title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: On 14 June 1874, Hearn, aged 23, married Alethea ("Mattie") Foley, a 20-year-old African American woman, and former slave, an action in violation of Ohio's anti-miscegenation law at that time. In August 1875, in response to complaints from a local clergyman about his anti-religious views and pressure from local politicians embarrassed by some of his satirical writing in "Ye Giglampz," the "Enquirer" fired him, citing as its reason his illegal marriage. He went to work for the rival newspaper "The Cincinnati Commercial." The "Enquirer" offered to re-hire him after his stories began appearing in the "Commercial" and its circulation began increasing, but Hearn, incensed at the paper's behavior, refused. Hearn and Foley separated, but attempted reconciliation several times before divorcing in 1877. Foley remarried in 1880. While working for the "Commercial" he championed the case of Henrietta Wood, a former slave who won a major reparations case.


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: While working for the "Commercial" Hearn agreed to be carried to the top of Cincinnati's tallest building on the back of a famous steeplejack, Joseph Roderiguez Weston, and wrote a half-terrified, half-comic account of the experience. It was also during this time that Hearn wrote a series of accounts of the Bucktown and Levee neighborhoods of Cincinnati, "...one of the few depictions we have of black life in a border city during the post-Civil War period." He also wrote about local black song lyrics from the era, including a song titled "Shiloh" that was dedicated to a Bucktown resident named "Limber Jim." In addition, Hearn had printed in the "Commercial" a stanza he had overheard when listening to the songs of the roustabouts, working on the city's levee waterfront. Similar stanzas were recorded in song by Julius Daniels in 1926 and Tommy McClennan in his version of "Bottle Up and Go" (1939).


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: During the autumn of 1877, recently divorced from Mattie Foley and restless, Hearn had begun neglecting his newspaper work in favor of translating into English works of the French author Gautier. He had also grown increasingly disenchanted with Cincinnati, writing to Henry Watkin, "It is time for a fellow to get out of Cincinnati when they begin to call it the Paris of America." With the support of Watkin and "Cincinnati Commercial" publisher Murat Halstead, Hearn left Cincinnati for New Orleans, where he initially wrote dispatches on the "Gateway to the Tropics" for the "Commercial".


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: Hearn lived in New Orleans for nearly a decade, writing first for the newspaper "Daily City Item" beginning in June 1878, and later for the "Times Democrat". Since the "Item" was a 4-page publication, Hearn's editorial work changed the character of the newspaper dramatically. He began at the "Item" as a news editor, expanding to include book reviews of Bret Harte and Émile Zola, summaries of pieces in national magazines such as "Harper's", and editorial pieces introducing Buddhism and Sanskrit writings. As editor, Hearn created and published nearly two hundred woodcuts of daily life and people in New Orleans, making the "Item" the first Southern newspaper to introduce cartoons and giving the paper an immediate boost in circulation. Hearn gave up carving the woodcuts after six months when he found the strain was too great for his eye.


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: At the end of 1881, Hearn took an editorial position with the New Orleans "Times Democrat" and was employed translating items from French and Spanish newspapers as well as writing editorials and cultural reviews on topics of his choice. He also continued his work translating French authors into English: Gérard de Nerval, Anatole France, and most notably Pierre Loti, an author who influenced Hearn's own writing style. Milton Bronner, who edited Hearn's letters to Henry Watkin, wrote: "[T]he Hearn of New Orleans was the father of the Hearn of the West Indies and of Japan," and this view was endorsed by Norman Foerster. During his tenure at the "Times Democrat", Hearn also developed a friendship with editor Page Baker, who went on to champion Hearn's literary career; their correspondence is archived at the Loyola University New Orleans Special Collections & Archives.


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: The vast number of his writings about New Orleans and its environs, many of which have not been collected, include the city's Creole population and distinctive cuisine, the French Opera, and Louisiana Voodoo. Hearn wrote enthusiastically of New Orleans, but also wrote of the city's decay, "a dead bride crowned with orange flowers".


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: Hearn's writings for national publications, such as "Harper's Weekly" and "Scribner's Magazine", helped create the popular reputation of New Orleans as a place with a distinctive culture more akin to that of Europe and the Caribbean than to the rest of North America. Hearn's best-known Louisiana works include:


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: Hearn also published in "Harper's Weekly" the first known written article (1883) about Filipinos in the United States, the Manilamen or Tagalogs, one of whose villages he had visited at Saint Malo, southeast of Lake Borgne in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana.


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: At the time he lived there, Hearn was little known, and even now he is little known for his writing about New Orleans, except by local cultural devotees. However, more books have been written about him than any former resident of New Orleans except Louis Armstrong.


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: Hearn's writings for the New Orleans newspapers included impressionistic descriptions of places and characters and many editorials denouncing political corruption, street crime, violence, intolerance, and the failures of public health and hygiene officials. Despite the fact that he is credited with "inventing" New Orleans as an exotic and mysterious place, his obituaries of the vodou leaders Marie Laveau and Doctor John Montenet are matter-of-fact and debunking. Selections of Hearn's New Orleans writings have been collected and published in several works, starting with "Creole Sketches" in 1924, and more recently in "Inventing New Orleans: Writings of Lafcadio Hearn."


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: "Harper's" sent Hearn to the West Indies as a correspondent in 1887. He spent two years in Martinique and in addition to his writings for the magazine, produced two books: "Two Years in the French West Indies" and "Youma, The Story of a West-Indian Slave", both published in 1890.


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: In 1890, Hearn went to Japan with a commission as a newspaper correspondent, which was quickly terminated. It was in Japan, however, that he found a home and his greatest inspiration. Through the good will of Basil Hall Chamberlain, Hearn gained a teaching position during the summer of 1890 at the Shimane Prefectural Common Middle School and Normal School in Matsue, a town in western Japan on the coast of the Sea of Japan. During his fifteen-month stay in Matsue, Hearn married Koizumi Setsuko, the daughter of a local samurai family, with whom he had four children: Kazuo, Iwao, Kiyoshi, and Suzuko. He became a Japanese citizen, assuming the legal name Koizumi Yakumo in 1896 after accepting a teaching position in Tokyo; Koizumi is his wife's surname and Yakumo is from "yakumotatsu", a poetic modifier word ("makurakotoba") for Izumo Province, which he translated as "the Place of the Issuing of Clouds". After having been Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and, later on, Spencerian, he became Buddhist.


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: During late 1891, Hearn obtained another teaching position in Kumamoto, at the Fifth High Middle School (a predecessor of Kumamoto University), where he spent the next three years and completed his book "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan" (1894). In October 1894, he secured a journalism job with the English-language newspaper "Kobe Chronicle", and in 1896, with some assistance from Chamberlain, he began teaching English literature at Tokyo Imperial University, a job he had until 1903. In 1904, he was a lecturer at Waseda University.


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: While in Japan, he encountered the art of ju-jutsu which made a deep impression upon him: "Hearn, who encountered judo in Japan at the end of the nineteenth century, contemplated its concepts with the awed tones of an explorer staring about him in an extraordinary and undiscovered land. "What Western brain could have elaborated this strange teaching, never to oppose force by force, but only direct and utilize the power of attack; to overthrow the enemy solely through his own strength, to vanquish him solely by his own efforts? Surely none! The Western mind appears to work in straight lines; the Oriental, in wonderful curves and circles." When he was teaching at the Fifth High Middle School, the headmaster was founder of Judo Kano Jigoro himself.


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: On 26 September 1904, Hearn died of heart failure in Tokyo at the age of 54. His grave is at the Zōshigaya Cemetery in Tokyo's Toshima district.


