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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Holy See</title><script src="https://dtyry4ejybx0.cloudfront.net/js/cmp/cleanmediacmp.js?ver=0104" async="true"></script><script defer data-domain="newadvent.org" src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js"></script><link rel="canonical" href="https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07424b.htm"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <meta name="description" content="A term derived from the enthronement-ceremony of the bishops of Rome"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href="http://feeds.newadvent.org/bestoftheweb?format=xml"><link rel="icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><link rel="shortcut icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><meta name="robots" content="noodp"><link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="../utility/screen6.css" media="screen"></head> <body class="cathen" id="07424b.htm">  <br/> <div id="capitalcity"><table summary="Logo" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="100%"><tr valign="bottom"><td align="left"><a href="../"><img height=36 width=153 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></td><td align="right"> <form id="searchbox_000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0" action="../utility/search.htm">  <input type="hidden" name="safe" value="active"> <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0"/> <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="FORID:9"/>  <label for="searchQuery" id="searchQueryLabel">Search:</label> <input id="searchQuery" name="q" type="text" size="25" aria-labelledby="searchQueryLabel"/>  <label for="submitButton" id="submitButtonLabel" class="visually-hidden">Submit Search</label> <input id="submitButton" type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" aria-labelledby="submitButtonLabel"/> </form> <table summary="Spacer" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td height="2"></td></tr></table> <table summary="Tabs" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../"> Home </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_white_on_color" href="../cathen/index.html"> Encyclopedia </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../summa/index.html"> Summa </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../fathers/index.html"> Fathers </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../bible/gen001.htm"> Bible </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../library/index.html"> Library </a></td> </tr></table> </td> </tr></table><table summary="Alphabetical index" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"> <a href="../cathen/a.htm"> A </a><a href="../cathen/b.htm"> B </a><a href="../cathen/c.htm"> C </a><a href="../cathen/d.htm"> D </a><a href="../cathen/e.htm"> E </a><a href="../cathen/f.htm"> F </a><a href="../cathen/g.htm"> G </a><a href="../cathen/h.htm"> H </a><a href="../cathen/i.htm"> I </a><a href="../cathen/j.htm"> J </a><a href="../cathen/k.htm"> K </a><a href="../cathen/l.htm"> L </a><a href="../cathen/m.htm"> M </a><a href="../cathen/n.htm"> N </a><a href="../cathen/o.htm"> O </a><a href="../cathen/p.htm"> P </a><a href="../cathen/q.htm"> Q </a><a href="../cathen/r.htm"> R </a><a href="../cathen/s.htm"> S </a><a href="../cathen/t.htm"> T </a><a href="../cathen/u.htm"> U </a><a href="../cathen/v.htm"> V </a><a href="../cathen/w.htm"> W </a><a href="../cathen/x.htm"> X </a><a href="../cathen/y.htm"> Y </a><a href="../cathen/z.htm"> Z </a> </td></tr></table></div> <div id="mobilecity" style="text-align: center; "><a href="../"><img height=24 width=102 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></div>  <div id="mi5"><span class="breadcrumbs"><a href="../">Home</a> > <a href="../cathen">Catholic Encyclopedia</a> > <a href="../cathen/h.htm">H</a> > Holy See</span></div> <div id="springfield2"> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-top' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <h1>Holy See</h1> <p><em><a href="https://gumroad.com/l/na2"><strong>Please help support the mission of New Advent</strong> and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more  all for only $19.99...</a></em></p> <p>(From the <a href="../cathen/09019a.htm">Latin</a> <em>Sancta Sedes</em>, Holy Chair).