The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (CEP; ) was a congregation of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church in Rome, responsible for missionary work and related activities. It is also known by its former title, the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (), or simply the Propaganda Fide. On 5 June 2022, it was merged with the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization into the Dicastery for Evangelization.

It was responsible for Latin Church pre-diocesan missionary jurisdictions: missions sui iuris, apostolic prefectures (neither entitled to a titular bishop) and apostolic vicariates. Eastern Catholic equivalents like apostolic exarchate are the responsibility of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches. However many 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 in 1627 Pope Urban VIII established within it a training college for missionaries, the Pontificio Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide. When Pope Paul VI reorganized and adjusted the tasks of the Roman Curia with the publication of Regimini Ecclesiae Universae 15 August 1967, the name of the congregation was changed to the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

The early congregation was established in the Palazzo Ferratini, donated by Spanish cleric Juan Bautista Vives, to the south of the Piazza di Spagna. Two of the foremost artistic figures of Baroque Rome were involved in the development of the architectural complex; the sculptor and architect Gianlorenzo Bernini and the architect Francesco Borromini.

The last Prefect of the Congregation was Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle from December 2019 until June 2022. The secretary was Archbishop Protase Rugambwa. The adjunct secretary and President of the Pontifical Mission Societies was Archbishop Giampietro Del Toso. The under-secretary was Father Ryszard Szmydki, O.M.I.

History

left|thumb|[[Alexandre de Rhodes' Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum, published by the Propaganda Fide in 1651.]]

Pope Gregory XV founded the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (Propaganda Fide) in 1622. With the bull Inscrutabili Divinae, through the body was charged with fostering the spread of Catholicism and with the regulation of Catholic ecclesiastical affairs in non-Catholic countries. It sought to promote the Church's missionary work and to gain more control over foreign missions from Spain and Portugal.

By 1917, all Eastern-rite churches had been removed from the Propaganda Fide's jurisdiction.

With the reform of Praedicate evangelium, the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples was merged with the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, to create the Dicastery for Evangelization.

Purposes

The Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the 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 Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith was left in charge to give faculties to the aforementioned bishops in addition to perfects, who were similar to bishops without the notoriety.

;A congregation for the propagation of the faith

On January 6, 1622 Gregory XV erected the Congregation de Propaganda Fide as central and supreme organ for the propagation of the faith to aim at the union of the Orthodox and Protestant Churches and to promote and organize the mission among non-Christians.

;The establishment of a seminary for the training of missionaries

The Pontificio Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide ("Pontifical Urban College for the Propagation of the Faith") was established in 1627 by Pope Urban VIII for the purpose of training missionaries. It was located at the former Palazzo Ferratini at the Piazza di Spagna. The college prepared students for holy orders, after which they were to return to their homelands as missionaries. In 1641 Urban VIII placed it directly under the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith.

In 1931 the new Pontifical Urban University opened on the Janiculum.

;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.

Palazzo di Propaganda Fide

thumb|left|250px|The Southwest facade by [[Francesco Borromini|Borromini: etching by Giuseppe Vasi, 1761.]]

The Congregation was originally housed in a small palace, the Palazzo Ferratini, donated by the Spanish priest Vives. The building is located in the Rione Colonna, at the southern end of Piazza di Spagna. The architectural complex of the Propaganda 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.

thumb|250px|The North facade at [[Piazza di Spagna by Bernini; behind the Column of the Immaculate Conception.]]

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.

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. The Re Magi chapel, dedicated to the Three Kings, has a plan with four side chapels and galleries above. 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.

The central door leads into the courtyard where Borromini intended a curved arcade but this was not built. 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 Commission for Consecrated Religious and Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical Urbaniana University.

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:100%; text-align:center;"

! scope="col" | No.

