Skip to main content

What is a Dicastery Office?

Over the past two weeks we have visited three of the sixteen Dicastery Offices. Until coming to Rome I had little understanding of what a Dicastery Office was or what they did. In the past the Offices went by other names such as Pontifical Office or Secretariat, so this may contribute to why they are not in our regular vocabulary. Follow this link to find the Vatican Web page with the sixteen Dicastery Offices listed, with links to their work: https://www.vatican.va/content/romancuria/en.html


These Offices can be viewed as part of the Roman Curia or administrative offices of the Vatican. Staffed largely by priests (although I did see a few names of religious sisters and lay women), they complete the work of the Vatican office, aiding the Pope in his mission, serving both the Pope and the universal church.  The office is led by a prefect, and then supported by a secretary and under-secretary. They put in motion, share information, express opinions on Vatican related matters. No office has greater power than the other, or command over another office. Here is a Vatican podcast that explains the Roman Curia in more detail: https://youtu.be/-kg0lm4DaaA

The Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity and Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue promote great work as they continue to build relationships and dialogue with both Christians, other faiths and nonbelievers through out the world. Both offices have a relatively small staff, 24 and 18 respectively but the work they do significantly impacts Catholic relationships as they seek to build mutual understanding and unity wherever possible throughout the world. The Dicastery for Integral Human Development is a new Office established in 2016 and is the amalgamation of four previous Pontifical Councils. From their website, they note; “The new Dicastery is called to express the Church’s solicitude in the fields of justice, peace, the safeguarding of all of Creation, as well as in those that concern health and works of charity.” This Office has a wonderful Canadian connection as the prefect is Cardinal Michael Czerny, a graduate of Regis College. 

How can we help spread the news of the good work that is done through the Dicastery Offices? Throughout our visits this question kept popping up. I must admit that I never found a clear answer, partially because this is a bureaucratic office, the information is shared from the top down, any break in the dissemination of the knowledge can result in a total loss of information. This should not stop us, those who sit in the pews from learning about what our Church is doing. Our main connection is the Vatican website. Although some links do not appear to be updated as frequently, news is published here. The Vatican has many social media links, these may not distribute documents, but it will give information on announcements. What we do with the information is key as action will be needed. As part of  grassroots movements, we can reach out to our parish priest and deacons, diocesan offices or even connect at the national level. As St. Teresa of Avila stated, “Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world.” The first step is to remain informed about the work done and information shared through the Dicastery Offices, but even more importantly, once we are informed, we need to work as a community putting into action the work of Christ.    By Melinda

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Catacombs of Domitilla

The story of Christianity is awe-inspiring.  This is true whether you are a believer or not.  Within 50 years of the physical death of Christ, 12 believers had directly and indirectly converted thousands to the new faith.  Within 300 years, they had converted an empire. This tour begins at the walls of Rome within sight of St. John Lateran where we get our ride to the countryside of Rome.  Making our way outside the walls, the city changes to country quickly.  The Roman countryside is quite beautiful.  The hills begin to roll and the gated villas extend to farms of vegetables, rose hips, or barley.  The air cleaner and the sound clearer. Flavia Domitilla was the granddaughter of the emperor Vespasian.  As daughter of Domitilla "the Younger", Flavia was also the niece of the emperors Titus and Domitian.  These catacombs were founded on her property in about the year 120 A.D.  Flavia and her husband, Flavius Clemens, were likely ...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Trip To Visit My Nonna

This past weekend I took a quick trip to visit my family in Sicily. They think I am going to see them but really, it’s the almond cookies (paste secche) and granita with brioche that call me back.  My nonna passed away a few years ago and I have not had the opportunity to visit her grave. Although it may seem morose, sharing some information on Italian cemeteries might be interesting, as the practices have many similarities due to shared Catholic faith, yet there are noteworthy differences due to cultural practices.   The local cemetery where my grandparents are buried is mostly cement. There is little grass beyond weeds breaking through the cracks. The first stop is to purchase fresh flowers, I picked out a few simple roses for my grandparents. As we walked to the burial site my aunt explained how there is limited space, and the government allows for the in-ground burial sites to be modified and expanded over time.  The mausoleums here are all in the open. Because of the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Asissi....sigh....

Assisi. What can I say about this magical little town? I went there yesterday with three friends-Sean, Corina and Paul, and as soon as we stepped onto the platform at the train station we noticed that the air was different, cooler, more refreshing. I'm, not sure even pictures could do this town justice, or maybe I just don't possess sufficient skill in photography (lol), but God knew why he chose a son of this town to start the process of rebuilding his church. To walk where St Francis walked and pray where he prayed will forever be one of the highlights of my life. St Francis of Assisi astonished the church and the world with his humble devotion to God and the poor. He left such a profound legacy, including introducing the custom of Nativity scenes to honor Christ's birth at Christmastime. Did you know we have St Francis of Assisi to thank for that? He is also the patron saint of the environment and of animals. The Basilica of St Francis of Assisi-completed in 1253 Another...
Post a Comment
Read more