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In the early persecuted days of the church, cardinals—according to one theory of how the title originated—were men who aided the Pope by knowing their way around the bureaucracy of the Roman Empire. Because of their ability to swing between affairs of church and state, they became known as "hinge" men (the Latin word for hinge is car do}. Later the title was applied to the bishops of Rome's seven suburban dioceses, the priests in charge of the city's ancient parishes, and the deacons who handled church administration. This symbolic ranking of cardinal-bishops, cardinal-priests and cardinal-deacons is still preserved in the Sacred College, although by canon law all Princes of the Church must be at least priests.
As Well Run as G.M. Under Pope John, 53 of the church's princes served abroad as papal ambassadors or bishops of dioceses stretching from Tokyo to Munich. The other 34 cardinals, including eleven non-Italians, work in Rome as the papal cabinet, running the Curia. It is one of the oddest bureaucracies in the world, yet one of the most efficient. In 1960 the American Institute of Management rated the Roman Catholic Church, found it about as well run as General Motors.
The government of the church, which first took shape under strong-minded Pope Sixtus V in 1588, consists of twelve congregations—ministries would be the secular equivalent—three tribunals, five other offices. They handle every church problem from heresies to legitimatizing births. Among its most significant branches:
∙THE SUPREME SACRED CONGREGATION OF THE HOLY OFFICE. "In Rome," says an old Vatican saw,"fear goes by the name of the Holy Office." Founded in the 13th century to combat heresy, the Holy Office ran the Inquisition, still edits the Index of Forbidden Books, preserves Catholic dogma from error, sets the terms of marriage for Catholics who wed non-Catholics. Operating under security rules that would do credit to the CIA, the Holy Office keeps its files under lock and key forever; anyone who spills its secrets is subject to automatic excommunication, revocable only by the Pope himself. One of three congregations over which John XXIII presides (the others: the Consistorial Congregation, the Congregation for the Oriental Church), the Holy Office is managed by Alfredo Cardinal Otta-viani, 71.
∙THE SACRED CONSISTORIAL CONGREGATION. As the church's Department of the Interior, the Consistorial Congregation supervises and changes the boundary lines between dioceses, advises the Pope on naming new bishops (except in missionary and Eastern Rite lands). Headed by Carlo Cardinal Confalonieri, a smooth, elegant bureaucrat with 35 years' experience in the Vatican, the congregation also receives the stewardship reports that each bishop must present to the Pope every five years.
Among its lesser duties: watching out for the welfare of sailors and immigrants.