3 The Vatican Power

But the diplomatic machinery of the Vatican would be of little value if the Pope had to rely upon it alone. What gives the Vatican its tremendous power is not its diplomacy as such, but the fact that behind its diplomacy stands the Church, with all its manifold world-embracing activities.

The Vatican as a diplomatic centre is but one aspect of the Catholic Church. Vatican diplomacy is so influential and can exert such great power in the diplomatic-political field because it has at its disposal the tremendous machinery of a spiritual organization with ramifications in every country of the planet. In other words, the Vatican, as a political power, employs the Catholic Church as a religious institution to assist the attainment of its goals. These goals in turn, are sought mainly to further the spiritual interests of the Catholic Church.

The double role of the members of the Catholic Hierarchy automatically reacts upon those innumerable religious, cultural, social, and finally political, organizations connected with the Catholic Church, which, although tied to the Church primarily on religious grounds, can at given moments be made either directly or indirectly to serve political ends. Because of the great importance of the religious machinery of the Catholic Church to the political structure, it is essential that we should examine its hierarchial administrative- religious form, how it is made to function, who are its rulers, what various organizations it comprises, in what fields they exert their influence, and last, but not least, with what spirit it is imbued and how it deals with important issues affecting our contemporary society.

The Catholic Church is a tremendous organization with world-wide ramifications, and so it needs some form of central machinery, independent of its nature or immediate and final purpose, to enable it to centralize and co-ordinate its multifarious activities. This central machinery is housed almost entirely in the precincts of the Vatican, and its various components form the Government of the Catholic Church.

The executive of the Catholic Church is, roughly speaking, divided into three: the Secretary of State, the College of Cardinals, and the Congregations. But all are unconditionally subordinated to and dependent upon the absolute will of the pivot on which the whole Catholic Church, whether as a religious institution or as a political power, revolves―the Pope. He is the absolute Head in religious, moral, ethical, administrative, diplomatic, and political matters; he is the only source of power; his decisions must be carried out, for in the Catholic Church and the Vatican his will is law; he is the last absolute monarch in the world, the power of no political dictator being comparable to the unlimited power of the Pope in all matters. He need account to no human being for his actions, his only judge being God.

Second to the Pope is the Secretary of State, who has jurisdiction in the administration of the Catholic Church. The Secretary of State of the Vatican would correspond in the modern civil Government to a combination of the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. His department is the most important and powerful in all the Vatican administration, and all other departments, even if purely religious, must submit to the decisions of the Secretary of State. He can exert a personal influence possessed by no other member of the Church. He is responsible in the Curia to no one but the Pope.

The Secretary of State is the political Head of the Vatican. It is through him that the Pope carries out his political activities throughout the world. Because of his important role he is in the closest contact with the Pope, whom he sees at least every morning and very often several times a day, to discuss and decide on all questions connected with the activities of the Vatican as a political power.

Every week the Cardinal Secretary of State receives all the representatives accredited to the Holy See and interviews everyone who comes to the Vatican to give information. He is responsible for every letter sent out, for the appointment of every nuncio. Officials of the Curia are appointed on his recommendation. The Pope is very dependent on his Secretary of State, and no one is so closely identified with his absolute power.

In the diplomatic and administrative Government of the Vatican the Secretary of State has three main departments.

The first is the Congregation of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, by which all important political and diplomatic matters are settled. It is a committee of cardinals, and its status can be compared with that of a Cabinet in a modern Government.

The second is the Secretary of Ordinary Affairs, or “II Sostituto, ” as he is sometimes called. He deals, as an Under-Secretary of State, with matters relating to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Vatican, current political events, the dispatch of Vatican agents. Like many other nations, the Vatican has a code department, and a special section of this second department is engaged in the preparation and examination of dossiers, the examination of claims for decorations, medals, titles, etc. At the outbreak of the Second World War this work required the full-time attention of no less than six editors, ten stenographers, and seven archivists.