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: In the late 19th century, Japan was still largely unknown and exotic to Westerners. However, with the introduction of Japanese aesthetics, particularly at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900, Japanese styles became fashionable in Western countries. Consequently, Hearn became known to the world by his writings concerning Japan. In later years, some critics would accuse Hearn of exoticizing Japan, but because he offered the West some of its first descriptions of pre-industrial and Meiji Era Japan, his work is generally regarded as having historical value.


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: Admirers of Hearn's work have included Ben Hecht, John Erskine, Malcolm Cowley and Jorge Luis Borges.


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: Yone Noguchi is quoted as saying about Hearn, "His Greek temperament and French culture became frost-bitten as a flower in the North."


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: Hearn won a wide following in Japan, where his books were translated and remain popular to the present day. Hearn's appeal to Japanese readers "lies in the glimpses he offered of an older, more mystical Japan lost during the country’s hectic plunge into Western-style industrialization and nation building. His books are treasured here as a trove of legends and folk tales that otherwise might have vanished because no Japanese had bothered to record them."


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: The Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum and his old residence in Matsue are still two of the city's most popular tourist attractions. In addition, another small museum dedicated to Hearn opened in Yaizu, Shizuoka, in 2007 ().


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: The first museum in Europe for Lafcadio Hearn was inaugurated in Lefkada, Greece, his birthplace, on 4 July 2014, as Lefcadio Hearn Historical Center. It contains early editions, rare books and Japanese collectibles. The visitors, through photos, texts and exhibits, can wander in the significant events of Lafcadio Hearn's life, but also in the civilizations of Europe, America and Japan of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries through his lectures, writings and tales. The municipalities of Kumamoto, Matsue, Shinjuku, Yaizu, Toyama University, the Koizumi family and other people from Japan and Greece contributed to the establishment of Lefcadio Hearn Historical Center.


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: On a trip to Matsue in 2012, Professor Bon Koizumi (Hearn's great-grandson) and his wife Shoko were introduced by keen supporters of Lafcadio to Dublin-based Motoko Fujita, a published photographer of The Shadow of James Joyce (Lilliput Press Ltd., Ireland, 2011) and the founder of the Experience Japan Festival in Dublin. Acting on the Koizumi's desire to reconnect with their Irish roots, Fujita then coordinated a trip for Bon and Shoko in autumn 2013, during which key relationships to more Lafcadio supporters in Ireland were forged. Fujita's initiative led to the exhibition "Coming Home: The Open Mind of Patrick Lafcadio Hearn" at The Little Museum of Dublin (15 October 2015 to 3 January 2016), the first time Hearn was honoured in the city. The exhibit contained first editions of Hearn's works and personal items from the Lafcadio Hearn Memorial Museum. Professor Bon Koizumi was in attendance at the opening of the exhibition. Fujita also initiated the planning of a Japanese garden in Hearn's honour, and in 2015 the Lafcadio Hearn Japanese Gardens in Tramore, Co. Waterford opened.


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: There is also a cultural centre named after Hearn at the University of Durham, where in 2022 a conference "Lafcadio Hearn and the Global Imagination at the Fin de Siècle" was held.


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: His life journey later connected its both ends; Lefkada and Shinjuku became sister cities in 1989. Another pair of cities he lived in, New Orleans and Matsue did the same in 1994.


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: The Japanese director Masaki Kobayashi adapted four Hearn tales into his 1964 film, "Kwaidan". Some of his stories have been adapted by Ping Chong into his puppet theatre, including the 1999 "Kwaidan" and the 2002 "OBON: Tales of Moonlight and Rain".


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: In 1984, four episode Japanese TV series "Nihon no omokage" (, Remnants of Japan), depicting Hearn's departure from the United States and later life in Japan, was broadcast with Greek-American actor George Chakiris as Hearn. The story was later adapted to theatrical productions.


title: Lafcadio Hearn

text: The video game series Touhou Project is influenced by Hearn's works. This doujin soft series is about a fantasy world known as "Gensokyo, separated from "our" world with a magical barrier. Two of its most important characters, Yukari Yakumo and Maribel Hearn, are references to Lafcadio Hearn. Yukari is a powerful Yōkai who helped create the border separating Gensokyo from the outside world, and Maribel Hearn is a college student who lives in Kyoto who is able to see Gensokyo in her dreams. These two characters are implied to be related or even the same person, but what their relationship is exactly is unknown. Yukari Yakumo appears in many Touhou games, books, and manga, and Maribel appears in the stories included in ZUN's music collection, a series of albums.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: The Imperial Harem (, ) of the Ottoman Empire was the Ottoman sultan's harem – composed of the wives, servants (both female slaves and eunuchs), female relatives and the sultan's concubines – occupying a secluded portion (seraglio) of the Ottoman imperial household. This institution played an important social function within the Ottoman court, and wielded considerable political authority in Ottoman affairs, especially during the long period known as the Sultanate of Women (approximately 1533 to 1656). Multiple historians claim that the sultan was frequently lobbied by harem members of different ethnic or religious backgrounds to influence the geography of the Ottoman wars of conquest. The utmost authority in the Imperial Harem, the valide sultan, ruled over the other women in the household; the consorts of the sultan were normally of slave origin, and thus were also his mother, the valide sultan.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: The Kizlar Agha (, also known as the "Chief Black Eunuch" because of the Nilotic origin of most "aghas") was the head of the eunuchs responsible for guarding the Imperial Harem.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: The word "harem" is derived from the Arabic or , or the root "r-h-m" which give connotations of the sacred and forbidden.This term further emphasizes that only women household members, and some related male family members were able to enter these areas. The word has also been traced back to meaning ‘sanctuary,’ reflecting the communal and honored aspect of the .


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: As the sultan became increasingly sedentary in the palace, his family members, previously dispersed between provincial capitals, were eventually relieved of their public duties and gathered in the imperial capital. The official move of members of the Ottoman dynasty to the harem at Topkapi Palace in the sixteenth century gradually transformed the imperial harem into a well-organized, hierarchical, and institutionalized social and political structure, with rigid protocols and training. At the end of the sixteenth century, except for the sultan himself, no member of the royal family, male or female, left the capital. Both children and mothers were permanent occupants of the inner world of the palace. The harem was the ultimate symbol of the sultan's power. His ownership of women, mostly slaves, was a sign of wealth, power, and sexual prowess. The emphasis on seclusion of the harem and dynastic life from the public gaze also communicated his power, as only those closest to him had the privilege to interact with him privately. The only person in the "harem" who had access to public only with "ritual and retinue appropriate to her status," was the "valide sultan." The institution was introduced in the Turkish society with adoption of Islam, under the influence of the Arab caliphate, which the Ottomans emulated. To ensure the obedience of the women, many of them were bought and kept into slavery. However, not all members of the harem were slaves. The main wives, especially those taken into marriage to consolidate personal and dynastic alliances, were free women. This was the exception, not the rule.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: The imperial harem also served as a parallel institution to the sultan's household of male servants. The women were provided with an education roughly equal to with that provided to male pages. At the end of their respective educations, the men and women would be married off to one another and "graduated" from the palace to occupy administrative posts in the empire's provinces. There was a distinct hierarchical structure within the harem, founded on family-based relationships among the women. This family was not limited to blood connections but included the whole royal household, consisting mainly of slaves for the majority. Following the evolution of the imperial harem from the sixteenth century onward shows that, while the organizational structure of the harem was never static and the numbers and roles of servants within the palace was constantly fluid, there was a strong sense of institutional continuity and unchangingly rigid hierarchies within the harem. The valide sultan, the sultan’s mother, held power over the harem and this power sometimes extended over society. She was the custodian of imperial power, and worked to consolidate both her son’s rule and continuation of the dynasty. She resided at the top of the female hierarchy. Next in line were the sultan’s daughters, who were also called sultans. These princesses were admired and could rival their father for popularity and recognition. They were also useful for the political alliances that their marriages secured for the empire. These women were known throughout the empire and had an important reputation to uphold. Consequently, only a small fraction of the women in the harem actually engaged in sexual relations with the sultan, as most were destined to marry members of the Ottoman political elite, or else to continue service to the "valide sultan". Within the harem, the "valide sultan" and the sultan's favorite concubine or concubines were more effectively able to create factional support for themselves or their sons, creating a bridge between the palace and the outside world. Harem politics revolved around the establishment of matrilineal legacies and finding ways to garner alliances and support from the greater Ottoman world outside of the harem walls.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: The Imperial Harem occupied one of the large sections of the private apartments of the sultan at the Topkapi Palace which encompassed more than 400 rooms. The harem had been moved to Topkapi in the early 1530s. After 1853, an equally lavish harem quarter was occupied at the new imperial palace at Dolmabahçe.The structure of the imperial palace was meant to communicate “both the identity of the sovereign’s residence as the central arena of the empire and the difficulty of obtaining access to the sovereign within that arena.”


