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secretary of the cipher, and some clerks and subaltern
officials. Now, however, there have been amalga-
mated with it certain other offices which were formerly
independent. The Secretariate of State, therefore, is
at present divided into three sections, the first of which
deals with certain extraordinary ecclesiastical affairs,
the second with ordinary affairs, including grants of
honours, titles, and decorations by the Holy See other-
wise than through the majordomo, the third with the
expediting of pontifical Briefs.
For the work of the first section, see what is said on the subject of the Congregation of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, under Roman Congregations.
The second section deals with the relations of the Holy See with secular princes, whether through Apos- tolic nuncios or legates or through the ambassadors accredited to the Vatican. This section of the office of the secretary of State has charge of the distribution of offices of the Curia, and of the election of the various officers. Through this section titles of nobility — as prince, marquis, count palatine, etc. — are granted and the decorations of the Holy See, which, besides the golden cross pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, instituted by Leo Xin, include such distinctions as the Supreme Order of Christ (or Order of the Militia of Jesus Christ, as it is called by Pius X in his brief of 7 Febru- ary, 1905), the Order of Pius IX, established by that pontiff in 1847, the Order of Saint Gregory the Great, created by Gregory X\T in 1S31; the Order of Saint Sylvester; the Order of the Golden Militia, or of the Golden Spur, restored by Pius X, and the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, of which Pius X has reserved to him- self the supreme inastcrshi]).
As has already been said, the third section of the Secretariate of State is exclusively concerned with the expediting of Briefs.
E. The Secretariate of Briefs to Princes and of Latin Letters. — The Secretariate of Briefs to Princes con- sists of the secretary and two office assistants. The secretary is a prelate whose duty it is to write the pontifical Briefs addressed to emperors, kings, civil princes, or other exalted personages. He also pre- pares the allocutions which the i)ope pronounces at Consistories, and the Encyclicals or Apostolic Letters addressed to the bishops and to the faitliful. All this he does according to the instructions of the pope. He must b(> a proficient Latinist, since Latin is the language in which these documents are written. The secretary for Latin lett(»rs is also a prelatx; or private chamberlain {cameriere segreto), his duties being to write the letters of less solemnity which the sovereign pontiff addresses to different personages. He has an office assistant.
HL Commissions of Cardinals and the Pontif- ical P'amily. — Certain commissions of cardinals which still exist are the Commissions for Biblical Studies, for Historical Studies, for the Administration of the Funds of the Holy See or of the Pcterspence, for the Conservation of the Faith in Rome, and for the Codification of the Canon Law.
In the wider sense of the term, the Curia includes not only the departments already mentioned, but also what is officially known as the Pontifical Family. The chief members of this body are the two palatine cardinals — cardinal dalary and the cardinal secretary of State. Formerly the cardinal datary always lived with the pope; the secretary of State, even now, lives in the Vatican Palace and is the pontiff 's confidential officer. After these follow the palatine prelates: ma- jordomo, the maestro di camera, the master of the Sacred Palace, and the camerieri segreti partecipanti (the private almoner, the secretary of Briefs to Princes, the surrogate for ordinary affairs of the Sec- retariate of State and secretary of the Cipher, the sub- datary, the secretary for Latin Letters, the copyist, the embassy secretary, and the master of the robes), to whom are added, as palatine prelates, the sacristan
and the secretary of Ceremonies. Nearly all these
prelates live in the Vatican. It would be impossible
to refer, here, to each one of them in particular. The
history of their offices is the same for each, connected
with that of the Apostolic Palace, and with the lives
of the popes. (See Maestro di Camera del Papa;
Majordomo.)
The majordomo and maestro di camera are followed in order in the Pontifical Family by the domestic prel- ates of His Holiness. These are divided into colleges, the first of which is the College of the Patriarchs, Archbishops, and Bishops, Assistants to the Pontif- ical Throne; the second is the College of ApostoUc Prothonotaries, active and supernumerary. After these come the Colleges, respectively, of the Prelate Auditors of the Rota, of the Prelate Clerics of the Apostolic Camera, and of the Domestic Prelates, sim- ply so called. Bishops assistants to the Throne {as- sistentes solio ponlificio) are named by a Brief of the Secretariate of State, and in virtue of their office are members of the Pontifical Chapel (Cappella Pontifi- cia); they wear the cappa magna and wait on the pope, assisting him with the book, and holding the candle (bugia). Moreover, they may wear sillc robes — an exclusive privilege of the Pontifical Family, al- though many bishops, in ignorance of this rule, act at variance with it.
For the College of Apostolic Prothonotaries see Prothonotary Apostolic. For the College of Prel- ate Auditors of the Rota see Rota, Sacra Romana. Of the clerics of the Apostolic Camera, enough has already been said in the present article.
The domestic prelates are appointed as a rule by a Motu Proprio of the pope, occasionally at the petition of their bishops, and they enjoy several privileges, among which are the use of the violet dress, which is that of a bishop (without the cross) , the ring, the violet biretta, and the cappa magna. These domestic prel- ates are appointed for life, and retain their dignity at the death of the pope. After them in the Pontifical Family come the camerieri segreti di spada e cappa par- tecipanti, all of whom are laymen, the staff and the higher officers of the Pontifical Noble Guard, the su- pernumerary camerieri segreti or private chamberlains (ecclesiastics), the active and the supernumerary came- rieri di spada e cappa (laymen), the camerieri d'onore in abito paonazzo (ecclesiastics), the camerieri d'onore extra Urbem (ecclesiastics), the camerieri d'onore di spada e cappa, active and supernumerary (laymen), the staff and the higher officers of the Swiss Guard and of the Palatine Guard of Honour, the master of pontifical ceremonies, the private chaplains, the hon- orary private chaplains, the honorary private chaplains extra Urbem, the chierici segreti, the College of Or- dinary Pontifical Chaplains. It would be impossible to refer, here, to each of these ranks in particular. It may be said, however, of the supernumerary camer- ieri segreti that, like the active and the partecipanti camerieri segreti, their office ceases at the death of the pope; while it lasts they have the right to use the vio- let dress, of a cut slightly differing, however, from that of the prelates; on account of which difference, they are called monsignori di rnantellone, while the prelates are called monsignori di mantelletta.
Sestini, II Maestro di Camera (Florence, 1623); Catalanus, De Mayistros. Palalii Apostolici (Rome, 1751); Makini, Memorie iatoriche degli archivi delta S. Sede (Rome, 1825); Rasponi, De Basilica et Patriarchio lateranensi (Rome, 165G); Galletti, Del Primicero delta S. Sede Apostolica e di altri ufficiali maggiori del Sagro Palagio lateranense (Rome, 1776); Galletti, Del vestarario delta S. Romana Chiesa (Rome, 1758); Conti, Origini fasti e privilcgi degli amocati concistoriali (Rome, 1898); Renazi, Notizie storiche degli antichi Vicedomini del Patriarchio lateranense e dei moderni Prefetti del Sagro Palazzo Apostolico ovvero maggiordomi pontefici (Rome, 1787); Cancellieri, Notizie sopra I'anello pescatorio (Rome, 1823); Maubach, D. Kardinale u. ihre Polit. umd. Milled. XIII. Jahrh. (Bonn, 1902); Sagmuller, Geschichte d. Kardinalales (Rome, 1893); Sacchetti, Privilegia protonota- riorum apostolicorum (Cologne, 1689); Andreucci, Tr. de prch- tonolariis apostolicis (Rome, 1742); Riqanti, De protonotariis apostolicis (Rome, 1751); Buonaccorsi, Antichitd del protono-
