Catholic Church. Congregatio Sacrorum Rituum

This congregation was established by Sixtus V as the Congregatio pro Sacris Ritibus et Caeremoniis (constitution Immensa aeterni Dei, Jan. 22, 1588). According to some authors, it absorbed a cardinalatial commission formed by Gregory XIII, as early as 1572, to reform the ceremonies of the papal chapel. Although the principal task of the new congregation was to attend to the moderation of the Latin liturgy "in all the churches of Rome and throughout the world," the bulk of its work was devoted to the causes of saints, including relics.

Lack of documentation leaves it unclear just when the Congregation for Rites and Ceremonies was divided into two distinct and autonomous congregations, but some authorities state that it was probably about 1601. Clement VIII decreed that the Congregation of Ceremonies (ID VATV018-A) be a separate department, taking with it the functions for civil ceremonies and those for the papal chapel.

With the foundation of the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide (ID VATV016-A) by Gregory XV in 1622, all liturgical questions concerning the Easterm church were transferred to this congregation and remained there until the establishment of the Congregation for the Oriental Church in 1917 (ID VATV416-A). Clement IX (motu proprio In ipsis pontificatus, 6 Jul 1669) transferred all matters relevant to the veneration and preservation of relics to the newly instituted Congregatio Indulgentiis Sacrisque Reliquiis Praepositae (ID VATV462-A). With the suppression of this congregation in 1904 its duties were transferred back to the Congregation of Rites (motu proprio Quae in Ecclesiae, 28 Jan 1904).

Although the original scope of the Congregation of Rites was restricted to issues regarding liturgy and to the process of canonization, its faculties were gradually extended. Liturgical matters were still the exclusive perogative of the congregation. However, the congregation came to possess other functions mostly in conjunction with the Congregation of Bishops and Regulars and the Congregation of the Council. On September 3, 1903, Pius X (Acta Sanctae Sedis 36:412-413) published a list of 142 responsibilities assigned to the Congregation of Rites. Many of these were later transferred to the Congregation of the Sacraments.

In the course of time three commissions were set up to assist the congregation in its work. Leo XIII added two: 1) the Liturgical Commission (1891), to codify past decrees and to advise the congregation on liturgical questions; and 2) the Historico-Liturgical Commission (1902), to settle historical questions, with special reference to the eventual reform of liturgical books. In 1904 Pius X added a third commission for sacred music and chant.

With the curial reform of Pius X (constitution Sapientia consilio, 29 Jun 1908), the Congregation of Rites was restricted in its authority to matters directly related to the rites and ceremonies of the Latin Church; this included not only the Roman liturgy but also the non-Roman rites of the West. The document enumerated the congregation's specific duties: to exercise vigilance that the rites and ceremonies be carefully observed in the celebration of Mass and the divine office, in the administration of the sacraments, and in all that pertains to the worship of the Latin Church; to concede suitable dispensations; to grant insignia and privileges that pertain to "sacred rites"; and to handle all questions of beatification and canonization, including relics, as before.

Authority for indulgences, which had been transferred to the congregation along with authority for relics just four years before (1904), was now given to the Congregation of the Holy Office. Questions of precedence and of the discipline of the sacraments, as distinct from the rite of the sacraments, were transferred respectively to the Congregation of the Council and the Congregation of Religious.

With the motu proprio Quanta semper cura (16 Jan 1914) Pius X suppressed the three commissions attached to the Congregation of Rites and set up two sections within the congregation itself, one for beatification and canonization and one for rites.

Pius XI's motu proprio Gia da qualche tempo (Feb. 6, 1930) added a historical section for research necessary for the beatification and canonization processes and for the revision of liturgical books. In 1948 Pius XII established a Pontifical Commission for the General Restoration of the Liturgy and attached it to the congregation. During the Second Vatican Council, however, a consilium separate from the Congregation of Rites was set up and called the Consilium for the Implementation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. This consilium was entrusted with the reform of all the liturgical books of the Roman rite (motu proprio Sacram liturgiam, Jan. 25, 1964).

In 1949 the Congregation of Rites annexed a college of doctors for the scientific study of alleged miracles. Paul VI's apostolic constitution (Regimini Ecclesiae universae, Aug. 15, 1967) established the Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments to moderate the discipline of the seven sacraments in areas not touched by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; the functions of the Congregation of Rites remained intact, but the congregation was divided into two sections: liturgical, handling the rites and ceremonies for the preparation, administration, and reception of the sacraments; and judicial, for the processes of beatification and canonization causes, including those of the Eastern rites, and for sacred relics. Both sections would have available to them the historico-hagiographical office set up in 1930 by Pius XI. The Roman Rota would have authority for cases of marriage nullity.

Just two years later (constitution Sacra Rituum Congregatio, 8 May 1969), Paul VI suppressed the Congregation of Rites as it had been functioning and replaced it with two new congregations, one for each of the sections: a Congregation for Divine Worship and a Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

The Congregatio pro Causis Sanctorum maintains its own archive, which includes records of the Congregation of Rites. The archive is located in Piazza Pio XII 10, 00193 Rome. Though small in comparison to the ASV, it does have holdings from the sixteenth through the twentieth centuries.

To see a general agency history for the Curia Romana, enter "FIN ID VATV214-A"

From the description of Agency history record. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 145567103