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: The strategic location and architectural design of the harem quarters within Topkapi Palace reflected a vital shift in the Harem’s newfound influence and power within the palace. In previous palaces, the harem quarters were always located in the far back of the palace, hidden away from much of the palace population. In the layout of the Topkapi Palace, the Harem was located in the right wing just behind the imperial council building; for the first time in Ottoman history, the imperial harem was central and visible in Ottoman political life. The centralization of the harem’s living quarters in Topkapi Palace reflected a changing in power dynamics between the men of the palace and the women of the harem.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: The Topkapı Palace served as the royal residence of the Ottoman sultan for four centuries. There is a wealth of sources about this structure making it one of the most fully documented buildings in the Islamic world. The architectural structure of the harem changed over time due consecutive sultans' renovations. During the time of Murad III (1574-1595) each of his 40 wives had separate quarters within the Topkapı harem. Young slave girls, on the other hand, inhabited a large dormitory. At this time, women's sexual relations with the sultan determined their living quarters. Once a slave girl had sex with the sultan she received her own chamber, attendants, kitchen maids, a eunuch, and pay. All of these were increased if she became pregnant. If she bore a child she might be moved into an even larger apartment. Sultan Murad III alone tripled the size of the Imperial Harem from 1574 to 1595.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: By the mid 18th century an Imperial hall, also known as the "privy chamber," took on Europeanizing decorations and inscriptions dating from the renovations made by Osman III. This was a spacious, domed hall that overlooked the garden and was the place where official ceremonies and festivities took place. The Queen Mother's quarters during this time consisted of a suite with a bedroom, throne room, bath, rooms for her servants, a bakery, commissary, and kitchens which were all grouped around the largest court of the harem, known as the Queen Mother's Court.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: Over the course of the sultans' residences at Topkapı Palace the harem was first a residence for slave girls, then became an area of the palace run by the sultan's favorite wife, then finally a spacious area focused on the sultan's family and run by the Queen Mother. The rank of individuals residing in the harem is reflected in its architecture and the quarters were continuously remodeled according to new requirements and changing fashions. This resulted in the space being a collection of ever more fragmented spaces.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: In 1842, the Dolmabahçe Palace started to be built. It was created for entertainment and "relaxation" purposes for the Sultans and their families. In 1856, the palace became available to the Sultans, their families, and the harem. The imperial harem chambers were placed at the back of Dolmabahçe Palace, and functioned much the same as within Topkapi up until the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in 1922.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: Though the history of the Yıldız Palace begins in 1795 when Selim III built a pavilion there for his mother (Selim III), marking a moment when the Valide Sultans began managing and inhabiting their own hilltop estates, the complex is widely known as having been the residence of the Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II beginning in 1880. The palatial complex is demarcated by the Çırağan Palace on the waterfront and extending up to a valley between Besiktas and Ortaköy.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: After assassination attempts, Abdülhamid II moved his immediate family to the Yıldız Palace to live in an already standing two-story mansion known as the Şale Kiosk. This became the new harem quarters following its location at the Dolmabahçe Palace. Given that this new site did not have enough space to support the number of women in the imperial harem, it was downsized with wives, unmarried sisters, and servants being moved elsewhere.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: In 2014 a project began to restore and refurbish the harem of the Yıldız Palace in order to open the space up for tourism. Following this project scholars and others began to research and learn more about the harem architecture, ornate decor, furnishings, and everyday lives of its inhabitants. Much of this work has yet to be published.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: The mother of a new sultan came to the harem with pomp and circumstance and assumed the title of valide sultan or sultana mother upon her son's ascension. She would become a prominent leader, whose power extended over the harem as well as the members of the dynasty. The who influenced the political life of the Ottoman Empire during various periods of history (such as the Sultanate of Women in the 16th and 17th centuries) had the authority to regulate the relations between the sultan and his wives and children. When a prince left the capital for his provincial governorate, he was accompanied by his mother. In this way, she was able to fulfill her duty of directing the prince’s domestic household through training and supervision. At times the acted as regent for her son, particularly in the seventeenth century, when a series of accidents necessitated regencies that endowed the position of valide sultan with great political power.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: The influenced the way that the Ottoman sultans waged wars of conquest. Ottoman conquests were mostly in the West until the mid-1500s. Given that the succession of the Ottoman throne was a deliberately non-institutionalized and highly random event, there was a great deal of variation in the ethnic and religious backgrounds of the Ottoman valide sultans, and the ethnic background of the valide sultan was a major determinant of whether military conquests would be for North Africa, the Middle East, or Europe. The sultans were more likely to be mindful of their matrilineal descent as the princes’ mothers were primarily responsible for their upbringing and highly socialized them into their customs and ethnic backgrounds. Matrilineal background was so important that a European maternally descended sultan was more than 70 percent less likely to orient the empire’s imperial conquests towards the West. That said, Ottomans' military ventures in Europe were generally reinforced by a Muslim matrilineal genealogy. Regardless of how the Ottoman harem had developed over time as an organization, the main observation is that the royal mothers had the most direct and sustained interaction with the future sultans of the Ottoman Empire and left an indelible mark on the reigns of their sons.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: For the perpetuation and service of the Ottoman dynasty, slave girls were either captured in war, given as gifts to the Sultan and the dynastic family on special occasions, recruited within the empire, or procured from neighbouring countries to become imperial court ladies ("cariyes"). The number of female slaves within the harem varied over time, and the harem itself was regularly renewed as a result of the practice of manumission. Manumission of the previous sultan’s concubines was especially common upon the enthronement of a new sultan. Most enslaved girls were Christian, and came from various countries, regions, and ethnic groups, including Circassia, Georgia, Russia, and Africa. There was no standard practice that determined what age girls entered the harem. Some arrived as children, while others entered at a later age. This slave trade was formally banned in 1854 but the ban was on paper only. After 1854, almost all court lady-slaves were of Circassian origin; he Circassians had been expelled from Russian lands in the 1860s and the improverished refugee parents sold their daughters in a trade that was formally banned but tolerated.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: Upon arrival at the palace, all of the women and girls began a transformation process to accord with their new life. They were converted to Islam through recitation of the core Islamic creed, and were given new names that accorded with their physical appearance or personality. They were prevented from contacting their families and were trained in court manners and activities, on the Islamic religion, and the Turkish language to prepare for life at court.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: Odalisque, a word derived from the Turkish "Oda", meaning chamber: thus connoting odalisque to mean chamber girl or attendant, was not a term synonymous with concubine; however, in western usage the term has come to refer specifically to the harem concubine.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: The s, often introduced into the harem at a young age, were brought up in the discipline of the palace. This was the largest group of women within the harem. Inexperienced female slaves who newly entered the imperial palace were called acemi (novice), and their early period of service and training was known as acemilik (novitiate) before they were eligible to gain promotions within the system. There was a strict hierarchical system of status and role within the harem and s. They were promoted according to their capacities, intellect, and skill. The harem was broken down into two main groups: those who directly served the sultan as consorts and those who worked in the service of the sultan, the dynasic family, and other high-ranking members of the harem. All women and girls would enter the harem as acemi cariyes, and work their way up to acemilik, then sakird (apprentices), in hopes of eventually being promoted to the role of a gedikli (directly waited on the sultan), usta (mistress), or even kadin (consort) if they were lucky enough.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: The s with whom the sultan shared his bed became a member of the dynasty and rose in rank to attain the status of ('the favorite'), "ikbal" ('the fortunate') or "kadin" ('the woman/wife'). The highest position was the , the legal mother of the sultan, who herself used to be a wife or a concubine of the sultan's father and rose to the supreme rank in the harem. No court lady could leave or enter the premises of the harem without the explicit permission of the . The power of the over concubines even extended to questions of life and death, with eunuchs directly reporting to her.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: The court ladies either lived in the halls beneath the apartments of the consorts, the and the sultan, or in separate chambers. The s, who numbered up to four, formed the group who came next in rank to the . Right below the s in rank were the s, whose number was unspecified. Last in the hierarchy were the s.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: During 16th and 17th centuries, chief consort of the sultan received the title "haseki sultan" or sultana consort. This title surpassed other titles and ranks by which the prominent consorts of the sultans had been known ("hatun" and "kadın"). When the position of was vacant, a could take on the 's role, have access to considerable economic resources, become chief of the Imperial Harem, become the sultan's advisor in political matters, and even have an influence upon foreign policy and international politics. Such cases happened during the eras of the Hürrem Sultan and Kösem Sultan.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: In the century following the deaths of Suleyman and Hurrem, concubines who were not favorites of the sultan would become forgotten women of the harem. The only ones remembered are those that were brought into the public eye by the question of succession. Their status was inferior to the preferred concubines. They were also not identified among the family elite of the harem.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: The court ladies had contact with the outside world through the services of intermediaries such as the "Kira". However, the harem was intentionally very cloistered and hidden away from the public eye, so contact with the outside world was very limited. The harem was kept inaccessible to both the Ottomans and foreign visitors to preserve the privacy and sanctity of the consorts, future sultans, and harem at large.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: Hurrem Sultan, also called Roxelana, was a female concubine who completely transformed the harem system and left a lasting impact on the Ottoman Empire. Roxelana is believed to have been kidnapped from Ruthenia or “Old Russia” located in modern-day Ukraine and renamed Hurrem “the cheerful one” upon her arrival in Istanbul. As a concubine, Roxelana somehow caught the attention of Sultan Suleiman I and he continued to call for her to return to his bed. Roxelana bore her first son, Mehmed, in 1521, after the sultan’s first two sons passed away, and the two soon had more children. That Roxelana was allowed to give birth to more than one son was a stark violation of the old royal harem principle of “one concubine mother — one son,” and it signaled to the outside world that a powerful woman was emerging in Suleiman’s court. Sometime around 1533-1534, Suleiman declared Roxelana a free woman and married her, violating yet another 300-year-old custom of the Ottoman harem in which sultans were not to marry their concubines and marking the first time a former harem slave was elevated to the powerful role of spouse. No other children were born to Suleiman from another concubine during his entire reign. Suleiman wrote love poetry for her and letters while he was away at war. He even had grand monuments built for her to exhibit his love. She became known as Haseki, “the favorite,” but some accused her of seducing Suleiman with sorcery. Many in the Ottoman public did not appreciate Suleiman’s total devotion to one woman and the ensuing radical changes in the harem hierarchy, but Roxolana’s great perseverance, intelligence, and willpower gave her an edge over other women in the harem.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: Roxelana became Suleiman’s most loyal informant when he was away and after his mother’s death. Roxelana has become known as “one of the most legendary women of early modern history.” She dedicated grand foundations to the needy and showed special compassion towards slaves. She also ensured that the talented women of the harem left the palace service to marry a deserving partner. She transformed the royal harem at Topkapi Palace into a political institution, meaning royal women lived and worked at the center of the government. Roxelana completely changed the way in which women were treated within the harem and was largely responsible for modernizing the Ottoman Empire.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: At Topkapı Palace, at the court of the Ottoman sultans, the harem staff included eunuchs. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the corps of harem eunuchs numbered between 800 and 1,200. This was, and would remain, the highest number of eunuchs ever employed at the harem. These were Nilotic slaves captured in the Nile vicinity. The sultans were able to obtain these slaves because of their conquest of Egypt in 1517, which gave direct access to slave caravans who used those routes. The conquest of northeastern Sudan in the 1550s continued to expand the empire's reach and access to slave caravans that used trade routes through Sudan. The castrated servicemen in the Muslim and Turkish states in the Middle Ages were recruited to serve in the palace from the times of Sultan Mehmed I onwards. These eunuchs who were trained in the palace and were given the charge of guarding the harem rose in rank after serving in many positions. The harem eunuchs and the harem organization were under the command of the chief harem eunuch, who was also called the Master of the Girls () or chief black eunuch. They supervised the quarters where the female population of the palace lived. They had influence on the palace and later on the state administration in the 17th and 18th centuries as they had access to the sultan and the sultan's family and became very powerful.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: The office of the chief harem eunuch was created in 1574. The chief black eunuch was sometimes considered second only to the grand vizier (head of the imperial government, but often working in his own palace or even away, e.g., on military campaigns) in the confidence of the Sultan, to whom he had and arranged access (including his bedchamber, the "" for every harem lady), also being his confidential messenger. Some of their basic duties was to watch over the women in the harem, negotiating and speaking to both the sultan and their relatives, and supervising the palace and keeping everyone safe.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: Meanwhile, the chief white eunuch (), was in charge of 300 to 900 white eunuchs as head of the 'Inner Service' (the palace bureaucracy, controlling all messages, petitions, and State documents addressed to the Sultan), head of the Palace School, gatekeeper-in-chief, head of the infirmary, and master of ceremonies of the Seraglio, and was originally the only one allowed to speak to the Sultan in private. In 1591, Murad III began to give a higher and more meaningful position to black eunuchs due to an increase of crime by white eunuchs. Despite all of this, many black eunuchs suffered oppression from white eunuchs because of their physical bodies and race.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: During the Sultanate of Women (), eunuchs increased their political leverage by taking advantage of minor or mentally incompetent sultans. Teenage sultans were "guided" by regencies formed by the queen mother (), the grand vizier and the 's other supporters – and the chief black eunuch was the queen mother's and chief consorts' intimate and valued accomplice. Kösem Sultan, mother of Sultan Ibrahim (r. 1640-1648) and grandmother of Sultan Mehmed IV (r. 1648-1687), was killed at the instigation of the mother of Mehmed IV, Turhan Sultan, by harem eunuchs in 1651.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: Cariye: These were the slave women who served the , 's, 's and the sultan's children. They could be promoted to s which meant they earned wages, otherwise they were the property of the sultan and would reside in the harem. Newly arrived slave girls were called Acemi (novice) and Acemilik (novicitiate), and then Sakird (apprentice). Gedikli were the personal maidservants of the sultan. Cariye-women were manumitted to go after nine years of service, after which a marriage was arranged for them.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: The number of women in the harem is contested and only possible to estimate during some periods. Contemporaries claimed that in 1573, there were 150 women in the New palace and 1,500 in the Old Palace, and that there were 1,100 - 1,200 in 1604-1607, but these numbers are likely overestimated. The actual number of women are estimated to have been 49 in 1574 and 433 in 1633.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: In the 18th- and 19th-century, the official "mevacib" register is sometimes preserved, and notes that the harem contained 446 slave women during the reign of sultan Mahmud I (r.1730-1754), 720 during sultan Selim III (r. 1789-1808), and 473 during sultan Mahmud II (r.1808-1839).