! scope="col" style="border-right:none;" |

! scope="col" style="border-left:none;" | Name

! scope="col" style="width:20%;" | From

! scope="col" style="width:20%;" | Until

! scope="col" style="width:20%;" | Appointer

|-

! scope="row" | 1

|100px

|Antonio Maria Sauli

|1622

|1622

|Gregory XV

|-

! scope="row" | 2

|100px

|Ludovico Ludovisi

|1622

|1632

|Gregory XV

|-

! scope="row" | 3

|100px

|Antonio Barberini

|1632

|1645

|Urban VIII

|-

! scope="row" | 4

|100px

|Luigi Capponi<br/>

|1645

|1649

|Innocent X

|-

! scope="row" | 5

|100px

|Antonio Barberini

|1649

|1671

|Innocent X

|-

! scope="row" | 6

|100px

|Paluzzo Paluzzi<br/>Altieri degli Albertoni

|1671

|1698

|Clement X

|-

! scope="row" | 7

|100px

|Carlo Barberini

|1698

|1704

|Innocent XII

|-

! scope="row" | 8

|139x139px

|Giuseppe Sacripante

|1704

|1727

|Clement XI

|-

! scope="row" | 9

|100px

|Vincenzo Petra

|1727

|1747

|Benedict XIII

|-

! scope="row" | 10

|100px

|Silvio Valenti Gonzaga

|1747

|1756

|Benedict XIV

|-

! scope="row" | 11

|100px

|Giuseppe Spinelli

|1756

|1763

|Benedict XIV

|-

! scope="row" | 12

|100px

|Giuseppe Maria Castelli

|1763

|1780

|Clement XIII

|-

! scope="row" | 13

|100px

|Leonardo Antonelli

|1780

|1795

|Pius VI

|-

! scope="row" | 14

|100px

|Giacinto Sigismondo Gerdil

|1795

|1802

|Pius VI

|-

|rowspan=2|15

|rowspan=2|100px

|rowspan=2|Stefano Borgia<br/>

|1798

|1800

|Pius VI

|-

|1802

|1804

|Pius VII

|-

! scope="row" | 16

|100px

|Antonio Dugnani

|1804

|1805

|Pius VII

|-

! scope="row" | 17

|100px

|Michele di Pietro

|1805

|1814

|Pius VII

|-

! scope="row" | 18

|100px

|Lorenzo Litta

|1814

|1818

|Pius VII

|-

! scope="row" | 19

|100px

|Francesco Luigi Fontana

|1818

|1822

|Pius VII

|-

! scope="row" | 20

|100px

|Ercole Consalvi

|1822

|1824

|Pius VII

|-

! scope="row" | 21

|100px

|Giulio Maria della Somaglia<br/>

|1824

|1826

|Leo XII

|-

! scope="row" | 22

|100px

|Mauro Capellari<br/>

|1826

|1831

|Leo XII

|-

! scope="row" | 23

|100px

|Carlo Maria Pedicini

|1831

|1834

|Gregory XVI

|-

! scope="row" | 24

|100px

|Giacomo Filippo Fransoni

|1834

|1856

|Gregory XVI

|-

! scope="row" | 25

|100px

|Alessandro Barnabò

|1856

|1874

|Pius IX

|-

! scope="row" | 26

|100px

|Alessandro Franchi

|1874

|1878

|Pius IX

|-

! scope="row" | 27

|100px

|Giovanni Simeoni

|1878

|1892

|Leo XIII

|-

! scope="row" | 28

|100px

|Mieczysław Halka<br/>Ledóchowski

|1892

|1902

|Leo XIII

|-

! scope="row" | 29

|100px

|Girolamo Maria Gotti

|1902

|1916

|Leo XIII

|-

! scope="row" | 30

|100px

|Domenico Serafini

|1916

|1918

|Benedict XV

|-

! scope="row" | 31

|100px

|Willem van Rossum

|1918

|1932

|Pius XI

|-

! scope="row" | 32

|100px

|Pietro Fumasoni Biondi

|1933

|1960

|Pius XI

|-

! scope="row" | 33

|100px

|Samuel Stritch<br/>

|1958

|1958

|Pius XII

|-

|rowspan=2|34

|rowspan=2|100px

|rowspan=2|Gregorio Pietro Agagianian<br/>

|1958

|1960

|Pius XII

|-

|1960

|1970

|John XXIII

|-

! scope="row" | 35

|100px

|Agnelo Rossi

|1970

|1984

|Paul VI

|-

! scope="row" | 36

|100px

|Dermot J. Ryan<br/>

|1984

|1985

|John Paul II

|-

! scope="row" | 37

|100px

|Jozef Tomko

|1985

|2001

|John Paul II

|-

! scope="row" | 38

|100px

|Crescenzio Sepe

|2001

|2006

|John Paul II

|-

! scope="row" | 39

|100px

|Ivan Dias

|2006

|2011

|Benedict XVI

|-

! scope="row" | 40

|100px

|Fernando Filoni

|2011

|2019

|Benedict XVI

|-

! scope="row" | 41

|100px

|Luis Antonio Tagle

|2019

|2022

|Francis

|}

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.

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 – 21 January 2023)
  • Samuele Sangalli (1 October 2024 - )

Undersecretary

  • Charles Asa Schleck (1995–2000)

Delegate of the Administration

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

See also

  • Pontifical Urban University
  • Protectorate of missions

References

Further reading

  • Notre Dame University site gives history of the Propaganda Fide, with details of its organization
  • Official Propaganda Fide website
  • GCatholic.org
  • the Collegio di Propaganda Fide: photos and history
  • Satellite Photo. 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).