The third is the Chancellery of Briefs, the old Secretariat of Briefs which was absorbed into the Department of State in 1908, the Secretariat of Briefs to Princes, and the Secretariat of Latin Letters. A Brief is commonly used to confer an honor or to announce special tax.”Briefs to Princes” to-day are Briefs to kings, presidents, premiers, and even bishops and persons of minor importance. When not dealing with religious, but with diplomatic or political matters, a Brief is but a sheet of paper carried by the nuncio or by an envoy. It carries the signature of the Pope. The task of the Secretariat of Latin Letters is to correct the Pope’s missives―i. e. encyclicals.

The office of the Secretary of State dates from the Renaissance. In an illuminating document, written in 1602 by Pope Sixtus V, the qualities necessary for a Secretary of State are enumerated:

The Prime Minister of the Vatican must know everything. He must have read everything, understood everything, but he must say nothing. He must know even the pieces played in the theatre, because of the documentation they contain of distant lands. [sic]

The origin of the Secretariat is to be traced to the “Camera secreta” of the Popes of the Middle Ages, who already often had most delicate diplomatic relations with the various Powers. Their special correspondence was written as well as expedited by notaries equivalent to the members of a Cabinet in a modern European Government. Such correspondence was not given the publicity of “Bills, ” but was known only to the “Camera secreta.”

In the fifteenth century this “Camera secreta” became an indispensable instrument of the Pope. The Briefs became a model of diplomacy. A new functionary, the “Secretarius Domesticus, ” was responsible for them.

Leo X divided the work between the “Secretarius Domesticus, ” whose task became the framing of official communications, and “il Segretario del Papa, ” the Pope’s private secretary, whose work was essentially political and who was charged with instructions to the Pope’s political agents throughout Europe, the nuncios. Originally, this secretary had little influence, but with the passing of years he became all-powerful. According to the Constitution of Pius IX, in 1847, before the disappearance of the Papal State, the Secretary was “a real premier.” With the creation of the New Vatican State the importance of the role of the Secretary of State increased enormously, and, as already said, his influence throughout the Curia, and indeed throughout the whole Catholic world, became second only to that of the Pope himself.

The Sacred College of Cardinals comes next in importance to the Secretariat of State in the diplomatic-political sphere, but before it in the purely religious field. That does not mean, of course, that the cardinals, the main pillars of the Catholic Church as a religious institution, are unimportant in the direction of diplomatic and political matters. Far from it―they are responsible instruments of the first magnitude in the shaping and execution of the general policy of the Vatican.

The primary function of the members of the Sacred College of Cardinals is to act as a type of Privy Council to the Pope. The cardinalate comes down directly from the ecclesiastical organization of ancient Rome; the Holy See gave the title of cardinals to the canons of its churches (the word is derived from cardo, meaning pivot or hinge). To this day the cardinals are, in fact, what their name implies.

During the Middle Ages, Papal nominations were subjected to the approval of the Sacred College. But this procedure brought serious embarrassment to the Church, and in 1517 Julius II abolished it. Since that date all promotions, nominations, etc. depend on the absolute will of the Pope.

The cardinals have their titular Church in Rome. They are “Princes of the Church” and, to-day, still deal with the few kings that remain on a footing of equality, as their “dear cousins.” Even republics like the French reserve for cardinals a place above that of ambassadors, and in international etiquette they still retain their position of princes of the blood.

The cardinals have played very important political roles in the past, and continue to do so. In modern times they have produced significant reactions from various Catholic and non-Catholic nations which regard with great interest their “representation” in the Sacred College, knowing the power and influence the cardinals exert on the attitude of the Church towards religious, diplomatic, and political problems in all countries of the world.

Members of the Sacred College of Cardinals cannot exceed seventy in number. They are divided into two: those cardinals who direct Catholic affairs in their local metropolitan areas, and those who are settled in Rome and whose task is that of advising the Pope. As we have already seen, the most important cardinal is the Secretary of State.

