200 
Other Ecclesiastical Collections in Rome 
The archives of this congregation consist of about 2000 registers, dealing 
chiefly with its first class of duties, and about 4000 processes of canonization/ 11 
In addition, as is mentioned on page 17, there are in the Bibliotheque National 
at Paris about 2000 volumes of processes, left there in 1817. 
Indulgentiarum et Reliquiorum. 
This congregation was established in 1669 but held few meetings before 
1710. It was charged with the granting of spiritual indulgences and with 
the attestation and the regulation of the adoration of relics. Its greater favors 
were granted in the form of briefs, but minor ones it conferred upon its own 
authority. As each bishop on his consecration received certain indulgences 
there must be a certain amount of American material in its archives, which 
seem to be in good condition. This congregation is not mentioned in the Con¬ 
stitutions of 1908. 
Pro Negotiis Ecclesiasticis Extraordinariis. 
This congregation was established in 1814 to assist in the re-establishment 
of the Church after the upheaval of the French Revolution. Its special field 
is the making and oversight of concordats and other treaties with secular 
powers. This work naturally brought it into close touch with the secretary 
of state, and it has come to be in effect a consulting board acting with him. 
This has tended largely to extend its activity, which actually includes much 
the same field as that of the State Department in the United States of America; 
while its close dependence upon the secretary of state differentiates it from the 
other congregations which have more independent powers. 
It had the charge of the re-establishment of relations between the Church 
and most of the republics of South America, though the cases of Chili and 
Hayti were dealt with by the Propaganda; and its archives undoubtedly con¬ 
tain much of interest, but of course are not open, as they are practically all 
subsequent to 1815. They are apparently kept with those of the secretary of 
state and will probably be opened when the latter are. 
The other congregations past or still existing can scarcely have had any¬ 
thing to do with America, but that of Studies will doubtless play an important 
part in the future. 
Commissions. 
The numerous commissions which now exist are all of comparatively recent 
origin, and have to do, moreover, with general questions of administration or 
scholarship. Their archives, therefore, would be neither available nor of local 
interest to America. 
TRIBUNALS. 
Sacra Poenitentiaria. 
The business of this tribunal is purely spiritual. 22 It absolves sins reserved 
from the jurisdiction of the ordinary confessors and the bishops; grants dis¬ 
pensations, commutations, sanctions, condonations, etc.; and deals with ques¬ 
tions of conscience, such as the purchase by Catholics of ecclesiastical goods 
condemned by the state, and usury. Its archives, consisting of about 4500 
volumes dating from the end of the sixteenth century, have been, and are apt 
^Hinojosa, Los Despachos, p. liv. 
" 2 See also H. C. Lea, A Formulary of the Papal Penitentiary in the Thirteenth Cen¬ 
tury (Philadelphia, 1892, pp. xxxviii, 183), pp. xxviii-xxx; A. Gottlob, “Das Vaticani- 
sche Archiv ”, in Historisches Jahrbuch, V. 272. 
