consistory

consistory
    n 1: a church tribunal or governing body
    

Consistory \Con*sis"to*ry\, a.
   Of the nature of, or pertaining to, a consistory. "To hold
   consistory session." --Strype.
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Consistory \Con*sis"to*ry\ (? or ?; 277) n.; pl. {Consistories}.
   [L. consistorium a place of assembly, the place where the
   emperor's council met, fr. consistere: cf. F. consistoire,
   It. consistorio. See {Consist}.]
   1. Primarily, a place of standing or staying together; hence,
      any solemn assembly or council.
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            To council summons all his mighty peers,
            Within thick clouds and dark tenfold involved,
            A gloomy consistory.                  --Milton.
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   2. (Eng. Ch.) The spiritual court of a diocesan bishop held
      before his chancellor or commissioner in his cathedral
      church or elsewhere. --Hook.
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   3. (R. C. Ch.) An assembly of prelates; a session of the
      college of cardinals at Rome.
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            Pius was then hearing of causes in consistory.
                                                  --Bacon.
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   4. A church tribunal or governing body.
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   Note: In some churches, as the Dutch Reformed in America, a
         consistory is composed of the minister and elders of an
         individual church, corresponding to a Presbyterian
         church session, and in others, as the Reformed church
         in France, it is composed of ministers and elders,
         corresponding to a presbytery. In some Lutheran
         countries it is a body of clerical and lay officers
         appointed by the sovereign to superintend
         ecclesiastical affairs.
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   5. A civil court of justice. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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CONSISTORY, ecclesiastical law. An assembly of cardinals convoked by the 
pope. The consistory is public or secret. It is public, when the pope 
receives princes or gives audience to ambassadors; secret, when he fills 
vacant sees, proceeds to the canonization of saints, or judges and settles 
certain contestations submitted to him. 
     2. A court which was formerly held among protestants, in which the 
bishop presided, assisted by some of his clergy, also bears this name. It is 
now held in England, by the bishop's chancellor or commissary, and some 
other ecclesiastical officers, either in the cathedral, church, or other 
place in his diocese, for the determination of ecclesiastical cases arising 
in that diocese. Merl. Rep. h.t.; Burns' Dict. h.t.