Up to the outbreak of the Second World War there were two main difficulties which a nation had to overcome before one of its nationals could receive the “red cap.” One was the tradition that the number of cardinals must not exceed 70; the other was the tradition that the majority should be Italians. The second custom, however, is being gradually discarded. In 1846, for instance, there were only 8 non-Italian cardinals, but Pius IX, in his 32years reign, created 183 cardinals, of whom 51 were foreigners, and in 1878 there were 25 living non-Italian cardinals. In 1903 the number remained unchanged, with 1 American and 29 Italians. In 1914 there were 32 Italians and 25 foreigners, 3 of whom were American. In 1915 there were 29 Italians and 31 foreigners. In January 1930 they were distributed thus:

Austria……………………..2
Hungary…………………..1
Belgium………………………1
Ireland………………………..1
Brazil……………………….1
Italy…………………………….29
Canada……………………….1
Portugal……………………….1
England……………………….1
Spain…………………………..5
France………………………..7
U. S. A…………………………..4
Germany……………………….4
Poland……………………………2
Holland……………………….1
Czechoslovakia…………….1

In 1939 there were 32 Italian and 32 foreign cardinals, of whom four came from the United States of America.

With the dawn of peace (1945) Pope Pius XII continued along the course his predecessors had undertaken, and in February 1946 he took the unprecedented step of creating 32 new cardinals at a single ceremony, the largest nomination of this kind that Rome had seen for well over three hundred years. Of these, significantly enough, only 4 were Italians. Of the remainder, 3 were German, 3 French, 3 Spanish, 1 Armenian, 1 English, 1 Cuban, 1 Hungarian, 1 Dutch, 1 Polish, 1 Chinese, 1 Australian, 1 Canadian, 4 North American, and the remaining 6 Latin-American. It was the first time that the Church had invested a Chinese with the robes of a cardinal (Bishop Tien, Vicar Apostolic of Tsing Tao), and the first time it had conferred such an honor on an Australian (Archbishop Gilroy, of Sydney). But in addition to the breaking of the unwritten rule (a preponderant number of Italians), and to the bringing into the Curia of the first Australian and the first Chinese, Pius XII made another ominous move: the creation of a number of cardinals whose main purpose was obviously to strengthen the influence of the Church in the Anglo-Saxon countries (4 in the United States of America, 1 in Britain, 1 in Canada, and 1 in Australia), while the appointment of 4 cardinals in the United States of America and 6 in South America showed unmistakably that the Church was more determined than ever to spread its hold over the American continent.

In addition to acting as the electors of new Popes, and as Councillors to the Holy See, the cardinals are in theory and in practice the absolute rulers of the Churches in their charge in the various countries of the world, having only one authority above them whom they must blindly obey in furthering the welfare of the universal Catholic Church―the Pope.

They owe him blind obedience, not only in religious, but, when necessary, in social and political matters as well, and although in theory they may pursue a quasi-independent line in political issues, in reality they must obey the Pope through his Secretary of State, who is himself a cardinal.

And so the cardinals, as well as forming the foundations on which the Catholic Hierarchy is erected, are also the pillars of the Catholic Church as a political institution. Whether posted in the various countries of the world (as a rule as primates) or resident at the Vatican, where they usually are heads or members of the various Ministries, they are the religious, administrative, and political pillars of the Catholic Church.

The activities of the Catholic Church are many and invade numerous spheres. It has been necessary, therefore, as with any other great administration, to separate them into individual yet co-ordinated departments, which the Vatican calls Congregations. Hence the word “Congregation, ” in this sense, must not be confused with its ordinary meaning of the members of a church. In this case the Congregations are the equivalent of the Ministries of an ordinary civil Government.

The Roman Congregations came into being about the sixteenth century, after the Reformation, when the Catholic Church, to resist its enemies, had to reorganize itself on more up-to-date lines. Ever since, the Roman Congregations have worked for the Pope in all his delicate activities. They are the central and administrative power of the Catholic Church, and in certain respects do not differ a great deal from the machinery of a modern State, with its various administrative branches of government. In the same way as any Ministry in a civil Government is headed by a Minister, each Roman Congregation has at its head a prefect. This prefect is a cardinal appointed by the Pope, or in some cases the Pope himself acts as prefect. In addition to the Cardinal Prefect, the Pope often appoints other cardinals to direct the officials and employees, who are usually ecclesiastics, but in some cases laymen of distinction.