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: The Ottoman Imperial Harem, like other aspects of Ottoman and Middle Eastern culture, was depicted by European artists, French artists, writers, and travelers. As Leslie Peirce writes, Europe found that all the power that the Ottoman Empire had was established in the Harem. Through their depictions of the Harem, members of European imperial powers imposed their constructions of social organization onto other cultures, assuming their social hierarchies as “part of the natural or divine order,” that all other societies must work towards achieving. In particular, European notions of race, sexuality, and gender heavily influenced their perception and depictions of life and politics in the Ottoman empire. The West’s assumed social organization was that of “public/commonwealth/male and private/domestic/female.” Conversely, in Ottoman society, politics and imperial activity occurred in private. Seclusion was not as actively gendered in a strict binary, because the privacy of both male and female members of the imperial family symbolized their power over the rest of society. Western depictions of the imperial harem also worked to gender the meaning of the title "sultan." Western tradition made this term synonymous with the male ruler of the empire, while the Ottomans themselves utilized this term to denote the power of prominent male and female members of the imperial household.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: Orientalist paintings reflected Europe's eroticized view of Islam with luxury, leisure, and lust being common motifs. Similarly, writers focused on slavery and sexuality, and frequently compared Ottoman practices with those of the West. French artists such as Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Fernand Cormon painted some of the most recognizable orientalist artwork based on the imperial harem. "The Turkish Bath" and "Harem", (both pictured), are two such examples. These images constituted the "imaginative geography" outlined in Edward Said's Orientalism. There was a prevalence of nudity in the bath scenes and the depiction of polygyny with multiple women and usually one man in the paintings. The women in these paintings were often portrayed as fair-skinned while the men were often painted as darker. The portraits of notable imperial harem women were less sexualized with many of them resembling traditional European portraits in their dress and physical features. Italian artist Titian's paintings of Hurrem Sultan and her daughter Mihrimah Sultan are extremely similar to his popular "Portrait of a Lady", with the only notable difference being the Ottoman headdress. Of the artists who illustrated the Ottoman Imperial Harem, very few actually visited the empire, and all were male, so it is highly possible that these depictions were neither accurate nor authentic.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: There were quite a few women who traveled to the Ottoman Empire and published their opinions on the harem. Lady Mary Montagu, an early eighteenth century English aristocrat and writer, was one such woman. Her husband served as the British Ambassador to Turkey, allowing her to spend time in the Ottoman Empire and write extensively about her experiences there. In her writings, she explained that the Ottoman women did not lack in their privileges due to their control over property, autonomy in the harem, and sexual liberty through the wearing of veils. Montagu admired Ottoman slave institutions and actively defended them, which was uncommon among British authors at that time. Montagu believed that conditions were worse for women in Europe than they were for women in the harem. In championing the way in which Ottoman women were treated, it appears Montagu may have been trying to bolster the feminist agenda in England. Like other female writers, Lady Mary also focused on the appearance of the women and their homes as markers of social status: ornate decoration, detailed dresses, and an abundance of jewels reflected higher social status. Lady Mary compares the beauty and manners of Fatima, a Turkish woman, to that of European women. Fatima would be considered beautiful “either in England or Germany” and could be “suddenly transported upon the most polite throne of Europe nobody would think her other than born and bred to be a queen, though educated in a country we call barbarous.”


