Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples

The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (Latin:

Congregatio pro Gentium Evangelizatione) is a congregation of Congregation for the
the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church in Rome, responsible for Evangelization of Peoples
missionary work and related activities. It is also known by its Latin: Congregatio pro Gentium
former title, the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of Evangelizatione
the Faith (Latin: Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide), or
simply the Propaganda Fide.

In principle it is responsible for pre-diocesan missionary

jurisdictions (of the Latin rite): Mission sui iuris, Apostolic
prefecture (neither entitled to a titular bishop) Apostolic vicariate;
equivalents of other rites (e.g. Apostolic exarchate) are in the sway
of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches. However many Coat of arms of the Holy See
former missionary jurisdictions - mainly in the Third World -
remain, after promotion to diocese of (Metropolitan) Archdiocese,
under the Propaganda Fide instead of the normally competent
Congregation for Bishops, notably in countries/regions where the
Catholic church is too poor/small (as in most African countries) to
aspire self-sufficiency and/or local authorities hostile to
Catholic/Christian/any (organized) faith.

It was founded by Pope Gregory XV in 1622 to arrange

missionary work on behalf of the various religious institutions, and Palazzo di Propaganda Fide, seat
in 1627 Pope Urban VIII established within it a training college for of the Congregation for the
missionaries, the Pontificio Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide. Evangelization of Peoples
When Pope Paul VI reorganized and adjusted the tasks of the
Congregation overview
Roman Curia with the publication of Regimini Ecclesiae
Universae 15 August 1967, the name of the congregation was Formed June 22, 1622
changed to the Congregation for the Evangelization of Preceding Sacred
Peoples.[1][2] Congregation Congregation for
the Propagation
The early congregation was established in the Palazzo Ferratini,
donated by Juan Bautista Vives, to the south of the Piazza di of the Faith
Spagna. Two of the foremost artistic figures of Baroque Rome Type Congregation
were involved in the development of the architectural complex; the
Headquarters Palazzo di
sculptor and architect Gianlorenzo Bernini and the architect
Francesco Borromini. Propaganda Fide,
Rome, Italy
The current Prefect of the Congregation is Cardinal Luis Antonio Congregation Luis Antonio Tagle,
Tagle since December 2019. The current Secretary is Archbishop executives Prefect
Protase Rugambwa.[3] The current Adjunct Secretary (and
President of the Pontifical Mission Societies)[4] is Archbishop Protase
Giampietro Del Toso[5] The Under-Secretary is Father Ryszard Rugambwa,
Szmydki, O.M.I.[6] The Archivist of the Archives of the Secretary
Congregation is Monsignor Luis Manuel Cuña Ramos. Giovanni Pietro Dal
Monsignors Lorenzo Piva and Camillus Nimalan Johnpillai assist Toso,
as Office Heads of the Congregation.[7]
 Adjunct Secretary

Contents
History
Purposes
Palazzo di Propaganda Fide
Officials
Prefects
Secretaries
Adjunct Secretaries
Undersecretary
Delegate of the Administration
See also
References
External links

History
Founded in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV with the bull Inscrutabili
Divinae, the body was charged with fostering the spread of
Catholicism and with the regulation of Catholic ecclesiastical
affairs in non-Catholic countries. The intrinsic importance of its
duties and the extraordinary extent of its authority and of the
territory under its jurisdiction caused the Cardinal Prefect of
Propaganda to be known as the "red pope".