It would be useful to examine briefly the history and purpose of the Ministerial Departments of the Catholic Church, for each has a set task to perform and deals with specific matters which, very often, affect millions of Catholics all over the world. It is often through the work of these Ministries that the Catholic Church exerts influence and pressure on its members. Most of the Congregations are of an essentially religious character, but for that very reason they are powerful factors which the Catholic Church does not hesitate to employ in order to bring religious and moral pressure on the individual Catholic and on collective sections of the Catholic populations of the world.

The Central Government of the Catholic Church is divided into three main groups, each closely related to the others, and under one direction. They are: the Sacred Congregations, the Tribunals, and the Offices. We shall glance at each one, contenting ourselves with barely mentioning some of the, but studying in more detail those which are closely related to that aspect of the Catholic Church which is being studied in this book. We shall start with the less important.

CONGREGATIONS

1. Congregation for the Affairs of the Religious This congregation, founded in 1586, looked after the Religious Orders (not to be confounded with the body dealing with the fabric of St. Peter).

2. Ceremonial Congregation Deals with the etiquette of the Pontifical Court. The prefect is the Dean of the Sacred College.

3. Congregation of the Sacred Rites Created by Sixtus V, it is in charge of beatifications and canonizations. 4. Congregation on the Discipline of the Sacraments Dates from 1908. It deals with matters connected with sacramentary discipline, with particular regard to marriage. The Regulations of this Congregation deal with the annulment of marriage and similar matters affecting Catholic laymen. 5. Congregation of Seminaries, Universities, and Studies Created in 1588 as the Sacred Congregation of Studies, and given its present title in 1915. Its original task was to supervise teaching in the Papal States; then its supervision extended to the Catholic universities, including those in Austria, France, Italy, etc. As it stands now, it controls all the superior teaching institutions whose Heads are Catholic.

6. Congregation of Eastern Church The various Churches in the Near and Far East involve a great deal of work; hence this Department was created in 1917. Until then it was part of the Propaganda Fide. It is headed by the Pope himself. Certain Churches in the Near East pursue a ritual different from but allied to the ritual of the Roman Catholic Church. These are the Greek, Russian, Rumanian, and Armenian Churches. It may be of interest to note, for instance, that while the Greco-Rumanian Church has more than 1,000,000 members, the Greek-Ruthenian Maronites, whose rites and prayers are a mixture of Syrian and Arabic. The Greek Melachites, whose rites are in Arabic and ceremonies in Greek, number more than 100,000. Over 100,000 Armenians are scattered between Hungary and Persia, whereas in Persia, Kurdistan, and Iraq (Mesopotamia) there are 40,000 Syro-Chaldeans. In Egypt there are over 10,000 followers of the Coptic rites, and in Abyssinia the Ethiopians number about 30,000. Even in Hindustan there are about 200,000 Catholics following the Syrian rites of Malabar. Furthermore, there are the pure Syrian, the pure Greeks, and the Greco-Bulgarian, etc.

7. Congregation of the Council Originally consisted of eight cardinals, charged with the direction of the Council of Trent. To-day the Council no longer exists, but the Congregation deals chiefly with the discipline of the clergy throughout the world and the revision of Councils. It may be compared to a large Ministry of the Interior.

8. The Consistorial Congregation This Congregation has many affinities with the Holy Office in its modern version. It has the same Head, namely the Pope, and the same duty of complete secrecy for the cardinals and others employed in it. Founded in 1588 and reorganized at the beginning of this century. Besides preparing the consistories, its main task is the nomination of bishops all over the world, and the creation and maintenance of dioceses (e. g. provinces or counties of the Catholic Church). It is a kind of Personnel Department. From it emanate all the disciplinary measures that the Catholic Church deems necessary to control its clergy in all countries. For instance, the punishment of priests for transgressing their duties or for associating themselves with institutions or persons hostile to the Catholic Church, or political parties of which the Catholic Church disapproves. In dealing with the policy of the Vatican in the various countries we shall come across many such examples. At this stage suffice it to quote the case of the Vatican prohibition (non expedire) passed in 1929 against all those American priests who wanted to join or had joined the Rotary Club, the reason being that the Club was under the predominant influence of Freemasons and politicians. This Congregation might be likened to an Ecclesiastical “Scotland Yard.”