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: Grace Ellison was another woman who traveled to the Ottoman Empire and wrote of the imperial harem. In "An Englishwoman in a Turkish Harem" published in 1915, Ellison sought to “correct” the prejudice and hatred that dominated the British national attitude towards Turkey. She wrote of the beauty and grandeur of the Ottoman Empire and of the great friends she had made there. She spoke highly of the progressive movements in Turkey and claimed that rights for women were increasing. Ellison claimed the English should attempt to better understand the Turkish woman. She wrote that the Turkish woman is “proud” and “insists that her dignity be respected.” Ellison also spoke extensively on the institution of slavery in the Ottoman Empire and voiced her desire to save the women in the harem. She “longed to break down for them the lattice-work which is always there between them and the sun,” and lamented about the women’s ignorance of life outside the harem: “If they stay it is because they wish to stay, and are therefore happy. Their existence, however, seems a most heartrending waste of human life.” Her analysis of cruel and antiquated Ottoman practices was not limited to the concubines, as she described her interaction with eunuchs: “It is difficult for me, however, to remember that these poor mutilated anachronisms are great personages at the Ottoman Court.” Ellison condemned the act of veiling as form of “slavery”.


title: Ottoman Imperial Harem

text: In 1868, Empress Eugénie of France visited the Imperial Harem, which had significant consequences. She was taken by Sultan Abdülaziz to greet his mother, Valide Sultan Pertevniyal Sultan. Reportedly, Pertevniyal became outraged by the presence of a foreign woman in her harem, and so she slapped the empress in the face, almost provoking an international incident. The visit of the empress, however, did lead to a dress reform in the harem. Western fashion grew popular among the harem women, who continued to dress according to Western fashion from then on. However, women from the west also started to become more curious about the fashion of the "harem" women. Lady Montagu was one of the women who became very passionate about the wardrobe of the ottoman women, and began to dress the same as they did.


title: Isidora Goreshter

text: Isidora Goreshter (born October 24, 1981) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Svetlana on the U.S. TV series "Shameless" from seasons 3 to 8.


title: Isidora Goreshter

text: Goreshter was born and raised in Long Beach, California, where she began performing on stage at age three. She studied classical ballet.


title: Isidora Goreshter

text: Goreshter competed in gymnastics as a child. She earned first place in beam, second place in vault and floor, and third place all-around in her age group at the California State Cup Championship in 1992. Also in 1992, she came in second place overall in her age group at the Central Pacific Championships.


title: Isidora Goreshter

text: Goreshter was the first member of her family born in the United States. Goreshter's family is from the former Soviet Union. Two of Goreshter's grandparents are from Orhei, Moldova.


title: Isidora Goreshter

text: Goreshter studied acting at the Stella Adler acting conservatory. She appeared in such stage shows productions as "Beirut", "The Smell of the Kill", "Waiting for Lefty", "Laundry and Bourbon", and "Waiting for Godot". She has degrees in theatre and art history.


title: Isidora Goreshter

text: Goreshter made her film debut with a small role in the motion picture "Paranoia", starring Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman and Liam Hemsworth. She then took supporting roles in the films "T is for Twig", "A Leading Man" and the award-winning short "Wonder Girls".


title: Isidora Goreshter

text: In 2013, Goreshter guest starred in the television series "Shameless" as the prostitute Svetlana. At first meant to be a short-term character, Goreshter became a series regular in 2016. She left after season 8.


title: Isidora Goreshter

text: Goreshter went on to a lead role in the motion picture the "Petal Pushers" and had a major role opposite Noël Wells and Joe Pantoliano in "Happy Anniversary".


title: Lamb Chop (puppet)

text: Lamb Chop is a sock puppet anthropomorphic sheep created by the late puppeteer and ventriloquist Shari Lewis. The character, a female lamb, first appeared during Lewis' guest appearance on "Captain Kangaroo" in March 1956 and later appeared on "Hi Mom" (1957–1959), a local morning show that aired on WRCA-TV in New York, New York.


title: Lamb Chop (puppet)

text: Lamb Chop has been described as a "6-year-old girl, very intuitive and very feisty, a combination of obstinacy and vulnerability...you know how they say fools rush in where wise men fear to go? Well, Lamb Chop would rush in, then scream for help." Lamb Chop, in all her shows, had referred to her close friend, a girl named Lolly Pincus.


