View source for Assistant to the papal throne

{{Short description|Abolished ecclesiastical title in the Catholic Church}}
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[[File:Tobia Aoun.jpg|thumb|[[Tobia Aoun]] named Assistant at the Pontifical Throne in 1862]]
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The '''Bishops-Assistant at the Pontifical Throne''' were ecclesiastical titles in the [[Catholic Church]]. It designated [[prelate]]s belonging to the [[Papal Chapel]], who stood near the throne of the [[Pope]] at solemn functions. They ranked immediately below the [[College of Cardinals]] and were also [[Palatinus (Roman Catholic Church)|Counts of the Apostolic Palace]]. Assistants at the Pontifical Throne, unless specifically exempted, immediately enter the Papal nobility as Counts of Rome.

Pope Paul VI ended the use of this and similar titles of nobility in 1968.

==Background==
Prelate Assistants to the Pontifical Throne are distinguished from [[Prince assistant to the papal throne|Prince assistants]], who were members of the lay nobility. Prelate Assistants held toward the Pope much the same relation as [[Canon (title)|cathedral canons]] do to their bishop.<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01802a.htm Fanning, William. "Assistant at the Pontifical Throne." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907 {{PD-notice}}</ref> Bishops assistants (''assistentes solio pontificio'') are named by a Brief of the Secretariate of State, and in virtue of their office are members of the Pontifical Chapel (''Cappella Pontificia''). They assist at [[Solemn Mass]] holding the book and the [[Bugia (candlestick)|bugia]].<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13147a.htm Ojetti, Benedetto. "Roman Curia." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. {{PD-notice}}</ref>

==History==
All [[patriarch]]s and some [[Bishop (Catholic Church)|bishops]] selected by the Pope, were made Assistants at the Pontifical Throne.<ref>[https://thecatholicnewsarchive.org/?a=d&d=cst19471121-01.2.11&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------- "Prelate Named Assistant to Papal Throne", ''The Catholic Standard and Times'', Volume 53, Number 7, 21 November 1947]</ref>

On 22 May 1862, during the canonization ceremony of the [[Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan|twenty-six Catholic martyrs of Japan]], Pope [[Pope Pius IX|Pius IX]] elevated all the bishops present to the rank of Assistant at the Pontifical Throne. 
On 8 January 1866, [[Ruggero Luigi Emidio Antici Mattei]] was named Dean of the Assistants at the Pontifical Throne after Pope [[Pope Pius IX|Pius IX]] named him [[Latin Patriarchate of Constantinople|Latin Patriarch of Constantinople]].
On 17 June 1867, during the 1800th anniversary of the martyrdom of Saints Peter and Paul, Pope Pius IX elevated all the bishops present to the rank of Assistant at the Pontifical Throne.

The title has not been in use since [[Pope Paul VI]] reformed the Pontifical Household. On 28 March 1968, he issued ''[[Pontificalis Domus]]'', which renamed the Papal Court the Papal Household and eliminated all titles of nobility.

==See also==
*[[Prince Assistants to the Papal Throne]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090117044031/http://saints.sqpn.com/ncd00831.htm New Catholic Dictionary]
*{{Cite CE1913|wstitle=Assistant at the Pontifical Throne}}

==External links==
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=GyoVNaDqtY8C&pg=PA17 Cardinal Antici Mattei as Dean of the Assistants to the Pontifical Throne]

{{Papal orders, decorations, and medals|state=collapsed}}
{{Papacy}}

[[Category:Catholic ecclesiastical titles]]
[[Category:Honorary titles of the Holy See]]
[[Category:Papal household]]