9. Congregation of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs As we already have had occasion to see, when dealing with the Secretary of State, this Congregation is one of the most important in the Vatican. Certainly it is the most important in the Vatican as a political centre. It is the department by which the policy of the Vatican is conceived, examined, and carried out, and was created by Pius IV, in 1793, with the primary purpose of regulating ecclesiastical affairs in France. Later, in 1814, Pius VII assigned to it the right to examine and judge all affairs submitted to the Holy See. This Congregation deals with all the Vatican’s problems of an ecclesiastical and, above all, political nature. It examines the diplomatic relations of the Vatican and with other States, political parties, etc, and negotiates those very important religious and political treaties peculiar to Vatican diplomacy―the Concordats. Its prefect is the Cardinal Secretary of State.

10. Congregation of the Holy Office (once more popularly known as the Inquisition)

The Inquisition is an ecclesiastical tribunal charged with the “discovery, punishment, and prevention of heresy.” It was first instituted in Southern France by Pope Gregory IX, in 1229, and was based on the principle that “truth has rights whose demands must be upheld and promoted in the interests of secular no less than ecclesiastical justice. Error has no right and must be abandoned or uprooted” (Catholic Encyclopedia).

The Inquisition was created originally with the purpose of working the complete annihilation of the Albigensians, and was the beginning of a series of similar massacres of heretics throughout the Middle Ages. It was rightly feared throughout Christendom for its ferocity against all suspected of heresy―namely, all who doubted the dogmas of the Catholic Church, those who dared to question its authority or truth, or those who dared to rebel against the authority of the Pope.

The institution reached perfection with the Spanish Inquisition set up by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in 1478, with the authority of Pope Sixtus IV. Its object was to proceed against lapsed converts from Judaism (Maranos), crypto-Jews, and other apostates. It was extended to the Christian Moors (Moriscos) who were in danger of apostasy. It established itself in Spanish America, and from about 1550 until the seventeenth century it kept Spain clear of Protestantism.

The Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office was erected in 1542 as a continuation and supersession of the Universal Roman Inquisition, and since 1917 it has taken over the work of the suppressed Congregation of the Index. Its business is the protection of faith and morals, the judging of heresy, dogmatic teaching (e. g. against indulgences or to stress impediments to marriage of Catholics and non-Catholics), the examination and prohibition of books dangerous to the faith or otherwise pernicious. The prefect of this Congregation is the Pope himself, who presides in person when decisions of importance are announced.

The Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office, according to the canonist, was the highest authority in the Roman Curia, and had the unique privilege of making doctrinal decisions on matters related to dogma and morals. Very often the Pope took judicial responsibility for its decisions, imposing his own authority on the actions of the Congregation.

Has the Catholic Church discarded the theory and practice of the Holy Office? We wish we could answer in the affirmative, but that is not the case. It still holds the theory that “truth has rights, whose demands must be upheld and promoted in the interests of secular no less than ecclesiastical justice, ” and by truth the Catholic Church means its own truth, for “outside the Catholic Church there is not and cannot be any truth.”

In theory the Catholic Church maintains the same spirit as the Holy Office of former times. In practice it cannot do what it used to, not so much because it has changed, but because the world and society have changed and will not allow her to act as in the past.

That the Catholic Church has not discarded its claims as embodied in the Holy Office is proved by the fact that even in this our twentieth century it still attempts to make such claims felt wherever it can. Of course, that is possible only where the modern State has submitted entirely to the Catholic Church. But there the Catholic Church has come into the open with the spirit of the Inquisition, even if in a mild form. That spirit has, in fact, shown itself in the two model Catholic States: Salazar’s Portugal and, above all, Franco’s Spain, where people were sent to jail for the criminal offense of refusing to attend Mass on Sundays, and where Protestantism was systematically persecuted, in many cases Protestant pastors being sent to prison and even shot (see the Catholic paper, The Universe, of January 1945).

