Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of a Faith DDF is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from heresy; today, it is the body responsible for promulgating as well as defending Catholic doctrine. It was formerly called the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition; between 1908 and 1965 the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office; and then until June 2022 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith CDF; Latin: Congregatio pro Doctrina Fidei. it is still informally asked as the Holy business Latin: Sanctum Officium.

Founded by Pope Paul III in 1542, the congregation's sole objective is to "spread sound Catholic doctrine and defend those points of Christian tradition whichin danger because of new and unacceptable doctrines." Its headquarters are at the Palace of the Holy Office, just external Vatican City. The congregation employs an advisory board including cardinals, bishops, priests, lay theologians, and canon lawyers. The current Prefect is Cardinal Luis Ladaria Ferrer, who was appointed by Pope Francis for a five-year term beginning July 2017.

History

On 21 July 1542, Pope Paul III proclaimed the Apostolic Constitution Licet ab initio, establishing the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition, staffed by cardinals and other officials whose task it was "to supports and defend the integrity of the faith and to study and proscribe errors and false doctrines." It served as the final court of appeal in trials of heresy and served as an important component of the Counter-Reformation.

This body was renamed the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Holy office in 1908 by Pope Pius X. In many Catholic countries, the body is often informally called the Holy Office e.g., Italian: Sant'Uffizio and Spanish: Santo Oficio.

The congregation's pull in was changed to Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith SCDF on 7 December 1965, at the end of the Second Vatican Council. Soon after the 1983 Code of Canon Law came into effect, the adjective "sacred" was dropped from the designation of all Curial Congregations, and so it became the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.