When the body was created, the administration of colonial

territories was increasingly controlled by the Dutch and English,
both intent on spreading Protestantism. Rome perceived the very
real threat of Protestantism spreading in the wake of commercial
empire. By 1648, with the end of the Thirty Years' War, the official
Catholic-Protestant balance in Europe appeared settled, but vast
regions of Asia, Africa, and the Americas remained both
undeveloped and contested.
Alexandre de Rhodes' Dictionarium
Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum, There had already been a less formally instituted committee of
published by the Propaganda Fide in cardinals concerned with propaganda fide since the time of Pope
1651. Gregory XIII (1572–1585). They were especially charged with
promoting the union with Rome of the long-established eastern
Christian communities: Slavs, Greeks, Syrians, Egyptians, and
Abyssinians. This was the traditional direction for the evangelization efforts of the Catholic Church.
Catechisms were printed in many languages and seminarians sent to places as far as Malabar. The most
concrete result was the union with Rome of the Ruthenian Catholic communion, most concentrated in
modern-day Ukraine and Belarus; the union was formalized at Brest in 1596.

The death of Pope Gregory XV the following year did not interrupt the organization, because Cardinal
Barberini, one of the original thirteen members of the congregation, became the next pope as Urban VIII
(1623–1644). Under Urban VIII, a central seminary, the Collegium Urbanum, was established to train
missionaries. The Congregation also operated a polyglot printing press in Rome, printing catechisms in
many languages. Their procurators were especially active in China from 1705, moving between Macau and
Canton before finally settling in Hong Kong in 1842.

In strongly Protestant areas, the Congregation's activities were considered subversive: the first missionary to
be killed was in Grisons, Switzerland, in April 1622, before the papal bull authorizing its creation had been
disseminated. In Ireland after Catholic emancipation (1829) while the established church was still the
Protestant Church of Ireland, the Irish Catholic church came under the control of the Congregation in 1833,
and soon reformed itself with a devotional revolution under Cardinal Cullen.

The Holy See removed the United States from the jurisdiction of Propaganda Fide as mission territory in
1908, along with England, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Canada.

These "Cardinals in General Congregation" met weekly, keeping their records in Latin until 1657, then in
Italian. The minutes are available in microfilm (filling 84 reels) at large libraries. In the course of their work,
the Propaganda fide missionaries accumulated the objects now in the Vatican Museum's Ethnological
Missionary Museum.

In 2014 Sr. Luzia Premoli, superior general of the Combonian Missionary Sisters, was appointed a member
of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the first woman to be appointed a member of a
Roman curial congregation.[8]

Purposes
The Congregation for the Propagation of the Sacred Faith was established in 1622 due to the realization
that the governmental structure of the episcopal structure and the decretal law was not possible. Episcopal
structure and the Decretal law was government as described in the New Testament. In this new structure,
missionaries would be given orders from Rome, and administrative power would be traded over to those
who were titled bishops. The Congregation for the Propagation of the Sacred Faith was left in charge to
give faculties to the aforementioned bishops in addition to perfects, who were similar to bishops without the
notoriety.[9]

A congregation of cardinals for the propagations of the faith.

The congregation made special use of cardinals and their role in the church to unify Christianities in
different countries with Rome in an effort to evangelize individuals who were similar in faith. The goal of
this was to historically regulate missionary work through structural accountability. According to Fernando
Cardinal Filioni, “The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples has jurisdiction over 186
archdioceses, 785 dioceses, 82 vicariates apostolic, 39 prefectures apostolic, 4 apostolic administrations, 6
missiones sui iuris, 1 territorial abbacy, and 6 military ordinariates,” in today’s modern organization.[10] The
Congregation has even further jurisdiction over countries in almost every continent including Asia, Africa,
Latin America, the Caribbean and North America. The church overall has many statues and regulations in
place for the overseen congregations so that they may determine the appropriate way to hold mass, perform
the sacraments and spread the gospel in difficult or challenging settings.

Procurement of financial support

During Clement VIII’s reign, in the sixteenth century, the second purpose for the Congregation for the
Propagation of the Sacred Faith (CPF) was for the organization to procure financial support for their
missions – both in domestic and international territory. Each territory would have procurators, where these
individuals would ensure that mail, funds, and merchandise could be sent via any route, and Swedish,
Danish, and English ships were preferred for their reliability. Most of CPF missions were run and funded
by religious orders which were affiliated with this organization, but they were financially independent, like
the French MEP and Italian Barnabites; and on the other hand, other income came from land properties,
real estate, and commercial rentals in Rome and the Pontifical States, and also inheritance and donations
from benefactors – from within in Italy and abroad. Currently, these efforts are the ways in which CPF
obtains funds for the mission, however, the World Mission Sunday is the main resource of collection for
financial support for this organization.