title: Lamb Chop (puppet)

text: From 1960 to 1963, Lewis had her own musical-comedy network television show called "The Shari Lewis Show". As children's programming turned more towards animation in the mid-1960s, she continued to perform in a wide range of venues. In 1992, Lamb Chop and Lewis began their own PBS children's show, "Lamb Chop's Play-Along", an Emmy Award winner for five consecutive years. The show lasted approximately 25 minutes per episode. On PBS, it premiered September 10, 1992 and was last shown on January 1, 1997. From 2007 to 2009, it was shown on Qubo. Lamb Chop then went on to co-star with Lewis on the short-lived spin-off "The Charlie Horse Music Pizza". The show was canceled after Lewis' death. The last episode of "The Charlie Horse Music Pizza" aired on January 17, 1999.


title: Lamb Chop (puppet)

text: In 1993, when Lewis appeared before the U.S. Congress in an oversight hearing on the Children's Television Act, Lamb Chop provided her own testimony.


title: Lamb Chop (puppet)

text: Two years later after Lewis died in 1998, her daughter, producer and writer Mallory Lewis, began to perform with Lamb Chop. Mallory Lewis had worked closely with her mother when producing "Lamb Chop's Play-Along" and "The Charlie Horse Music Pizza". About her mother and Lamb Chop she said:


title: Lamb Chop (puppet)

text: Shari Lewis' other puppet, Hush Puppy, made his comeback at the Iowa State Fair in 2010. Mallory Lewis doesn't perform Charlie Horse, as doing his voice is hard on her vocal cords. Prior to her death, Shari Lewis sold the rights of Lamb Chop to Classic Media (now DreamWorks Classics, part of NBCUniversal), though her daughter still owns the live performing rights.


title: Lamb Chop (puppet)

text: Mallory Lewis and Lamb Chop currently perform mainly for the US military. Lamb Chop is an honorary three-star general in the Marines.


title: Lamb Chop (puppet)

text: In the first year's collection of "9 Chickweed Lane" dailies, "Out Whom Shall We Gross?", the August 31, 1993 strip quotes Lambchop as saying, "A virtuous man's honesty exists only in proportion to the pyre upon which he atones for it."


title: Theresa Randle

text: Theresa E. Randle (born December 27, 1964) is an American actress. She has appeared in films such as "Malcolm X" (1992), "Sugar Hill", "Beverly Hills Cop III" (both 1994), "Girl 6", "Space Jam" (both 1996), "Spawn" (1997) and the "Bad Boys" franchise (1995–2020).


title: Theresa Randle

text: Randle was born in Atlanta, Georgia. She began her performing career by studying dance (traditional, modern, jazz) and comedy. She entered Beverly Hills High School with a special program for the exceptionally gifted. At the end of college, she earned her first role at the Los Angeles Inner City Cultural Center and was seen in commercials. She was also involved in acting on the stage. Theatrical roles include "In Command of the Children", "Sonata", "6 Parts of Musical Broadway", and "Fight the Good Fight".


title: Theresa Randle

text: In 1983, she appeared in a George Clinton video, "Last Dance". In 1987, she got her first big-screen break with "Maid to Order". For the next three years, she appeared in small roles in films such as "Easy Wheels" and "Heart Condition" (1990), with Denzel Washington. She continued in small roles by directors like Abel Ferrara ("King of New York" [1990]) and Spike Lee ("Jungle Fever" [1991] and "Malcolm X" [1992]). Randle also starred with Wesley Snipes in the film "Sugar Hill" (1994) and also appeared with Eddie Murphy in "Beverly Hills Cop III" in the same year. She co-starred in "CB4" (1993) with Chris Rock, and "Bad Boys" (1995) with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, later reprising in the sequels "Bad Boys II" and "Bad Boys for Life". In 1996, she earned her first starring role in Spike Lee's film "Girl 6", playing a young out-of-work actress who gets caught up in the seductive yet dark world of phone sex, a subject that's far different from what Spike Lee normally explores in his films. It is often regarded as Lee's most maligned and underappreciated film both critically and commercially as it grossed a dismal $4.9 million on a $12 million budget, and is Randle's only leading role to date. Later that year she appeared in "Space Jam" (1996) with Michael Jordan and the film adaptation of the comic book "Spawn" in 1997.


title: Theresa Randle

text: After 1997, Randle's career cooled considerably and her roles (mostly television projects) became more sporadic. Her next project was not until the year 2000 when she portrayed singer Natalie Cole in "". In 2006, Randle played Marine Capt. Amy Jennings in the two "Eagle One" movies. She later had a role in "Shit Year", released in 2010. After 1997's "Spawn", Randle's only theatrical releases were 2003's "Bad Boys II" and 2020's "Bad Boys for Life", which was her first project (theatrical or televised) in ten years.


title: Theresa Randle

text: During her time making movies, Randle also made guest appearances on various television sitcoms and dramas. In 1989, she had a guest starring role in "A Different World", followed by a minor role in "The Apartment", an episode of the hit television sitcom "Seinfeld" two years later. In 2006, Randle signed on to play Patricia Kent on "", replacing Courtney B. Vance as the assistant district attorney assigned to the Major Case Squad, but only appeared in two episodes. In 2007, Randle was a regular cast member of the Lifetime show "State of Mind" as Dr. Cordelia Banks.


title: Cîroc

text: Cîroc is a brand of alcoholic beverages produced in France since 2003 and distributed by the British-based multinational alcoholic beverage maker Diageo. The brand family includes vodka, flavored products containing vodka, and brandy. Since 2007, the marketing and promotion for Cîroc in the United States has been handled by Sean Combs in an "equal-share venture" with profits from the brand being split between Sean Combs and Diageo.


title: Cîroc

text: The name "Cîroc" is a portmanteau of the French word "cime", meaning peak or summit-top, and "roche", meaning rock, a reference to the high-altitude vineyards of the Gaillac region where Mauzac grapes are grown (the 'î' in the Cîroc logo is the i-circumflex letter used in the French language.)


title: Cîroc

text: Cîroc's vodka is distinguished from nearly all other vodkas by being derived from grapes, rather than using grain, potatoes or maize (corn). It is distilled to a very high level of alcohol by volume (ABV) concentration about 96% (roughly the practical limit of ordinary distillation practices due to the ethanol and water becoming an azeotrope mixture) and is not aged or flavored before being diluted with water to 40% ABV (80 U.S. proof) for bottling, and thus fulfills the criteria for labeling as vodka (which in the United States requires at least 95% distillation concentration and 40% ABV bottling concentration for vodka).


title: Cîroc

text: The producer of Cîroc emphasizes its being distilled five times. The first four distillations use column stills and the final distillation is performed in a traditional copper pot still at the Distillerie de Chevanceaux.


title: Cîroc

text: Since 2010, the Cîroc brand has included a family of flavored drinks containing vodka. In the United States, these flavored beverages are bottled at 70 U.S. proof (35% ABV) a lower ABV level than (unflavored) vodka, although much higher than that of a typical mixed drink. In the United States, the labels of these products say "made with vodka" rather than simply "vodka", although they are referred to as vodkas on the company website.


