Congregation

Act of congregating or a embling; a collection; an a emblage; an a embly; a company. (Eccl.) An a embly of persons met together for the purpose of religious worship. In the Roman Catholic Church it is applied to certain boards of cardinals, prelates, and others intrusted with the management of particular branches of the affairs of the Church. There are 21 of these C., 15 for spiritual and 6 for temporal purposes; the chief of them being the C. de Propaganda Fide for consulting as to the advancement of the Catholic religion throughout the world; the C. of the Index, for examining books, and deciding upon their fitne for general perusal; the C. of Sacred Rites, for regulating all matters relating to ceremonies and rites of worship: the C. of Relics, for inquiring into the genuinene of sacred relics; the C. of the Holy Office or IMG:content-0311.jpg:[graphic][merged small] IMG:content-0312.jpg:[graphic] IMG:content-0313.png:[ocr errors] IMG:content-0314.png:[ocr errors] The American Dictionary and Cyclopedia IMG:content-0316.png:[ocr errors] IMG:content-0317.png:[ocr errors] IMG:content-0318.png:[ocr errors] IMG:content-0319.png:[ocr errors] The American Dictionary and Cyclopedia Inquisition, for taking cognizance of heresies and all novel opinions; the C. of Religious Discipline; and the Consistorial C. These congregations act as a check to the power of the pope; for though their proceedings are usually sanctioned by him, he cannot put a veto upon them without weighty reasons. A company of monks or religious persons, forming a subdivision of an order, is also called, in the Roman Catholic Church, a C.-" The C. of the Lord" was a title a umed by the first Scotch Presbyterian reformers, in contradistinction to the Church of England, which they called the "C. of Satan." They appeared first in 1557 under the Earl of Argyll, and at a later period were led by the celebrated John Knox.