Catholic Dictionary
Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.
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NOTARIES
Authorized persons who draw up official and authentic documents that are later issued by chanceries and ecclesiastical tribunals. In the fourth century the notaries formed a group or college presided over by a chief. The best known notaries are the officials of the episcopal and Roman curiae and their secretaries. They are usually clerics and similar to registrars of the court in civil trials. (Etym. Latin notarius, shorthand writer; clerk, secretary.)
