Consistory
Encyclopedia
Antiquity
Originally, the Latin word consistorium meant simply 'sitting together', just as the Greek syn(h)edrion (of which the Biblical sanhedrinSanhedrin
The Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Biblical Land of Israel.The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel made of 71 members...
was a corruption).
In the Roman empire, it was specifically applied to a formal meeting of the comites consistoriales, i.e. those members of the Emperor's court with the title of Comes
Comes
Comes , plural comites , is the Latin word for companion, either individually or as a member of a collective known as comitatus, especially the suite of a magnate, in some cases large and/or formal enough to have a specific name, such as a cohors amicorum. The word comes derives from com- "with" +...
(the translation count is rather confusing) who were assigned—and this conferred the highest rank amongst Comites—to advise him in official, important matters, such as drafting bills and other written decisions, rather like the privy council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
of a feudal king. As the senate—in law still retaining the highest constitutional position, since the republic was never formally ended—lost most of its political importance, being reduced almost to a rubber stamp as a single-party state's parliament usually is, they stepped in as an official alternative power to the throne, but real power could just as well lie mainly elsewhere, depending on the imperial favor and personal machinations
Roman Catholic Church
The consistory is a formal meeting of the Sacred College of CardinalsCollege of Cardinals
The College of Cardinals is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church.A function of the college is to advise the pope about church matters when he summons them to an ordinary consistory. It also convenes on the death or abdication of a pope as a papal conclave to elect a successor...
of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, except when convened to elect a new pope (in which case the meeting is called a conclave
Papal conclave
A papal conclave is a meeting of the College of Cardinals convened to elect a Bishop of Rome, who then becomes the Pope during a period of vacancy in the papal office. The Pope is considered by Roman Catholics to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and earthly head of the Roman Catholic Church...
, and special rules of membership, procedure, and secrecy apply). Consistories are held in Vatican City
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
for taking care of the business of the college, which usually involves advising the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
on important matters concerning the church.
Consistories are of three kinds: secret or ordinary, public or extraordinary, and semi-public.
Since the Pope creates new cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...
s in the presence of the college, the consistory is where this takes place (the last consistory for the creation of new cardinals took place on November 20, 2010). The identities of the cardinals-to-be are generally announced some time in advance, but only at the time of the consistory does the elevation to the cardinalate take effect, since that is when the Pope formally publishes the decree of elevation. Some men have died before the consistory date, and if a Pope dies before the consistory all the nominations are voided. However, the cardinal himself does not have to attend the consistory for his elevation to be effective.
Those new cardinals present are presented with their rings, zucchetti
Zucchetto
The zucchetto , a/k/a pileolus in Latin and calotte/calotta in France, Italy and Hispanic nations, is a small skullcap worn by clerics of the Roman Catholic Church, as well as in Anglicanism....
(small skullcaps), and birette
Biretta
The biretta is a square cap with three or four peaks or horns, sometimes surmounted by a tuft. Traditionally the three peaked biretta is worn by Roman Catholic clergy and some Anglican and Lutheran clergy. The four peaked biretta is worn as academic dress by those holding a doctoral degree from a...
(four-cornered silk hats) by the Pope. Formerly they also received an elaborate broad-brimmed tasseled hat, the galerum
Galero
A galero in the Catholic Church is a large, broad-brimmed tasseled hat worn by clergy. Over the centuries the galero was eventually limited in use to individual cardinals as a crown symbolizing the title of Prince of the Church...
rubrum, at the ceremony, but Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
abolished this in 1967 and those cardinals who want these obtain them privately from a maker in Rome.
The zucchetto, the biretta, and the galerum rubrum are all scarlet
Scarlet (color)
Scarlet is a bright red color with a hue that is somewhat toward the orange. It is redder than vermilion. It is a pure chroma on the color wheel one-fourth of the way between red and orange. Scarlet is sometimes used as the color of flame...
, the distinctive color of cardinals' vestments. When a diocesan cardinal dies, his galerum rubrum is suspended from the ceiling of his cathedral.
At the consistory cardinals are generally assigned titular churches in the diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
of Rome, though Pope Paul VI abolished their functional involvement in the governance of these churches; the cardinals formally "take possession" of these churches at a later date.
In Protestant churches
Chapter (religion)
Chapter designates certain corporate ecclesiastical bodies in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Nordic Lutheran churches....
of a cathedral.
In the Lutheran territories of imperial immediacy in the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
episcopal offices were not staffed anymore and the secular government assumed the function of the bishop. In the 16th and 17th c. most governments of Lutheran territories pooled the administrative and religious affairs in a distinct office called the consistory. While Protestantism often still did not form a separate legal entity, with state and Protestantism not being separated, the consistory turned out to be the oldest body of many modern church bodies
Landeskirche
In Germany and Switzerland, a Landeskirche is the church of a region. They originated as the national churches of the independent states, States of Germany or Cantons of Switzerland , that later unified to form modern Germany or modern Switzerland , respectively.-Origins in the Holy Roman...
, which developed as independent legal entities in the 18th and 19th c. With territorial changes (heritage and conquest) many territories became multi-denominational.
The consistory, being rather a governmental than a religious office, was then often competent for all (Protestant) denominations (e.g. in Bremen-Verden
Bremen-Verden
Bremen-Verden, formally the Duchies of Bremen and Verden , were two territories and immediate fiefs of the Holy Roman Empire, which emerged and gained Imperial immediacy in 1180...
) or even all religions (e.g. in Prussia, see Evangelical Church in Prussia) in the respective territory. The rather governmental character of the consistory is the reason why the term was given up in many church bodies after the separation of state and religion. In Germany today a single Protestant church body, the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia
Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia
The Evangelical Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia is a Protestant church body in the German states of Brandenburg, Berlin and a part of Saxony. The seat of the church is in Berlin. It is the most important Protestant denomination in the area....
, uses the term consistory for its administrative office. Consistories used to be and still are usually staffed with clerics and jurists. Today they are usually led by a consistorial president, a laymen (usually a jurist), historically General Superintendents
Superintendent (ecclesiastical)
Superintendent is the head of an administrative division of a Protestant church, largely historical but still in use in Germany.- Superintendents in Sweden :...
, clerics, presided them. The other members bear the title (Upper) Consistorial Councillor .
Also the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia is a Lutheran Protestant church in Latvia. Latvia's Lutheran heritage dates back to the Reformation. Both the Nazi and communist regimes persecuted the church harshly before religious freedom returned to Latvia in 1988.The Church is governed by a...
uses the term consistory for its central administrative office.
In the Reformed churches, a Consistory is a congregation's governing body of elected officials that include the Elders and the Deacons, thus making the body similar to the Session
Session (Presbyterian)
A Session is a body of elected elders governing each local church within the Presbyterian polity....
in Presbyterian churches.