The Secretariate of Briefs to Princes and of Latin Letters, or simply the Secretariate of Briefs, was one of the offices of the Roman Curia abrogated in 1967 during Pope Paul VI's reform of the Pontifical court. It was divided into two sections. The Secretariate of Briefs to Princes consisted of the Secretary and two office assistants. The Secretary was a

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

responsible for writing the

papal brief A papal brief or breve is a formal document emanating from the Pope, in a somewhat simpler and more modern form than a papal bull. History The introduction of briefs, which occurred at the beginning of the pontificate of Pope Eugene IV (3 Marc ...

s addressed to emperors, kings, princes, and other dignitaries. He also prepared the allocutions that the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

pronounced at consistories, as well as

encyclical An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Late Latin (originally from ...

s and apostolic letters addressed to bishops and the faithful. He acted according to the instructions of the Pope. He was required to be a proficient Latinist because these documents were written in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

. The Secretary for Latin Letters was also a

or private

papal chamberlain A Papal Gentleman, also called a Gentleman of His Holiness, is a lay attendant of the pope and his papal household in Vatican City. Papal gentlemen serve in the Apostolic Palace near St. Peter's Basilica in ceremonial positions, such as escorting d ...

("''cameriere segreto''" in Italian) and was responsible for writing letters in

of less solemnity on behalf of the Pope. He had an office assistant. The Latin Secretaries also played a significant part in the proceedings surrounding the death and election of the Pope; one of the two Secretaries usually pronounced the funeral oration - in Latin - for the deceased Pope, while another held an oration after the mass ''Pro eligendo Pontifice'' ('For the election of the Pope') at the beginning of the

conclave A papal conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a bishop of Rome, also known as the pope. Catholics consider the pope to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and the earthly head of the Catholic Church. Co ...

. The last Secretaries to perform this task were Mgrs. Del Ton and Tondini in 1963. In 1967, the office was suppressed as an independent department by the apostolic constitution ''

Regimini Ecclesiae universae Pope Paul VI's reform of the Roman Curia was accomplished through a series of decrees beginning in 1964, principally through the apostolic constitution ''Regimini Ecclesiae universae'' issued on 15 August 1967. On 28 October 1965, the bishops at ...

''; its tasks were transferred to a new

Latin Letters Office The Latin Letters Office is a department of the Roman Curia's Secretariat of State of the Holy See in Vatican City. It is well known among modern-day Latinists as the place where documents of the Catholic Church are written in or translated int ...

, subordinate to the Secretariat of State.

Partial list of incumbents

Secretaries of Briefs to Princes: * Domenico Testa (Pius VII, Leo XII, Pius VIII, Gregory XVI) * Gaspare Gasperini (Gregory XVI, Pius IX)Notice of appointment: ''Diario di Roma'' (1832) Nr. 6, p. 1. * Luca Pacifici (Pius IX)Notice of appointment: ''Gazzetta di Roma'' (1848) Nr. 74, p. 294. * Francesco Mercurelli (Pius IX, Leo XIII) *

Carlo Nocella Carlo Nocella (25 November 1826 – 22 July 1908) was an Italian cardinal. He was Secretary of the Sacred Consistorial Congregation (1892–1899), Latin Patriarch of Antioch (1899–1901), and Latin Patriarch of Constantinople (1901–190 ...

(Leo XIII) * Alessandro Volpini (Leo XIII) * Vincenzo Sardi (Pius X) * Pietro Angelini (Pius X) *

Aurelio Galli Aurelio Galli (26 February 1866 – 26 March 1929) was an Italian prelate and Cardinal-Deacon A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Cat ...

(Pius X, Benedict XV) * Nicola Sebastiani (Benedict XV) *

Antonio Bacci Antonio Bacci (4 September 1885 – 20 January 1971) was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Secretary of Briefs to Princes from 1931 to 1960, when he was elevated to the cardinalate by Pope John XXIII. He is perhap ...

(Pius XI, Pius XII, John XXIII)Notice of appointment: AAS 23 (1931) 357. * Amleto Tondini (John XXIII, Paul VI) Secretaries for Latin letters: *

Raffaele Mazio Raffaele () is an Italian given name and surname, variant of the English Raphael. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Raffaele Amato, Italian mobster *Raffaele Cutolo, Italian mobster *Raffaele Ganci, Italian mobster *Raffaele Canton ...

(Pius VII, Leo XII) * Gaspare Gasperini (Leo XII, Pius VIII, Gregory XVI) * Carlo Vizzardelli (Gregory XVI) * Luca Pacifici (Gregory XVI, Pius IX) * Giovanni Battista Palma (Pius IX) * Domenico Fioramonti (Pius IX) * Giovanni Sottovia (Pius IX) * Francesco Mercurelli (Pius IX) *

(Pius IX, Leo XIII) * Vincenzo Tarozzi (Leo XIII) *

(Pius X) * Pacifico Massella (Benedict XV) * Nicola Sebastiani (Benedict XV) * Giuseppe Zaccarella (Pius XI) * Angelo Perugini (Pius XI, Pius XII, John XXIII) * Giuseppe Del Ton (John XXIII, Paul VI)Notice of appointment: AAS 53 (1961) 60.

References

*
Roman Curia
{{Roman Curia footer 20th-century disestablishments in Vatican City Former departments of the Roman Curia

Partial list of incumbents

See also

References