The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments promotes the sacred liturgy in accordance with the renewal undertaken by the Second Vatican Council. Its areas of competence include all matters that pertain by law to the Apostolic See concerning the regulation and promotion of the sacred liturgy and vigilance in ensuring that the laws of the Church and the liturgical norms are faithfully observed in every place.
It is the task of the Dicastery to provide for the redaction or the revision and updating of the typical editions of liturgical books.
The Dicastery confirms the translations of liturgical books in current languages and grants the recognitio to the fitting adaptations of these to local cultures, as legitimately approved by the Episcopal Conferences. It also grants the recognitio to particular calendars and to the Propers of Masses and the Liturgy of the Hours of particular Churches and Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, following their approval by the relative competent authority.
The Dicastery assists diocesan Bishops and Episcopal Conferences in promoting, by effective and suitable measures, the liturgical apostolate, especially with regard to the celebration of the Eucharist, the other sacraments and liturgical acts, for the sake of an ever more active participation on the part of the faithful. With the Episcopal Conferences, the Dicastery encourages reflection on possible forms of inculturation of the liturgy and accompanies their contextualization.
The Dicastery oversees the discipline of the sacraments and juridical issues involving their valid and licit celebration, as well as the discipline of sacramentals, without prejudice to the competence of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
It examines and grants requests for indults and dispensations concerning matters that exceed the competencies of diocesan Bishops.
The Dicastery promotes and organizes the periodic celebration of International Eucharistic Congresses and is available to cooperate in the celebration of National Eucharistic Congresses.
The Dicastery is responsible for matters concerning liturgical life:
1. by promoting liturgical formation at various levels, also through multi-regional meetings;
2. by supporting commissions or institutes created for promoting the liturgical apostolate, music, chant and sacred art;
3. by erecting international associations for these purposes or by approving their statutes.
The Dicastery is responsible for the regulation and discipline of the sacred liturgy with regard to the use – permitted according to the established norms – of liturgical books in use prior to the reform of the Second Vatican Council.
The Dicastery is responsible for preserving the veneration of sacred relics, the confirmation of patron saints and the granting of the title of minor basilica.
The Dicastery assists diocesan Bishops in ensuring that the forms of popular devotion increasingly conform to the Church’s norms and are in harmony with the sacred liturgy, by affirming its principles and providing guidance for their fruitful implementation in the particular Churches.
The Dicastery assists Bishops in carrying out their proper office as moderators, promoters and guardians of the entire liturgical life of the particular Church entrusted to their care, by offering guidelines and suggestions for promoting a correct liturgical formation, in order to prevent and eliminate possible abuses.
To carry out its responsibilities more effectively, the Dicastery can, in addition to its members and consultors, seek cooperation and periodic exchanges with the liturgical commissions of the various Episcopal Conferences and with the international committees for the translation of liturgical books into the major languages; it also follows with interest the contributions made in the area of liturgy by institutions of higher ecclesiastical studies.
[Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium, 19 March 2022]
Postal Address
Palazzo delle Congregazioni
Piazza Pio XII, 10
00120 CITTÀ DEL VATICANO