Roman Rota
The Tribunal Apostolicum Rotae Romanae (Latin, "Apostolic Tribunal of the Sacred Roman Rota") — also called the Sacred Roman Rota, and anciently the Apostolic Court of Audience — is the highest appellate tribunal of the Roman Catholic Church, with respect to both Latin-rite members and the eastern-rite members and is, with respect to judicial trials conducted in the Catholic Church, the highest ecclesiastical court constituted by the Holy See. An appeal may be had to the Pope himself, who is the supreme ecclesiastical judge. The Catholic Church has a complete legal system, which is the oldest still in use today. The court is named Rota (wheel) because the judges, called auditors, originally met in a round room to hear cases. The Rota was established in the 13th century.
Read more about Roman Rota: Constitution, Name, Operations
Famous quotes containing the word roman:
“The descendants of Holy Roman Empire monarchies became feeble-minded in the twentieth century, and after World War I had been done in by the democracies; some were kept on to entertain the tourists, like the one they have in England.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)