The establishment of a seminary for the training of missionaries.

The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples was set out on missionary work to the world. One way
of advocating for their Christian beliefs was the creation of a collegiate institution for their beliefs.
Originally called the Collegium Urbanium Propaganda de fide, it is currently called Pontifical Urban
University or Urbania after its names both in Latin and Italian. The collegiate seminary was named after the
reigning Pope at the time, Pope Urban VIII. It was established on August 1, 1627, with the Pope’s papal
bull, Immortalis Dei Filius in Rome at the Piazza di Spagna, most specifically the Palazzo di Propaganda
Fide. It was created for the preparation of priests, religious men and or women, as well as prep missionaries
for their ongoing missions henceforth, its supreme academic authority, is the Cardinal Prefect of the
Congregation. According to Urbania .org “The University provides for research and teaching within the
framework of the Holy See’s educational system regulated by the Congregation for Catholic Education” (
Pontificia Università Urbaniana[11]). Its academic focuses are in the studies of philosophy, theology, canon
law, as well as missiology.( For more see Pontifical Urban University )

The establishment of a printing press to provide literature for missions. The congregation needed to
mass-produce literature for their missions so they established their own printing press four years after their
founding in 1626 (New Catholic Encyclopedia 11, 751). The press contributed it literature to the Collegium
Urbanum as well as to missionaries traveling cross-country to territories that the Vatican entrusted them.
The press was originally called Polyglotta, and was intended to print Catholic literature in the various native
languages that CPF missionaries would encounter.[12] The press faced significant challenges when most of
the equipment and machinery they used to print books was stolen and destroyed during the invasion of
Rome in the Napoleonic Wars, 1809 (New Catholic Encyclopedia 11, 751). Later in 1926, the Polyglotta
Press was absorbed by the Vatican Printing Press under the leadership of Pope Pius X.

Palazzo di Propaganda Fide

The Southwest facade by Borromini:

etching by Giuseppe Vasi, 1761.[13]

The North facade at Piazza di Spagna by

The Congregation was originally housed in a small palace, the Bernini; behind the Column of the
Palazzo Ferratini, donated by the Spanish priest Vives, at the Immaculate Conception.
southern end of the Piazza di Spagna. The architectural Credit: Lalupa

complex of the Propoaganda Fide was developed in the

triangular urban block between the Via Due Macelli and the
Via del Collegio di Propaganda Fide, two streets which diverged from the piazza.
In 1634 a small oval chapel was built according to designs by Bernini. In 1642, Father Valerio, with
Bernini, redesigned the façade to the Piazza di Spagna, and the development was continued along the Via
Due Macelli by Gaspare de’Vecchio from 1639–1645.[14]

In 1648, Borromini took over and made various proposals that included demolishing Bernini’s chapel,
which must have been particularly galling for the latter as he could see the building from his house on Via
Mercede.[15] Initially Borromini designed an elongated oval chapel plan but this was superseded by a
rectilinear design, with the greater length parallel to the street, and with curved corners on the interior.
Construction of the chapel commenced in 1660 and although the main part was built by 1665, some of the
decoration was carried out after his death.[16] The Re Magi chapel, dedicated to the Three Kings, has a
plan with four side chapels and galleries above. On the interior, the wall and the vault are differentiated
horizontally by a cornice line but there is a vertical continuity of wall and vault which allows for windows
at the base of the vault. The wall pilasters are continued in the vault as ribs that criss-cross and unite the
space, unlike his design at the Oratory of Philip Neri Oratorio dei Filippini where the ribs are interrupted
by the oval fresco at the centre of the vault. The criss-cross arrangement in the Re Magi Chapel is such that
an octagon is formed at the centre, embellished with a Dove of the Holy Spirit bathed in golden rays.