Another typical instance of the spirit by which the Holy Office is still moved occurred after the First World War, when it published (in 1920) a letter addressed to all Italian bishops, asking them “to watch an organization which…. instills indifference and apostasy to the Catholic Religion.”

This referred to the Young Men’s Christian Association, which, during and after the war, had tried to help the morale of the Italian people by numerous philanthropic activities throughout the country. The Vatican, after having on many occasions discouraged it, stated that the organization was but a centre for Italian and American Protestantism, and a menace to Catholicism, whilst in reality all that the Y. M. C. A. did was to sell cigarettes and chocolate and arrange theatricals, lectures, etc. for soldiers.

Many people, especially in America, could not believe that the Vatican was against this organization until, in February 1921, the Secretary of State (who was also Head of the Holy Office) made public a letter forbidding any Catholic to be in touch with the Y. M. C. A. The letter began: “The most Eminent and Reverend Cardinals, who are, like the writer whose name is subjoined, inquisitors-general in matters of faith and morals, desire that the Ordinaries should pay vigilant attention to the manner in which certain new non-Catholic associations, by the aid of their members of every nationality, have been accustomed now and for some time to lay snares for the Faithful, especially the young folk.

“They provide in abundance facilities of every kind, but in point of fact corrupt the integrity of the Catholic Faith and snatch away children from the Church their Mother.

“On the pretence of bringing light to young folk, they turn them away from the teaching of the Church established by God, and incite them to seek severance from their own conscience and within the narrow circuit of human reason the light which should guide them…

“Among these societies…. it will suffice to mention that which disposes of most considerable means: we mean the society called the Young Men’s

Christian Association.

“All of you have received from Heaven the special mandate to govern the flock of the Master are implored by this Congregation to employ all your zeal in preserving your young folk from the contagion of every society of this kind…

“Put the imprudent on their guard and strengthen the souls of those whose Faith is vacillating… The Sacred Congregation asks that in each region an official act of the Hierarchy declare duly forbidden all the daily organs, periodicals, and other publications of these societies of which the pernicious character is manifest, with a view of sowing in the souls of Catholics the errors of rationalism and religious indifferentism…” (November 5, 1920, R. Cardinal Merry Del Val, Secretary).

This prohibition was still being enforced on all good Catholics during the Second World War, and the Vatican has done its best to discourage Catholic soldiers and civilians from having anything to do with that particular society or any other of its kind. Such typical action of this Congregation, in the twentieth century, needs no comment. It only proves the accuracy of our contention that the Catholic Church has not changed the spirit which made it set up the Inquisition in the Middle Ages, and that only our times prevent it from using more drastic measures to enforce its will on modern society.

The Holy Office, no longer having much scope for exerting its spirit in the modern world, was recently amalgamated with the Congregation of the Index, with which we shall deal presently.

TRIBUNALS

1. The Sacred Roman Rota The Roman Rota is the tribunal by which all cases relating to the Catholic Hierarchy and requiring judicial procedure with trial, civil as well as criminal, are attended to the Roman Curia. The Roman Rota is also known to millions as the Tribunal of the Catholic Church which occasionally annuls marriages. It has dealt with famous historical names, and its decisions have had far-reaching religious, social, and political consequences. Suffice it to mention such names as those of Henry VIII, the Borgias, and Napoleon.

The procedure that must be followed by a Catholic seeking to annul his marriage is as follows: The case is heard at the diocesan court. An official, the “defensor vinculi, ” sustains the validity of the marriage. The bishop can declare the nullity, according to Canon Law, if there is proof that one of the parties to the marriage was not baptized or was in holy orders, or was bound by the vows of chastity, or had another husband (or spouse) living, or that the couple were so closely related that marriage was prohibited. If the “defensor, ” or the parties seeking annulment of their marriage, are dissatisfied, they can appeal to the Roman Rota.