title: Cîroc

text: The brand introduced two flavored varieties to the market in 2010: Red Berry and Coconut. In 2011, the company added a Peach flavor. In May 2013, Cîroc and Puff Daddy announced that a new flavor would be released called Cîroc Amaretto. On 15 July 2014, Combs announced via his Instagram page that Cîroc Pineapple would be the next flavor. In 2015, he announced a green apple flavor, in 2016 DJ Khaled was signed as another brand ambassador co-promoting a new mango flavor, and in 2017 Puff Daddy announced a French vanilla flavor to be produced in partnership with hip-hop artist French Montana. As of October 2021, the U.S. brand offerings include seven main-line flavor varieties: Mango, Apple, Pineapple, Red Berry, Coconut, Peach, and French Vanilla, and four "limited edition" varieties: White Grape, Summer Citrus, Summer Watermelon, and Pomegranate. In April 2022 Ciroc introduce one more flavor as CÎROC PASSION.


title: Cîroc

text: Cîroc VS Brandy, bottled at 80 U.S. proof (40% ABV), was added to the brand family in June 2018. It is a blend of aged French brandies, some of which is distilled in copper pot stills and aged in French oak. A review in "The Spirits Business" said its taste profile has rich' notes of fresh fruit, vanilla and a hint of French oak". In brandy production, "VS" is an abbreviation for "very special" and typically refers to a blend in which the youngest brandy has been aged for at least two years in a cask.


title: Cîroc

text: Cîroc was founded in France by Jean-Sébastien Robicquet, whose family is from the wine-growing region of Bordeaux. Robicquet, whose family has been in the wine and spirits business since the early 17th century, had studied winemaking in university before moving into spirits production. Having worked for French cognac-maker Hennessy for ten years, he was approached by the British-based Diageo – which owns a 34% stake in Hennessy – to produce a vodka made from grapes as opposed to grain or potato common among most vodka. Jean-Sebastien Robicquet is recognized as a "Commander of Bordeaux" by the Great Council of Bordeaux for his accomplishments in the field of wine/liquor.


title: Cîroc

text: When the brand was launched in 2003, NFL football player Earl Little was one of the first American brand ambassadors to promote the beverage in the U.S. market. It was introduced to nightclubs and venues throughout the United States and marketed especially in cities such as Atlanta and Miami.


title: Cîroc

text: In 2007, Jay-Z became a brand ambassador for the vodka brand, which had been struggling to sell 40,000 cases in its first few years on the market. In December 2007, the commercial for Cîroc had Sean Combs calling the drink the "official vodka of New Year's" after brand became official sponsor for Cîroc The New Year event. Describing his ambassadorship of the brand, Combs sometimes jokingly refers to himself as "Cîroc Obama". Combs's brand evangelism improved sales substantially; By 2014, the brand was selling more than two million cases per year.


title: Cîroc

text: Following the success of the partnership, Combs and Diageo also co-purchased the DeLeón Tequila brand in December 2013. Combs's ownership of the liquor brands is managed through his company Combs Enterprises, which also includes AquaHydrate bottled water and various non-beverage businesses.


title: Cîroc

text: Brand Development agency Haines McGregor are responsible for Global research, positioning and identity development for Cîroc. The work included the development of brand guidelines and growth driver tool-kits for all markets.


title: Cîroc

text: On 14 December 2011, the company began airing a "Luck Be a Lady" advertising campaign for ultra premium vodka, directed by Anthony Mandler. The ads feature a group of elegantly dressed friends (Puff Daddy, Frank Vincent, Eva Pigford, Michael K. Williams, Aaron Paul, Dania Ramirez, Chrissy Teigen, and Jesse Williams) enjoying a festive night on the town.


title: Cîroc

text: Other artists such as DJ Khaled (added in 2016) and rapper French Montana (starting in 2017) have also been involved in the brand's development and marketing.


title: Cîroc

text: In 2020, Cîroc introduced a #CÎROCStands initiative, which encouraged voting in the 2020 United States elections and was expanded to promote Black-owned businesses and especially businesses owned by Black women.


title: Cîroc

text: In Nigeria, Cîroc promoted fashion entrepreneur Ozinna Anumudu as its "newly unveiled member of the Cîroc circle" in September 2021.


title: Cîroc

text: The brand's marketing on social media has come under criticism for a lack of adequate disclosure of paid promotional activities. In 2017, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sent a letter to Puff Daddy and 45 other celebrities to remind them of legal requirements to properly disclose their paid sponsorships, and in early 2018 the Truth in Advertising watchdog organization (abbreviated TINA) sent a letter of complaint to DJ Khaled and Diageo expressing concerns about Cîroc. Later in 2018, TINA sent a letter of complaint to the FTC, pointing out the actions of 50 influencers that it said were in violation of disclosure requirements involving their promotion of the Cîroc brand. These influencers included Puff Daddy, DJ Khaled, French Montana, Alessandra Ambrosio, Cassie, Bow Wow, and Ashanti. DJ Khaled later removed the problematic advertisements that he was involved with, which had included more than 300 promotions of Cîroc and other brands between June 2017 and March 2018. TINA also complained that the brand's promotion activities included material likely to reach audiences who are under the legal drinking age.


title: Joséphine de La Baume

text: Joséphine de La Baume (born 8 October 1984) is a French actress, singer, film director, and model. In 2018, she started the rock and garage group Film Noir.


title: Joséphine de La Baume

text: In 2010 she worked with Romain Gavras on his debut film "Our Day will come" and later was cast in Bertrand Tavernier's "The Princess of Montpensier," selected in the main competition of Cannes Film Festival 2011. She then started working in the UK on features such as "One Day" by Lone Scherfig, "Johnny English Reborn" by Oliver Parker, "Titanic" written for ITV by Julian Fellowes, "Mr Selfridges" and Ron Howard's "Rush."


title: Joséphine de La Baume

text: From 2012, she started working in the US on projects such as "Kiss of The Damned" directed by Xan Cassavetes and "Listen Up Philip" directed by Alex Ross Perry.


title: Joséphine de La Baume

text: Most recently, she appeared in Abner Pastoll's "Road Games (Fausse Route)" in which Dread Central described her as "sultry and enigmatic." The film was released theatrically in the US by IFC Films.


title: Joséphine de La Baume

text: De La Baume is a member of French indie band Singtank, with her brother Alexandre de la Baume and drummer Alberto Cabrera. Their debut album "In Wonder" was a critical success.


title: Joséphine de La Baume

text: Founded by Josephine in 2018, Film Noir released their first EP titled "Vertiges (Men of Glory)" in 2019, which was well received.


title: Joséphine de La Baume

text: The first single "La Mariée (vague à l'âme)" got into the France Inter Radio summer playlist. The second single "Brûlant" also got on the France Inter radio playlist. Film Noir collaborated on their EP with Cundo Bermudez (Ty Segall, No Age), Cole Alexander and Zumi Rosow (Black Lips), Kirin J Callinan and Samy Osta (Juniore, La Femme), and Sacha Got (La Femme).


title: Joséphine de La Baume

text: De La Baume married English DJ Mark Ronson on 3 September 2011. On 16 May 2017, it was reported that she had filed for divorce from Ronson, listing the separation date as 21 April 2017. The divorce was finalised in October 2018.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Roman Curia () comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use of in the exercise of his supreme pastoral office and universal mission in the world. It is at the service of the Pope, successor of Peter, and of the Bishops, successors of the Apostles, according to the modalities that are proper to the nature of each one, fulfilling their function with an evangelical spirit, working for the good and at the service of communion, unity and edification of the Universal Church and attending to the demands of the world in which the Church is called to fulfill its mission ("Praedicate evangelium", article 1).


title: Roman Curia

text: The structure and organization of responsibilities within the Curia are at present regulated by the apostolic constitution, issued by Pope Francis on 19 March 2022, which was completely enforced on 5 June 2022. It was previously regulated by issued by Pope John Paul II on 28 June 1988. With the coming into force of , the is fully abrogated and replaced, and the reform of the Roman Curia is thus completed.


