dicastery

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek δικαστήριον (dikastḗrion, “court, tribunal”), from δίκη (díkē, “right, custom, judgement”).

Noun

dicastery (plural dicasteries)

1. A ministry or department of the Roman Curia of the Holy See, whether administrative or ecclesiastical.
   • 2022 March 21, Andrea Gagliarducci, “Praedicate evangelium: Things you might have missed in the new Vatican constitution”, in Catholic News Agency‎^[1], Denver: EWTN News, retrieved 2022-03-25:

     The dicastery will continue to oversee the appointment of bishops in the mission territories. … There is no longer a distinction between congregations and pontifical councils because all the Vatican’s main departments are now defined as dicasteries.

2. A judicial body of the ancient Athenian state, made up of dicasts.
   • 1910, William Stearns Davis, A Day in Old Athens‎^[2]:

     The better cause has conquered; and there is at least this advantage to the Athenian legal system, there will be no appeal nor tedious technicalities before a "higher court." The verdict of the dicastery is final.

Derived terms

• dicasterial

Translations

administrative body of the Vatican

• French: dicastère (fr) m
• German: Dikasterium (de) n
• Hungarian: dikasztérium
• Polish: dykasteria f
• Spanish: dicasterio (es) m
• Vietnamese: bộ (vi)

judicial body of Athens

• French: dicastère (fr) m
• Hungarian: dikasztérium
• Polish: dykasteria f