By the early 20th century the growth of the Roman Curia had produced a bewildering tangle of administrative and judicial bodies in which neither temporal and ecclesiastical functions nor executive and judicial powers were clearly demarcated. The reforms of Pius X (reigned 1903–14) and Benedict XV (reigned 1914–22) clarified and streamlined the work of the Curia and introduced a measure of order into its maze of overlapping jurisdictions. In the wake of Vatican II and in response to complaints about abuses of curial power and requests for an internationalization of curial staff and a modernization of curial functions and procedures, Paul VI pledged himself to act. His reforms, instituted in the apostolic constitution Regimini ecclesiae universae (“Government of the Universal Church”) of 1967, were further modified in 1988 by John Paul II in the apostolic constitution Pastor bonus (“The Good Shepherd”).
The Curia is divided into several agencies, or dicasteries, including the Secretariat of State, the various congregations, the tribunals, and the pontifical councils. The Secretariat of State, which is divided into two sections, is the agency that works most closely with the pope in his mission to govern the church and to establish relations with foreign countries. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (originally the Sacred Congregation of the Universal Inquisition) is the oldest of the nine congregations and is responsible for spreading and defending Roman Catholic belief. The other congregations are those for the Oriental Churches, for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, for the Causes of Saints, for the Evangelization of Peoples, for the Clergy, for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, for Catholic Education, and for Bishops. The tribunals constitute the judicial branch of the Curia and include the Apostolic Penitentiary (which grants indulgences, absolutions, and other favours), the Roman Rota (a court of appeals and first instance), and the Apostolic Signatura (the highest judicial body of the church). In addition to restructuring the established dicasteries, John Paul II also restructured a number of administrative bureaus and created the pontifical councils, which include councils for the laity, Christian unity, interreligious dialogue, dialogue with nonbelievers, and others. Finally, the offices of the Curia are responsible for the financial administration of the Curia and the papacy. Francis Christopher Oakley The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica The college of bishops
In Roman Catholicism the college of bishops is the successor to the college of the Apostles; the earliest mention of the office of bishop is found in the New Testament. Every Roman Catholic bishop is a bishop of a place—either a proper area, or jurisdiction, of which he is the ordinary (as he is called in church law), or a fictitious place, a see no longer existing, of which he is named titular bishop. The office of the first bishops differed from the later institution; references in the Gospels to episkopoi are better understood to mean “overseers.” In the early Christian communities there was often little distinction between bishops and presbyters, and there was usually more than one bishop associated with each community, though the appearance of the bishop as the individual leader of the local church—the monarchical bishop—was a fairly early development. Ignatius of Antioch—whose letters, written about ad 107, provide an early description of the Christian community—was clearly a monarchical bishop, and he did not think of himself as the only one of his kind; thus, the institution must have arisen in apostolic or early postapostolic times.
The bishops succeed to the apostolic power, which is understood as the power to teach Catholic doctrine, to sanctify the church through the administration of the sacraments, and to govern the church. The residential bishop is supreme in his territory in this threefold function, having no superior other than the Roman pontiff. As the principal teacher of his diocese, the bishop is responsible for providing witness to Christ and for preaching the gospel of Christ. The bishop must also educate his flock on all the teachings of the church concerning faith and morals, children and the family, the individual, and society. In his priestly function, the bishop is called on to administer the sacraments and to encourage his flock to experience the Eucharist as a means of achieving unity in the love of Christ. As the chief officer of the diocese, the bishop has executive, legislative, and judicial powers to govern the church. The responsibilities of the office are great and demand considerable leadership.
Bishops in modern times have been more visible as managers of the business of the diocese than as pastors and teachers. No authentic “Catholic” activity is conducted in a diocese without at least the tacit approval of the bishop; his disposal of funds and persons makes it evident that the activity will flourish much more vigorously if it enjoys his active support and encouragement. His power to discourage or forbid activities, which he is free to use according to his judgment, is both a strength and a weakness of the Roman Catholic structure. The bishop is assisted in governing the diocese by a staff called, like the staff of the pope, a curia. The structure of the staff is to some extent determined by canon law—e.g., vicar-general, chancellor, and official, or head, of the diocesan tribunals. Otherwise, the bishop at his discretion may appoint a staff according to the needs of his diocese. His authority over the staff and his clergy is nearly absolute.
Until Vatican II the Roman Catholic Church had not dealt with the ambiguity of two concurrent jurisdictions, pontifical and episcopal. The pope cannot define or limit the powers of a bishop; the powers are “ordinary,” inhering in the office itself. Vatican II accepted the emphasis that recent theologians have laid on the collegial character of the episcopacy, and the supremacy of the pope is understood as supremacy in the college; the pope needs the college of which he is head, though Vatican I declared that he needs neither its consultation nor its approval. It is now understood that such solitary action should be the exception rather than the rule; and the Synod of Bishops, established after Vatican II, was a step toward involving the body of bishops in the policy of the entire church, hitherto formulated exclusively by the Roman see. During the papacy of John Paul II, the church proceeded along a contradictory path regarding the role of the episcopacy. In his 1995 encyclical Ut unum sint (“That They May Be One”), the pope seemingly supported the emphasis on collegiality voiced at Vatican II, but he also taught that there were limitations to episcopal independence.
Originally elected to office and often appointed by kings and emperors during the early Middle Ages, bishops have been chosen by the pope since the 11th century. In modern practice, appointments to the office are made from confidential lists of suitable priests sent to the pope every three years by the bishops. Bishops in modern times have generally been career administrators in the church, but any priest can ascend to the office if he possesses certain qualifications. A candidate for the office must be at least 35 years old and have served as a priest for at least five years; he must also have strength of faith and moral character, and he must have a licence or expertise in Scripture, theology, and canon law. In 1970 Pope Paul VI established 75 as the mandatory age of retirement for all bishops except the bishop of Rome. Ecumenical councils
The first church council, which set the precedent for all subsequent meetings, took place at Jerusalem about ad 50 and was attended by the Apostles, who debated whether Gentile Christians were obliged to follow the Mosaic Law. Regional councils of bishops, convoked to settle doctrinal and disciplinary questions, appeared in the 2nd century. The first general council representing the bishops of the whole world occurred at Nicaea in Asia Minor in 325 (the Greek oikumenē, from which the word ecumenical is derived, referred to the inhabited world). The council was convoked not by an ecclesiastical authority but by the Roman emperor Constantine, who wanted the church to reach a final decision on the Arian controversy. (According to Arius, the Son of God was a creature of similar but not the same substance as God the Father.) The Roman Catholic Church has held 21 such assemblies, though only three (Trent, Vatican I, and Vatican II) have been held since the mid-16th century.