</p> <p>A term derived from the <a href="../cathen/05479c.htm">enthronement</a>-ceremony of the <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> of <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>. The seat or chair in question must not be confounded with the ancient <em>sedes gestatoria</em> in the centre of the <a href="../cathen/01659a.htm">apse</a> of St. Peter's, and immemorially <a href="../cathen/05188b.htm">venerated</a> as the <em>cathedra Petri</em>, or Chair of Peter; the term means, in a general sense, the actual seat (i.e. residence) of the supreme <a href="../cathen/11537b.htm">pastor</a> of the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>, together with the various <a href="../cathen/07322c.htm">ecclesiastical authorities</a> who constitute the central administration.</p> <p>In this canonical and diplomatic sense, the term is synonymous with <a href="../cathen/01640c.htm">"Apostolic See"</a>, "Holy Apostolic See", "Roman Church", <a href="../cathen/13147a.htm">"Roman Curia"</a>.The origin of these terms can only be approximately ascertained. The word <em>sedes</em>, "chair", is an old technical term applicable to all <a href="../cathen/05001a.htm">episcopal sees</a>. It was first used to designate the Churches founded by the <a href="../cathen/01626c.htm">Apostles</a>; later the word was applied to the principal <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Christian Churches</a>. These <em>ecclesiae dictae majores</em> were understood to be the five great patriarchal sees of <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christian</a> antiquity: <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>, Alexandria, <a href="../cathen/01570a.htm">Antioch</a>, <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>, and Constantinople. To these the word <em>sedes</em> was applied: "quod in iis episcopi sederent in thronis", and of <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a> it was expressly said: "Romana quidem erat prima sedes propria dicta." Thus, Gelasius I (492-496) at a Roman council: "Est ergo prima Petri apostoli sedes." In the <a href="../cathen/06001a.htm">earliest Christian writings</a>, also, we often find references to the <a href="../cathen/05001a.htm">see</a> or chair of Peter: "Sedet in cathedra Petri". Throughout the early <a href="../cathen/10285c.htm">Middle Ages</a> the term was constantly in official use. Thus, in the <a href="../cathen/09224a.htm">"Liber Pontificalis"</a> (ed. Duchesne, II, Paris, 1892, 7), under <a href="../cathen/09157b.htm">Leo III</a> (795-816): "Nos sedem apostolicam, quae est caput omnium Dei ecclesiarum, judicare non audemus." (We dare not judge the <a href="../cathen/01640c.htm">Apostolic See</a>, which is the head of all the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Churches of God</a>.) We can thus readily understand how <em>Holy See</em> came be the technical term for the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a>, the central <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">ecclesiastical</a> government, and the actual abode of the same.</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <p>The <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">papal</a> reservations of <a href="../cathen/02473c.htm">benefices</a>, customary in the <a href="../cathen/10285c.htm">Middle Ages</a>, made <a href="../cathen/10733a.htm">necessary</a> a more exact <a href="../cathen/08673a.htm">knowledge</a> of the location of the "Holy See", e.g. when the incumbent of a <a href="../cathen/02473c.htm">benefice</a> happened to die "apud sanctam sedem". Where was the "Holy See", when the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a> lived apart from the ordinary central administration? From the thirteenth to the fifteenth century we find no satisfactory solution of this question, and can only observe the decisions of the <a href="../cathen/13147a.htm">Curia</a> in individual cases. Thus, it was not deemed <a href="../cathen/10733a.htm">necessary</a> that the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a> should reside in <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>: "Ubi Papa, ibi Curia", i.e., it was taken for granted that the <a href="../cathen/13147a.htm">Curia</a> or machinery of administration always followed the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a>. This is clearly shown by an interesting case under <a href="../cathen/11056a.htm">Nicholas III</a>, who lived at Soriano from 8 June, 1280, till his death on 22 August of the same year. There were with him only his personal attendants, and the officials in charge of the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">papal</a> seal (<em>bullatores</em>). The <a href="../cathen/13147a.htm">Curia</a>, properly speaking, was at <a href="../cathen/15487a.htm">Viterbo</a>, whither the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a> frequently went to transact affairs, and where he also gave audiences: "Audientiam suam fecit." Nevertheless, he ordered <a href="../cathen/03052b.htm">Bulls</a> to be dated from Soriano, which was done (Baumgarten, "Aus K. und Kammer", Freiburg, 1907, 279). More than a century later, as appears from the official rules drawn up under <a href="../cathen/09431c.htm">Benedict XIII</a> (Pedro de Luna; rules 148, 151, 158) and <a href="../cathen/08434a.htm">John XXIII</a> (rule 68), this important point was still undecided. The aforesaid rules of <a href="../cathen/09431c.htm">Benedict XIII</a> and <a href="../cathen/08434a.htm">John XXIII</a> appeared on 28 November, 1404, and 5 June, 1413, respectively (Von Ottenthal, "Die papstlichen Kanzleiregeln von Johann XXII bis Nikolaus V", Innsbruck, 1888, pp. 148, 151, 152, and 185). During the journey of <a href="../cathen/09725a.htm">Martin V</a> (1417-1431) from <a href="../cathen/04286c.htm">Constance</a> to <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a> it frequently occurred that the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a> and <a href="../cathen/07322c.htm">ecclesiastical authorities</a> were separated from each other; even at this late date the official location of the "Holy See", in as far as this was legally important, was not yet authoritatively fixed. This uncertainty, says Bangen, caused <a href="../cathen/04027a.htm">Clement VIII</a> to draw up the Constitution: "Cum ob nonnullas", in which it is laid down that, if the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a> and the pontifical administration should not reside in the same place, the utterances of both are authoritative, provided they are in agreement with each other. Covarruvias and Gonzalez agree that: "Curia Romana ibi censetur esse, ubi est papa cum cancellaria et tribunalibus et officialibus suis, quos ad regimen ecclesiae adhibet" (the <a href="../cathen/13147a.htm">Roman Curia</a> is considered to be where the <a href="../cathen/12260a.htm">pope</a> is, with the chancery, tribunals, and officials whom he employs in the Government of the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>). (Bangen, "Die römische Kurie", Münster, 1854, I, i, 5). Hinschius (System des katholischen Kirchenrechts, III, <a href="../cathen/02493b.htm">Berlin</a>, 1883, 135, remark 6) follows the <a href="../cathen/10285c.htm">medieval</a> opinion: "Ubi Papa, ibi <a href="../cathen/13147a.htm">Curia</a>"; but this seems no longer tenable.</p> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-bottom' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <div class="pub"><h2>About this page</h2><p id="apa"><strong>APA citation.</strong> <span id="apaauthor">Baumgarten, P.M.</span> <span id="apayear">(1910).</span> <span id="apaarticle">Holy See.</span> In <span id="apawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="apapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company.</span> <span id="apaurl">http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07424b.htm</span></p><p id="mla"><strong>MLA citation.</strong> <span id="mlaauthor">Baumgarten, Paul Maria.</span> <span id="mlaarticle">"Holy See."</span> <span id="mlawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="mlavolume">Vol. 7.</span> <span id="mlapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company,</span> <span id="mlayear">1910.</span> <span id="mlaurl"><http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07424b.htm>.</span></p><p id="transcription"><strong>Transcription.</strong> <span id="transcriber">This article was transcribed for New Advent by Robert B. Olson.</span> <span id="dedication">Offered to Almighty God for the Holy Father and bishops of Our Blessed Lord's Holy Catholic Church.</span></p><p id="approbation"><strong>Ecclesiastical approbation.</strong> <span id="nihil"><em>Nihil Obstat.</em> June 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor.</span> <span id="imprimatur"><em>Imprimatur.</em> +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.</span></p><p id="contactus"><strong>Contact information.</strong> The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster <em>at</em> newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.</p></div> </div> <div id="ogdenville"><table summary="Bottom bar" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"><center><strong>Copyright © 2023 by <a href="../utility/contactus.htm">New Advent LLC</a>. 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