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| Dicasterium pro doctrina fidei | |
 Coat of arms of the Holy See | |
 The Palace of the Holy Office | |
| Dicastery overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | July 21, 1542 |
| Preceding agencies |
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| Type | Dicastery |
| Headquarters | Palazzo del Sant'Uffizio, Rome, Italy |
| Dicastery executives |
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The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is a department of the Roman Curia in charge of the religious discipline of the Catholic Church. The Dicastery is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from heresy and is the body responsible for promulgating and defending Catholic doctrine.[1]
This institution was founded by Pope Paul III on 21 July 1542, as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition.[a] It was then renamed in 1908 as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office. In 1965, it became the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF; Latin: Congregatio pro Doctrina Fidei). Since 2022, it is named Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.[b] It is still informally known as the Holy Office (Latin: Sanctum Officium) in many Catholic countries.[2] The sole objective of the dicastery is to "spread sound Catholic doctrine and defend those points of Christian tradition which seem in danger because of new and unacceptable doctrines."[1]
Its headquarters are at the Palace of the Holy Office, just outside Vatican City. The congregation employs an advisory board including cardinals, bishops, priests, lay theologians, and canon lawyers. On 1 July 2023, Francis named Argentine archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández as prefect, who took possession of the office in mid-September.[3]
History
On 21 July 1542, Pope Paul III proclaimed the Apostolic Constitution Licet ab initio, establishing the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition, staffed by cardinals and other officials whose task it was "to maintain and defend the integrity of the faith and to examine and proscribe errors and false doctrines." It served as the final court of appeal in trials of heresy and served as an important part of the Counter-Reformation.
This body was renamed the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office in 1908 by Pope Pius X. In many Catholic countries, the body is often informally called the Holy Office (e.g., Italian: Sant'Uffizio and Spanish: Santo Oficio).
The congregation's name was changed to Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (SCDF) on 7 December 1965, at the end of the Second Vatican Council. Soon after the 1983 Code of Canon Law came into effect, the adjective "sacred" was dropped from the names of all Curial Congregations,[c] and so it became the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In 2022, the name was changed to Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Timeline
| 1542 | Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition is established[1] |
| 1622 | Pope Gregory XV writes a letter addressing the issue of priests abusing the confessional to solicit "shameful and dishonorable conduct". The letter is referenced in Sacramentum Poenitentiae (1741). |
| 1665 | The General Congregation of the Universal Inquisition, in the presence of Pope Alexander VII, reiterates that propositions by confessors to solicit or provoke sex from penitents are "alien and discordant by the Evangelical truth and clearly so by the sixth and seventh doctrines of the Holy Fathers" and are to be "checked, condemned, and prohibited. The Inquisitors of Heretical Depravity seek out and proceed against everyone – every priest who has essayed to tempt a penitent."[4] |
| 1908 | The Inquisition is renamed Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office by Pope Pius X.[1] |
| 1965 | The Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office is renamed Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (SCDF).[5] |
| 1985 | All dicasteries of the Roman Curia no longer use the adjective "sacred" as part of their title. The Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith becomes the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). |
| 1988 | Pope John Paul II reaffirms the authority of the CDF on 28 June: "The proper duty of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is to promote and safeguard the doctrine on faith and morals in the whole Catholic world; so it has competence in things that touch this matter in any way."[6] |
| 2001 | John Paul II issues Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela "by which are promulgated Norms concerning the more grave delicts reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith." It, again, reaffirms the CDF's responsibilities, expressing that it was necessary to define more precisely both "the more grave delicts whether against morals or committed in the celebration of the sacraments" for which the competence of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith remains exclusive, and also the special procedural norms "for declaring or imposing canonical sanctions."[7] |
| 2014 | On 11 November Pope Francis sets up within the CDF a special body to expedite consideration of appeals by priests against laicization or other penalties imposed on them in cases of sexual abuse.[8] |
| 2015 | Francis establishes an ecclesiastical judicial commission, which will have its own staff and secretary, to try bishops, which will work with other units of the CDF and with the congregation that has oversight over the bishop.[9] |
| 2018 | Francis appoints three women as consultors to the Congregation, the first in its history.[10] |
| 2019 | The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei is merged into the Congregation.[11] |
| 2022 | On 14 February 2022, Francis reorganises the CDF through the motu proprio Fidem servare, dividing it into two departments: a doctrinal section and a disciplinary section, each with its own secretary reporting to the prefect. The formerly independent marriage section is merged into the doctrinal section.[12] |
| 2022 | On 5 June 2022, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is renamed the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith as part of the restructuring of the Roman Curia by the apostolic constitution Praedicate evangelium.[13] At the same time the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors became part of this Dicastery, operating with its own staff and according to its own norms.[14] |
| 2023 | A 21 October 2023 rescript of Pope Francis stated that the Pope's sole signature "affixated at the bottom" of any document of the Doctrinal Section of the DDF, "including those preceding this Rescript", expressed the pope's approval and authorisation for a possible publication of said document.[15] |
Role
 | This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: Too much space given to previous norms. (December 2023) |
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According to the 1988 Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia, Pastor bonus, article 48, promulgated by John Paul II: "The proper duty of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is to promote and safeguard the doctrine on faith and morals in the whole Catholic world; so it has competence in things that touch this matter in any way."[6]
This includes investigations into grave delicts (i.e., acts which the Catholic Church considers as being the most serious crimes: crimes against the Eucharist and against the sanctity of the Sacrament of Penance, and crimes against the sixth Commandment ("Thou shall not commit adultery")) committed by a cleric against a person under the age of eighteen. These crimes, in Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela a motu proprio of 2001, come under the competency of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In effect, it is the "promoter of justice" that deals with, among other things, the question of priests accused of paedophilia.[7][16][d]
Within the DDF are the International Theological Commission and the Pontifical Biblical Commission. The Prefect of the DDF is ex officio president of these commissions.[20]
On 7 December 2021, Pope Francis promulgated a new version of the "Norms on the Delicts Reserved to the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith"; the original version had been first promulgated in 2001 by John Paul II and amended in 2010 by Benedict XVI. The changes of the new version concern "harmonising the norms with the revised Book VI of the Code of Canon Law, which was promulgated in May 2021" and adding "numerous normative measures of various kinds issued in previous years, especially since 2016."[21]
Organization
Until 1968, the pope held the title of prefect and appointed a cardinal to preside over the meetings, first as Secretary, then as Pro-Prefect.
Since 1968, the Cardinal head of the dicastery has borne the title of Prefect and the title of Secretary refers to the second highest-ranking officer of the Congregation. As of 2012 the Congregation had a membership of 18 cardinals and a smaller number of non-cardinal bishops, a staff of 38 (clerical and lay) and 26 consultors.[22]
The work of the CDF is divided into two sections, the doctrinal and the disciplinary. The CDF holds biennial plenary assemblies, and issues documents on doctrinal, disciplinary, and sacramental questions that occasionally include notifications concerning writings by Catholic theologians.[23]
Recent canonical judgments and publications
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