The cases brought before the Rota, however, are very few, and those that are successful still fewer. During the decade 1920-30 the 350,000,000 Catholics took to the Rota only 442 cases, of which 95 were appeals against previous unsuccessful. In 1945, of 80 applications for decrees of nullity of marriage considered, 35 were granted.

2. The Apostolic Segnatura This is the Supreme Court of the Catholic Church. The Tribunal dates from the fifteenth century and derives its name from the fact that the prelates charged with examining all sorts of petitions had to submit their replies for Pontifical signature. After the abolition of the temporal Power of the Catholic Church it was closed. But Pius X reinstated it, and, in its modern form, its special task is to deal with matrimonial affairs. This Supreme Court is composed of six cardinals.

3. The Sacred Penitentiara (and the granting of Indulgences) The necessity for creating an authority which would deal with the demands coming from all parts of the world for absolution from certain crimes because more and more pressing, and so the Sacred Penitentiary was formed. It dates from 1130, when Pope Innocent II reserved for himself “absolution for crimes of percussion against clergy, wherever they are committed.” To-day this Tribunal is headed by a cardinal who has a life appointment, and one of whose tasks is that of giving absolution of the Pope on his death-bed.

One of the Tribunal’s most curious functions is that dealing with confessions and the granting of indulgences.

It is practiced in three churches—namely St. Peter, St. John Lateran, and Santa Maria Maggiore. Each of these three churches has a confessional, provided with a very long rod.

“The priests who occupy these confessionals are part of the Tribunal of the Penitentiary. They are, in fact, the “penitentiaries” properly called, who visit the three basilicas and who, on finding the kneeling pilgrim in a state of grace, reach out the long rod from the confessional as a sign of clemency, touch the kneeler’s head, raise him, and grant him an indulgence” (see The Vatican, Seldes).

What is an indulgence? “The remission before God of the punishment due to those sins of which the guilt has been forgiven, either in the sacrament of Penance or because of an act of perfect contrition, granted by the competent ecclesiastical authority, out of the Treasury of the Catholic Church, to the living by way of absolution, to the dead by way of suffrage” (Catholic Encyclopedia).

Indulgences are either plenary or partial. Partial indulgence remits a part of the punishment due for sin, at any given moment; the proportion being e pressed in terms of time (e. g. thirty days, seven years, etc.) Indulgences attached to prayers are lost by any addition, omission, or alteration. It is absolutely essential to the gaining of an indulgence, however small, that the sinner should be in a state of grace.

It is easy to imagine the hold that the Catholic Church is thus able to exercise on the individual Catholic by this system of granting a kind of spiritual insurance policy for the next life. We, here, have not the right to discuss the system of indulgences from a religious or theological point of view, but draw attention of their existence to show what a very powerful weapon they are in enabling the Catholic Church to exercise authority over its members. This spiritual pressure is even stronger when one considers that, in addition to the various indulgences acquired merely through prayer and other acts of devotion, the Hierarchy of the Catholic Church can also grant indulgences according to their judgment. Thus bishops, cardinals, and Popes can grant them to the Faithful.

Of course, the Pope is the Supreme giver. To the Pope alone, “by divine Authority, is committed the dispensation of the whole treasury of the Catholic Church.” Inferior authorities in the Catholic Church can grant only those indulgences specified in Canon Law; cardinals may grant 200 days, archbishops 100 days, bishops 50 days. No one may apply indulgences to other living persons, but all Papal indulgences may be applied to the souls in Purgatory, unless otherwise stated.

Apostolic indulgences can be plenary or partial when blessed by the Pope personally or by his delegates. The indulgence can be gained only by the first person to whom the blessed object is given, and depends upon the saying of certain prayers.

Through this spiritual instrument, not only does the Catholic Church, as such, gain great authority over the Faithful, but it is able, by claiming to relieve punishment in the next world, to exert great pressure upon the religious and moral standards of its members, while at the same time enhancing the spiritual authority of the Pope.