Diakonie (Rome)

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Roman diakonia was the name of special buildings in the seven historical ecclesiastical regions (city quarters) of early Christian Rome .

This division followed the administrative structure of the Roman city administration. The task of the Diakonie was to care for the poor in the respective district. In each of these quarters a building ( diaconia ) was erected - usually in the immediate vicinity of a Roman church - to house the poor. The head of such a diakonia was called deacon (in the course of time also diaconi ecclesiae Romanae ); gradually these chiefs were also called diaconi cardinales (cardinal deacons). These cardinal deacons are now a class of cardinals .

See also

Web links

  • Johannes Baptist Sägmüller: Cardinal. In: Catholic Encyclopedia . Volume 6. Robert Appleton Company, New York, 1908 (English).;