Congregation for the Clergy

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The Sacred Congregation for the Clergy (Congregatio pro Clericis) is the congregation of the Roman Curia responsible for overseeing matters regarding priests and deacons not belonging to religious orders. The Congregation for the Clergy handles requests for dispensation from active priestly ministry, as well as the legislation governing presbyteral councils and other organisations of priests around the world. The Congregation does not deal with clerical sexual abuse cases, as those are handled exclusively by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The Prefect is currently Cardinal Mauro Piacenza. The Secretary is Archbishop Celso Morga Iruzubieta. The Undersecretary is Monsignor Antonio Neri.

History

It was first set up as the Sacra Congregatio Cardinalium pro executione et interpretatione concilii Tridentini interpretum by pope Pius IV in the apostolic constitution Alias Nos of August 2, 1564 to oversee the proper application and observation of the disciplinary decrees of the Council of Trent throughout the Catholic Church. It was commonly known as the Sacred Congregation of the Council. Pope Sixtus V's Apostolic Constitution Immensa of January 22, 1588 expanded the Congregation's functions, entrusting it with the proper interpretation of the canons of the Council of Trent, resolving controversial questions relating to it and monitoring provincial councils. It later lost many of its powers, retaining only those relating to disciplining secular clergy, but still held onto its original name prior to Pope Paul VI's apostolic constitution Regimini Ecclesiae Universae of December 31, 1967, which renamed it the 'Congregation for the Clergy'.

Prefects

Sacred Congregation of the Council

• Carlo Borromeo (1564–1565)
• Francesco Alciati (1565–1580)
• Filippo Boncompagni (1580–1586)
• Antonio Carafa (1586–1591)
• Girolamo Mattei (1591–1603)
• Paolo Emilio Zacchia (1604–1605)
• Francesco Maria Bourbon del Monte Santa Maria (1606–1616)
• Orazio Lancellotti (1616–1620)
• Roberto Ubaldini (1621–1623)
• Cosimo de Torres (1623–1626)
• Bonifazio Bevilacqua Aldobrandini (1626–1627)
• Fabrizio Verospi (1627–1639)
• Giambattista Pamphilj (1639–1644)
• Francesco Cennini de' Salamandri (1644–1645)
• Pier Luigi Carafa (1645–1655)
• Francesco Paolucci (1657–1661)
• Giulio Cesare Sacchetti (1661–1663)
• Angelo Celsi (1664–1671)
• Paluzzo Paluzzi Altieri degli Albertoni (1671–1672)
• Vincenzo Maria Orsini di Gravina, O.P. (1673–1675)
• Federico Baldeschi Colonna (1675–1691)
• Galeazzo Marescotti (1692–1695)
• Giuseppe Sacripante (1696–1700)
• Bandino Panciatichi (1700–1718)
• Pier Marcellino Corradini (1718–1721)
• Curzio Origo (1721–1737)
• Antonio Saverio Gentili (1737–1753)
• Mario Millini (1753–1756)
• Giovanni Giacomo Millo (1756–1757)
• Clemente Argenvilliers (1757–1758)
• Ferdinando Maria de' Rossi (1759–1775)
• Carlo Vittorio Amedeo Delle Lanze (1775–1784)
• Guglielmo Pallotta (1785–1795)
• Tommaso Antici (1795–1798)
• Filippo Carandini (1800–1810)
• Giulio Gabrielli (1814–1820)
• Emmanuele De Gregorio (1820–1834)
• Vincenzo Macchi (1834–1841)
• Paolo Polidori (1841–1847)
• Pietro Ostini (1847–1849)
• Angelo Mai (1851–1853)
• Antonio Maria Cagiano de Azevedo (1853–1860)
• Prospero Caterini (1860–1881)
• Lorenzo Nina (1881–1885)
• Luigi Serafini (1885–1893)
• Angelo Di Pietro (1893–1902)
• Vincenzo Vannutelli (1902–1908)
• Casimiro Gennari (1908–1914)
• Francesco di Paola Cassetta (1914–1919)
• Donato Raffaele Sbarretti Tazza (1919–1930)
• Giulio Serafini (1930–1938)
• Luigi Maglione (1938–1939)
• Francesco Marmaggi (1939–1949)
• Giuseppe Bruno (1949–1954)
• Pietro Ciriaci (1954–1966)

Congregation for the Clergy

• Jean-Marie Villot (1967–1969)
• John Joseph Wright (1969–1979)
• Silvio Oddi (1979–1986)
• Antonio Innocenti (1986–1991)
• José Tomás Sánchez (1991–1996)
• Darío Castrillón Hoyos (pro-prefect 1996–1998, prefect 1998–2006)
• Cláudio Hummes (2006–2010)
• Mauro Piacenza (prefect 2010-)

Documents

• General Directory for Catechesis
• Directory for the Life and Ministry of Priests

References

• "Congregation for the Clergy". The Roman Curia. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/documents/rc_con_cclergy_pro_31051999_en.html. Retrieved May 8, 2005. 
• "Pastor Bonus". John Paul II: Apostolic Constitutions. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_19880628_pastor-bonus-index_en.html. Retrieved May 8, 2005. 

External links

• Giga-Catholic Information