His first designs for the façade onto the Via di Propaganda Fide had five bays but he expanded this to
seven. The façade is dominated by the giant pilasters that originally supported a balustrade above the
narrow entablature but later extensions obliterated the balustrade. The central bay of the façade is a concave
curve with angled pies at its edges, perhaps in recognition that this façade would always be seen at an
oblique angle because of the narrowness of the street. The central door leads into the courtyard where
Borromini intended a curved arcade but this was not built.[17] Only the left hand side of the façade relates
to the chapel and the right to the stair and entrance to the College.

Other parts of the College have further minor works by Borromini.

Officials

Prefects

The prefect is ex officio President of the Interdicasterial Prefect of Congregation

Commission for Consecrated Religious and Grand Chancellor of for the Evangelization of
the Pontifical Urbaniana University. Peoples

Coat of arms of the Holy See

 Incumbent
Luis Antonio Tagle
since 8 December 2019

Congregation for the Evangelization

of Peoples
Style His Eminence
Member of Roman Curia
Reports to The Pope
Appointer The Pope
Term length Five years,
renewable
Constituting Inscrutabili
instrument Divinae
Pastor Bonus
Formation 22 June 1622
First holder Antonio Maria
Sauli
Unofficial names The Red Pope
No. Name From Until Appointer

Antonio
1 1622 1622 Gregory XV
Maria Sauli

Ludovico
2 1622 1632 Gregory XV
Ludovisi

Antonio
3 1632 1645 Urban VIII
Barberini

Luigi
Capponi
4 (while 1645 1649 Innocent X
Barberini was
in exile)

Antonio
5 1649 1671 Innocent X
Barberini

Paluzzo
Paluzzi
6 1671 1698 Clement X
Altieri degli
Albertoni

7 Carlo 1698 1704 Innocent XII

Barberini
 Giuseppe
8 1704 1727 Clement XI
Sacripanti

Vincenzo
9 1727 1747 Benedict XIII
Petra

Silvio Valenti
10 1747 1756 Benedict XIV
Gonzaga

Giuseppe
11 1756 1763 Benedict XIV
Spinelli

Giuseppe
12 Maria 1763 1780 Clement XIII
Castelli

Leonardo
13 1780 1795 Pius VI
Antonelli

14 Giacinto 1795 1802 Pius VI

Sigismondo
 Gerdil

Stefano 1798 1800 Pius VI

Borgia
15
(Pro-Prefect
until 1800) 1802 1804 Pius VII

Antonio
16 1804 1805 Pius VII
Dugnani

Michele di
17 1805 1814 Pius VII
Pietro

18 Lorenzo Litta 1814 1818 Pius VII

Francesco
19 Luigi 1818 1822 Pius VII
Fontana

Ercole
20 1822 1824 Pius VII
Consalvi

21 Giulio Maria 1824 1826 Leo XII

della
Somaglia
Pro-Prefect
 Mauro
Capellari
22 (elected as 1826 1831 Leo XII
Pope Gregory
XVI)

Carlo Maria
23 1831 1834 Gregory XVI
Pedicini

Giacomo
24 Filippo 1834 1856 Gregory XVI
Fransoni

Alessandro
25 1856 1874 Pius IX
Barnabò

Alessandro
26 1874 1878 Pius IX
Franchi

27 Giovanni 1878 1892 Leo XIII

Simeoni
 Mieczysław
28 Halka 1892 1902 Leo XIII
Ledóchowski

Girolamo
29 1902 1916 Leo XIII
Maria Gotti

Domenico
30 1916 1918 Benedict XV
Serafini

Willem van
31 1918 1932 Pius XI
Rossum

Pietro
32 Fumasoni 1933 1960 Pius XI
Biondi

Samuel
33 Stritch 1958 1958 Pius XII
Pro-Prefect

34 Gregorio 1958 1960 Pius XII

Pietro
Agagianian 1960 1970 John XXIII
(Pro-Prefect
until 1960)
 Agnelo
35 1970 1984 Paul VI
Rossi

