referred to as the Pio-Benedictine Code, was the first official comprehensive codification of Latin canon law. It was promulgated on 27 May 1917 and took effect on 19 May 1918. It was in force until the 1983 Code of Canon Law took legal effect and it has been described as the greatest revolution in canon law since the time of Gratian. This was also the law that for the first time in Roman Catholic Church history. Papal attempts at codification of the mass of canon law spanned the eight centuries since Gratian produced his Decretum c. In the 13th century especially canon law became the object of scientific study, the most important of these were the five books of the Decretales Gregorii IX and the Liber Sextus of Bonaface VIII. Some of it became obsolete and contradictions crept in so that it became difficult in recent times to discover what was of obligation and where to find the law on a particular question. When the Vatican Council met in 1869 a number of bishops of different countries petitioned for a new compilation of law that would be clear. The council never finished its work and no attempt was made to bring the legislation up to date, by the 19th Century, this body of legislation included some 10,000 norms. Many of these were difficult to reconcile with one another due to changes in circumstances and this situation impelled Pope St. Pius X to order the creation of the first Code of Canon Law, a single volume of clearly stated laws. Under the aegis of Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, the Commission for the Codification of Canon Law was completed under Benedict XV, the work having been begun by Pius X and promulgated by Benedict XV, it is sometimes called the Pio-Benedictine Code, but more often the 1917 Code. The Catholic universities of the world and the bishops of all countries were asked to cooperate, the scholars began the work and a copy of the first draft was sent to the bishops for suggestions. Every Latin bishop had the right to keep a representative in Rome to give him voice at the meetings of the codification commission. By the winter of 1912, the span of the code had been completed. The new code was completed in 1916, the code was promulgated on 27 May 1917 as the Code of Canon Law by his successor, Pope Benedict XV, who set 19 May 1918 as the date on which it came into force. For the most part, it applied only to the Latin Church except when it treats of things that, by their nature, apply to the Oriental, the numbering of the canons was not to be altered. It was in force until Canon 6 §1 1° of the 1983 Code of Canon Law took legal effect, the congregations were instead to issue Instructions on the canons of the code, and to make it clear that they were elucidating particular canons of the code. This was done so as not to make the code obsolete soon after it was promulgated, the 1917 Code was very rarely amended, and then only slightly
9.
Collectio canonum quadripartita
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The Collectio canonum quadripartita is an early medieval canon law collection, written around the year 850 in the ecclesiastical province of Reims. The Quadripartita is a manual of canon and penitential law. Even well into the century the Quadripartita was being copied by scribes. This work should not be confused with the early twelfth-century Latin translation of Old English law known as the Quadripartitus, through the Middle Ages the private penitential system became an increasingly elaborate and ritualized institution. These short lists of sins made up a genre of texts known as the penitential handbook and their popularity was rivalled only by their variety, as the number of manuals in circulation grew, so did the discrepancies between them. This gave rise during the ninth century to a backlash against the diversity of penitentials. During the Carolingian period there evolved two different yet overlapping contexts in which the penitentials were used, the first of these was the pastoral context of confession between priest and parishioner. By the ninth century, chapters from penitential manuals had entered many of the canon law collections then being copied and compiled on the Continent. Since at least the fifth and sixth centuries, canon law collections could boast of being repositories of the ancient and authoritative conciliar and papal judgements of the Christian church. As such, these collections had at first stood in stark contrast to the early penitentials, whose lists of sins, in time, however, the genres of collectio and penitential blended together. The collections began to more like penitentials, even as penitentials everywhere were beginning to take on characteristics of the more formal collectiones. Problems of textual stability and genre were further exacerbated by the fact no one code or collection of canon law claimed status as the recognized standard. It was in context of fluctuating generic and textual boundaries in France that the Quadripartita developed. Books 3 and 4 are significantly longer than books 1 and 2, there are nine extant manuscripts which contain the Quadripartita, dating from as early as the ninth century to as late as the twelfth, ranging geographically from Italy to England. The sigla given below are those introduced by Michael Elliot, of the nine manuscripts extant today which contain the Quadripartita six contain the collection without its full complement of four books. One can see from the evidence that some copies circulated without Book 1, some without Book 3. More often than not, however, the entire four-book collection seems to have been transmitted intact, some copies transmitted only Book 4, which could sometimes be found tacked onto the end of the Collectio Dacheriana. The Quadripartita is now understood to be an anonymous work, however, since the seventh century the Quadripartita has been attributed variously to Hrabanus Maurus, Ecgberht of York and Halitgar of Cambrai
Catholicism portal
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Acta Sanctæ Sedis". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "
