The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments was established by St. Pope John Paul II (1978-2005) on 2 June 1988 with the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus on the reorganization of the Roman Curia.
The new body of the Roman Curia was responsible for all liturgical matters of the Latin Church and for everything pertaining to the Apostolic See concerning the promotion and regulation of the Liturgy and, first and foremost, of the Sacraments (cf. Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus, Article 62). It was always the responsibility of the Congregation to promote the action of liturgical pastoral care, including and especially for all that pertains to the preparation and celebration of the Eucharist, the other Sacraments and sacramentals (cf. Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus, Art. 64), the celebration of Sunday together with the other feasts of the liturgical year and the Liturgy of the Hours.
The Congregation was also responsible for the development and promulgation of typical editions of Latin liturgical books and regulations in the liturgical field. Indeed, the Congregation saw to the compilation or correction of liturgical texts (cf. Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus, Art. 64, §2), and reviewed translations of liturgical books and their adaptations legitimately prepared by the Bishops’ Conferences (cf. Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus, Art. 64, §3).
In addition, the Congregation promoted multi-regional conferences to support liturgical life (cf. Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus, Art. 65), while exercising careful vigilance to ensure that liturgical provisions were observed exactly, preventing abuses and eliminating them where they were detected and discovered (cf. Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus, Art. 66).
The Congregation’s responsibilities also included the cultus attached to sacred relics, the confirmation of heavenly patrons and the granting of the title of Minor Basilica (cf. Pastor Bonus, Art. 69). In addition, its tasks included helping the bishops throughout the world so that, in addition to liturgical worship, the prayers and pious practices of the Christian people might be fostered and held in high esteem (cf. Pastor Bonus, Art. 70).
In the following years, the competencies and activities of the Congregation underwent numerous changes, which inevitably changed its internal organization as well. In 2005, in fact, the competence to deal with dispensations from the obligations assumed by Sacred Ordination to the Diaconate and Presbyterate by diocesan and religious clerics of the Latin Church and the Eastern Churches was transferred to the Congregation for the Clergy (cf. Letter from the Secretariat of State, No. 907, June 21, 2005). Subsequently, Pope Benedict XVI (2005-2013), deeming it convenient for the Dicastery to devote itself primarily to giving new impetus to the promotion of the sacred liturgy within the Universal Church, with the Motu Proprio Quaerit semper of August 30, 2011 decided to abolish Articles 67 and 68 of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus and transfer to the Tribunal of the Roman Rota the competence to deal with proceedings for the granting of the dispensation from Ratus et non Consummatus Marriages, and the causes of nullity of the Sacred Ordination. Following the Apostolic Letter Magnum Principium (2017) with the related Decree Postquam Summus Pontifex (2021), the procedure regarding translations and adaptations of the typical editions of the Liturgical Books in vernacular languages was defined and specified.
With the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate evangelium of 19 March 2022, it assumed its present name of Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.