thumb|The church of [[San Giustino, Rome displays the arms of its titular cardinal at the time, Jean-Baptiste Phạm Minh Mẫn, at upper right.]]

In the Catholic Church, a titular church () is a church in Rome that is assigned to a member of the clergy who is created a cardinal. These are Catholic churches in the city, within the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Rome, that serve as honorary designations symbolising the relationship of cardinals to the pope, the bishop of Rome. According to the 1983 Code of Canon Law, a cardinal may assist his titular church through counsel or through patronage, although "he has no power of governance over it, and he should not for any reason interfere in matters concerning the administration of its goods, or its discipline, or the service of the church".

There are two ranks of titular churches: titles and deaconries. A title () is a titular church that is assigned to a cardinal priest (a member of the second order of the College of Cardinals), whereas a deaconry () is normally assigned to a cardinal deacon (a member of the third order of the college).

History

Before the legalization of Christianity in Rome the tituli were private buildings used as Christian churches—also called domus ecclesiae or "house churches"—and each took the name of the owner of the building, either a wealthy donor, or a priest appointed by the Church authorities to run it. For instance, the , now the church of the Santi Quattro Coronati, drew its name from its foundress, who doubtless owned the extensive suburban Roman villa whose foundations remain under the church and whose audience hall became the ecclesiastical basilica. The most ancient reference to such a Roman church is in the Apology against the Arians of Athanasius

By the end of the 5th century such churches numbered 25, as is confirmed by the Liber Pontificalis. The same number, though with different identities, is given in the reports of councils held in Rome in 499 and 595. In 1120, however, the number is given as 28. a legal fiction establishing their position within the Pope's diocese of Rome. It was understood that they had no obligation to reside in Rome, and so were not personally responsible for the pastoral care of the titular churches assigned to them. This practice is still in force today.

Present situation

Today, the cardinal priests have a loose patronal relationship with their titular churches, whose cardinal protector they are called. Their names and coats of arms are inscribed on plaques in the churches, they are expected to preach at the church occasionally when they are in Rome, and many raise funds for their church's maintenance and restoration, but they no longer participate in the actual management of the churches. There are (as of 2015) 160 presbyteral titular churches.

Many cardinals are assigned to tituli with some connection to their home see or country, such as the national churches in Rome. For example, Jean-Claude Turcotte, former archbishop of Montreal, was made Cardinal Priest of the Santi Martiri Canadesi (Holy Canadian Martyrs); André Vingt-Trois, former Archbishop of Paris, was the cardinal priest of San Luigi dei Francesi (St. Louis, King of France).

Cardinal deacons

In the wider sense, the term titular church is also loosely applied to the deaconries in Rome assigned to the cardinal-deacons.

Originally, a deaconry was a charitable institution in Christian Rome, first mentioned in connection with Pope Benedict II (684–685). It would seem that in an early period there were seven deaconries, each corresponding to one of the seven divisions of the city. As the terms implies, each was entrusted to a deacon. Pope Adrian I (772–795) fixed their number at 18, a number that remained constant until the 16th century. They belong to the order of cardinal bishops and, in the order of precedence, come before the cardinal priests and immediately after the cardinals who hold the titles of the seven suburbicarian sees.

See also

  • List of titular churches in Rome, listing present titular churches and their incumbents
  • Churches of Rome
  • Suburbicarian diocese

References

Bibliography

  • Duchesne, Louis (1887). "Les titres presbyteraux et les diaconies,"
  • H. W. Klewitz, "Die Entstehung des Kardinalskollegiums," Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte. Kanonische Abteilung 25 (1936), 115–221.
  • Krautheimer, R., Corpus Basilicarum Christianarum Romae, vol. 3.
  • Lanzoni, Francesco (1925). "I titoli presbiteriali di Roma antica nella storia e nella leggenda," Rivista di archeologia cristiana II (1925), 195–257.
  • Richardson, Carol M., Reclaiming Rome: cardinals in the fifteenth century, Leiden: Brill, 2009.
  • Witte, Arnold (2020). "Cardinals and Their Titular Churches". In Mary Hollingsworth, Miles Pattenden and Arnold Witte (eds.), A Companion to the Early Modern Cardinal (pp. 333–350). (Brill's Companions to the Christian Tradition; Vol. 91). Brill.
  • GCatholic Cardinal titles
  • GCatholic Cardinal deaconries