Dermot J.
36 Ryan 1984 1985 John Paul II
Pro-Prefect

37 Jozef Tomko 1985 2001 John Paul II

Crescenzio
38 2001 2006 John Paul II
Sepe

39 Ivan Dias 2006 2011 Benedict XVI

Fernando
40 2011 2019 Benedict XVI
Filoni

41 Luis Antonio 2019[18] Incumbent Francis

Tagle
Secretaries

The secretary assists the cardinal-prefect in the day-to-day running of the congregation and is always an
archbishop. They usually go on to hold a position in the Roman Curia that brings them membership to the
College of Cardinals.

Ingoli, Franciscus (1622–1649).

Massari, Dyonisius (1649–1657).
Alberici, Marius(1657–1668).
Ubaldi, Fridericus, Arch. Caesarien. (1668–1673).
Ravizza, Franciscus, Arch. Laodicen. (1673–1675).
Cerri, Urbanus, (1675–1679).
Cibo, Eduardus, Patr. Constantinop. (1680–1695).
Fabroni, Carolus (1695–1706).
BIiancheri, Antonius (1706–1707).
De Cavalieri, Silvius, Arch. Athenarum. (1707–1717).
Carafa, Aloisius, Arch. Larissen. (1717–1724).
Ruspoli, Bartholamaeus (1724–1730).
Forteguerra, Nicolaus (1730–1735).
Monti, Philippus (1735–1743).
Lercari, Nicolaus (1743–1757).
Antonelli, Nicolaus (1757–1759).
Marefoschi, Marius (1759–1770).
Borgia, Stephanus (1770–1789).
Sandodari, Antonius, Arch. Adanen. (1789–1795).
Brancadoro, Caesar, Arch. Niaiben. (1796–1801).
Coppola, Dominicus, Arch. Myren. (1801–1808).
Quarantotti, Joannes B. (1808–1816).
Pedicini, Carolus Maria (1816–1822).
Caprano, Patrus, Arch. Iconien. (1823–1828).
Castracane degli Antelminelli, Castruccius (1829–1833).
Mai, Angelus (1833–1838).
Cadolini, Ignatius, Arch. Spoletanus. (1838–1843).
Brutnelli, Joannes (1843–1847).
Barnabo, Alexander (1848–1856).
Bedini, Cajetanus, Arch. Thebarum. (1856–1861).
Capalti, Hannibal (1861–1868).
 Simeoni, Joannes (1868–1875).
Agnozzi, Joannes B. (1877–1879).
Masotti, Ignatius (1879–1882).
Jacobini, Dominicus, Arch. Tyrem. (1882–1891).
Persico, Ignatius, Arch. Tamiathen. (1891–1893).
Ciasca, Augustinus, Arch. Larissen. (1893–1899).
Veccia, Aloisius (1899–1911).
Laurenti, Camillus (1911 –

Celso Costantini (1935–1953)

Pietro Sigismondi (27 September 1954 – 25 May 1967)
Bernardin Gantin (26 February 1973 – 19 December 1975)
Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy (19 December 1975 – 30 October 1985)
José Tomás Sánchez (30 October 1985 – 21 June 1991)
Giuseppe Uhac (21 June 1991 – 18 January 1998)
Marcello Zago, O.M.I. (28 March 1998 – 1 March 2001)
Robert Sarah (1 October 2001 – 7 October 2010)
Savio Hon Tai-Fai (29 December 2010 – 28 September 2017)
Protase Rugambwa (9 November 2017 – )

Adjunct Secretaries

The adjunct secretary, when one is appointed, is concurrently President of the Pontifical Mission Societies.

Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don (1 October 2001 – 2005.12.10)

Henryk Hoser, S.A.C. (22 January 2005 – 24 May 2008)
Piergiuseppe Vacchelli (24 May 2008 – 26 June 2012)
Giampietro Del Toso (9 November 2017 – )

Undersecretary
Charles Asa Schleck (1995–2000)

Delegate of the Administration

Msgr. Angelo Mottola (Italy; later Archbishop) (1986 – 1999.07.16)

See also
Protectorate of missions

References
1. "Profile" (https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cevang/documents/rc_con_cev
ang_20100524_profile_en.html). The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
Vatican. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
 2. Dulles, Avery Cardinal (2009). Evangelization for the Third Millennium. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist
Press. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-8091-4622-2.
3. "Tanzanian appointed secretary of Congregation for Evangelization of Peoples" (https://ww
w.catholicnewsagency.com/news/tanzanian-appointed-secretary-of-congregation-for-evang
elization-of-peoples-26590).
4. "PMO" (https://web.archive.org/web/20180320110412/http://www.pmoinindia.org/president.h
tml). www.pmoinindia.org. Archived from the original (http://www.pmoinindia.org/president.ht
ml) on 2018-03-20. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
5. "Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples" (http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/romanc
uria/d08.htm).
6. "Vatican office for evangelization of peoples gets a new undersecretary" (https://www.catholi
cnewsagency.com/news/vatican-office-for-evangelization-of-peoples-gets-a-new-undersecr
etary-86609). Catholic News Agency. 2017-09-28. Retrieved 2017-10-08.
7. "press.catholica.va/news_services/bulletin/news/30075.php?index=30075 – Translator" (htt
p://www.microsofttranslator.com/BV.aspx?ref=IE8Activity&a=http://press.catholica.va/news_s
ervices/bulletin/news/30075.php?index=30075&lang=en). www.microsofttranslator.com.
Retrieved 2017-04-24.
8. "First woman appointed to a Vatican congregation joyful :: EWTN News" (http://www.ewtnne
ws.com/catholic-news/Vatican.php?id=10843). www.ewtnnews.com. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
9. Huizing (http://www.britannica.com/topic/canon-law#ref216912), Canon Law.
10. FILONI, FERNANDO CARDINAL (2016). "The Reception of the Code in the Missionary
Territories and the Special Faculties Granted to the Congregation for the Evangelization of
Peoples". Jurist: Studies in Church Order & Ministry. 76 (1): 5–18.
11. "Pontifical Urbaniana University - Ateneo" (http://www.urbaniana.org/en/ateneo/storia.htm).
www.urbaniana.org. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
12. Holy See (https://www.vatican.va/content/vatican/en.html), Vatican Website.
13. romeartlover. "Collegio di Propaganda Fide" (http://www.romeartlover.it/Vasi164a.htm).
www.romeartlover.it.
14. Blunt, A. Guide to Baroque Rome, Granada, 1982, 246
15. Blunt, 1982, 166
16. Magnuson, T. Rome in the Age of Bernini, Vol 2, 206–7
17. Blunt, 1979, 246
18. "Rinunce e Nomine, 08.12.2019" (https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pu
bblico/2019/12/08/0978/02005.html) (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office.
Retrieved 8 December 2019.

External links
Official Propaganda Fide website (http://www.fides.org/en)
GCatholic.org (http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/romancuria/d08.htm)
Notre Dame University site gives history of the Propaganda Fide, with details of its
organization (https://web.archive.org/web/20040301122948/http://archives1.archives.nd.ed
u/propfide.htm)
the Collegio di Propaganda Fide (http://www.romeartlover.it/Vasi164a.htm): photos and
history
Satellite Photo (https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Rome+Italy&ll=41.904082,12.483902&sp
n=0.004946,0.012618&t=k&hl=en). The Collegio is the large rhomboidal block buildings that
lie just south of the Spanish steps (narrow tip and Bernini facade facing northeast to Piazza
di Spagna).
 Umberto Benigni (1913). "Sacred Congregation of Propaganda" (https://en.wikisource.org/w
iki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Sacred_Congregation_of_Propaganda). In Herbermann,
Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

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