Curia
PAPAL, in its stricter sense the authorities which administer the Papal primacy; in its common wider use all the authorities and functionaries forming the Papal court. The different branches of the curia having respect to church government are the sacred congregation of cardinals, the secretariat of state, and the vicariate of Rome, the machinery employed being supplied by the chancery, the dataria, and the camera apostolica. As "supreme judge" in Christendom the Pope acts through special congregations and delegated judges, ju or through the regular tribunals of the rota and segnatura, and the penitenziaria.
The institution of the Papal Chapel and the household of the Pope are also classed as departments of the curia; and finally the functionaries maintaining the external relations of the Pope-legates, nuncios, apostolic delegates, etc. Formerly the curia included besides these the mechanism and functions of secular administration.