Quanta Cura (Benedict XIV.)

Coat of arms of Pope Benedict XIV.

Quanta Cura is an encyclical of Pope Benedict XIV published in 1741.

In the encyclical Pope Benedict XIV deals with the fees for a funeral mass . She opposes the practice of some priests of collecting a (funeral) mass according to a high local fee rate and then holding the service in a church with lower fees. The background is that the priest held the prepaid fees in trust, keeping the difference as profit. The fact that an encyclical was written on this trick indicates that it was widely used. In a second section, Pope Benedict XIV confirms the decree of his predecessors that priests should not undercut one another.

This encyclical is an example of its use as a management tool. It corresponds roughly to a regulation of a secular authority.

See also

• List of papal acts and pronouncements against Freemasonry and secret societies

Web links

• Text of the encyclical (English)