
The Roman Curia meeting in 2008
The Roman Curia is the group of various bureaus within the Roman Catholic Church that assists the Pope in the day-to-day exercise of church affairs. Pope Urban II formed the first curia (court) in 1089, and Pope Innocent III met with his curia three times a week. In 1542, Pope Paul III established the Holy Office to fight against Protestantism and other "heresies" amid the Protestant Reformation, and, on 22 January 1588, the Council of Trent established standing committees of cardinals to administer the Papal States, as well as the Church. The Curia had both religious and civil functions in the Papal States until the Papal States was seized by the Kingdom of Italy in 1860 and Rome was captured in 1870. Afterwards, the Curia devoted itself strictly to ecclesiastical matters.