Papal curia

The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central body through which the Roman Pontiff conducts the affairs of the universal Catholic Church. It acts in his name and with his authority for the good and for the service of the particular Churches and provides the necessary central organization for the correct functioning of the Church and the achievement of its goals.

The structure and organization of responsibilities within the Curia is at present regulated by the apostolic constitution Pastor bonus issued by Pope John Paul II on 28 June 1988, which Pope Francis has decided to revise.

Other bodies that play an administrative or consulting role in Church affairs are sometimes mistakenly identified with the Curia, though they are not in fact part of it, such as the Synod of Bishops and regional conferences of bishops. Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote in 2015 that "the Synod of Bishops is not a part of the Roman Curia in the strict sense: it is the expression of the collegiality of bishops in communion with the Pope and under his direction. The Roman Curia instead aids the Pope in the exercise of his primacy over all the Churches."

Curia in medieval and later Latin usage means "court" in the sense of "royal court" rather than "court of law". The Roman Curia is sometimes anglicized as the Court of Rome, as in the 1534 Act of Parliament that forbade appeals to it from England. It is the papal court and assists the Pope in carrying out his functions. The Roman Curia can be loosely compared to cabinets in governments of countries with a Western form of governance, but only the Second Section of the Secretariat of State, known also as the Section for Relations with States, the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State (established in 1939 by Pius XII) and the Congregation for Catholic Education, can be directly compared with specific ministries of a civil government.

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