title: Roman Curia

text: Other bodies that play an administrative or consulting role in ecclesial affairs are sometimes mistakenly identified with the Curia, such as the Synod of Bishops and regional conferences of bishops. Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote in 2015 that "the Synod of Bishops is not a part of the Roman Curia in the strict sense: it is the expression of the collegiality of bishops in communion with the Pope and under his direction. The Roman Curia instead aids the Pope in the exercise of his primacy over all the churches."


title: Roman Curia

text: "Curia" in medieval and later Latin usage means "court" in the sense of "royal court" rather than "court of law". The Roman Curia is sometimes anglicized as the Court of Rome, as in the 1534 Act of Parliament that forbade appeals to it from England. It is the papal court and assists the Pope in carrying out his functions. The Roman Curia can be loosely compared to cabinets in governments of countries with a Western form of governance, but the only sections that can be directly compared with specific ministries of a civil government are the Second Section of the Secretariat of State, known also as the Section for Relations with States, the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State (established in 1939 by Pius XII), and the Congregation for Catholic Education.


title: Roman Curia

text: It is normal for every Latin Catholic diocese to have its own "curia" for its administration. For the Diocese of Rome, these functions are "not" handled by the Roman Curia, but by the Vicariate General of His Holiness for the City of Rome, as provided by the apostolic constitution "Ecclesia in Urbe". The pope has, going back to St. Peter, been the bishop of Rome. There is also the Vicar General of Rome, traditionally a cardinal, and his deputy the vicegerent, who holds the personal title of archbishop, supervise the governance of the diocese by reference to the Pope himself, but with no more dependence on the Roman Curia, as such, than other Catholic dioceses throughout the world. A distinct office, the Vicar General for Vatican City, administers the portion of the Diocese of Rome in Vatican City.


title: Roman Curia

text: Until recently, there still existed hereditary officers of the Roman Curia, holding titles denominating functions that had ceased to be a reality when the Papal States were lost to the papacy. A reorganization, ordered by Pope Pius X, was incorporated into the 1917 Code of Canon Law. Further steps toward reorganization were begun by Pope Paul VI in the 1960s. Among the goals of this curial reform were the modernization of procedures and the internationalization of the curial staff. These reforms are reflected in the 1983 Code of Canon Law. The offices of the Vatican City State are not part of the Roman Curia, which is composed only of offices of the Holy See. , the Curia comprises the offices listed in the sections below. All members of the Curia except the Cardinal Camerlengo and the Major Penitentiary resign their office immediately after a papal death or resignation. See "sede vacante".


title: Roman Curia

text: The Roman Curia is composed of the Secretariat of State, the Dicasteries and the Bodies, all of which are juridically equal. By the term "Curial Institutions" is meant the units of the Roman Curia. The Offices of the Roman Curia are the Prefecture of the Papal Household, the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff and the Camerlengo of Holy Roman Church ("Praedicate Evangelium", Article 12).


title: Roman Curia

text: Each Curial Institution is composed of a Prefect or equivalent, a suitable number of Members, one or more Secretaries who assist the Prefect, together with, but in a subordinate line, one or more Under-secretaries, who are flanked by various Officials and Consultors ("Praedicate Evangelium", Article 13).


title: Roman Curia

text: The Members of the Curial Institutions are appointed from among the Cardinals residing both in and outside Rome, to whom are added, in as much as they are particularly expert in the matters in question, some Bishops, especially diocesan/eparchial ones, as well as, according to the nature of the Dicastery, some priests and deacons, some members of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life and some lay faithful ("Praedicate Evangelium", Article 15).


title: Roman Curia

text: The Prefect, or his equivalent, the Members, the Secretary, the Undersecretary and the other Major Officials assigned to Heads of Office, equivalents and experts, as well as the Consultors, are appointed by the Roman Pontiff for a five-year term. As a rule, after five years, clerical officials and members of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life who have served in curial institutions and offices return to pastoral care in their diocese/parish or in the Institutes or Societies to which they belong. Should the Superiors of the Roman Curia deem it opportune, the service may be extended for another period of five years ("Praedicate Evangelium", Article 17).


title: Roman Curia

text: In the event of the Apostolic See becoming vacant, all the Heads of Curial Institutions and Members cease to hold office. Exceptions to this rule are the Major Penitentiary, who continues to carry out the ordinary business within his competence, proposing to the College of Cardinals those matters which he would report to the Roman Pontiff, and the Almoner of His Holiness, who continues in the exercise of works of charity according to the same criteria used during the pontificate, remaining in the employ of the College of Cardinals until the election of the new Roman Pontiff. During the vacancy of the See, the Secretaries are responsible for the ordinary government of curial institutions, taking care only of matters of ordinary administration. Within three months of the election of the Roman Pontiff they are to be confirmed in their office by him. The Master of Papal Liturgical Celebrations assumes the duties provided for in the norms concerning the vacancy of the Apostolic See and the election of the Roman Pontiff ("Praedicate Evangelium", Article 18).


title: Roman Curia

text: The Secretariat of State is the oldest dicastery in the Roman Curia, the government of the Roman Catholic Church. As the Papal Secretariat, it closely assists the Roman Pontiff in the exercise of his supreme mission. It comprises three sections: the Section for General Affairs, under the direction of the Substitute, with the assistance of the Assessor; the Section for Relations with States and International Organizations, under the direction of its Secretary, with the assistance of the Undersecretary and an Undersecretary for the multilateral sector; the Section for the Diplomatic Staff of the Holy See, under the direction of the Secretary for Papal Representations, with the assistance of an Undersecretary. The current Secretary of the State is Pietro Cardinal Parolin.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Section for General Affairs is responsible for dealing with the following matters concerning the daily service of the Roman Pontiff: to examine those matters which is necessary to deal with matters outside the ordinary competence of the Curial Institutions and other bodies of the Apostolic See, and to foster coordination among these Dicasteries and other bodies and offices without prejudice to their autonomy. It is responsible to carry out everything that concerns the Representatives of States at the Holy See. The current Substitute for General Affairs is Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra.


title: Roman Curia

text: The task of the Section for Relations with States and International Organizations is to attend to the affairs that must be dealt with the respective civil authorities. It is responsible for the following: to handle the diplomatic and political relations of the Holy See with States and with other subjects of international law and to deal with common affairs for the promotion of the good of the Church and of civil society, also through the stipulation of concordats and other international agreements, taking into account the opinion of the Episcopal bodies concerned; to represent the Holy See at international intergovernmental organizations, as well as at multilateral intergovernmental conferences, availing himself, if necessary, of the collaboration of the competent Dicasteries and bodies of the Roman Curia; and to grant the "nulla osta" whenever a Dicastery or Body of the Roman Curia intends to publish a statement or document pertaining to international relations or relations with civil authorities. The current Secretary for Relations with States is Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Section for the Diplomatic Staff of the Holy See deals with matters pertaining to persons serving in the diplomatic service of the Holy See, in particular their living and working conditions and their ongoing formation. In carrying out his duties, the Secretary visits the offices of the Pontifical Representations, convokes and presides over meetings concerning their provisions. This Section collaborates with the President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy with regard to the selection and training of candidates for the diplomatic service of the Holy See and maintains contact with retired diplomatic personnel. The current Secretary for Pontifical Representations is Archbishop Jan Romeo Pawłowski.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Central Statistics Office, which operates under the Vatican Secretariat of State, conducts a variety of studies for the Roman Curia throughout the year. But one of the office's biggest projects is compiling the annual, 500-page Statistical Yearbook of the Church. The yearbook tracks the Catholic population, both by a head count of the baptized in each country and as a percentage of the world's population. The current Person-in-charge is Monsignor Tomislav Ɖukez.


title: Roman Curia

text: Under the new constitution, all the Vatican's main departments are now known as “dicasteries.” Along with removing the title “congregation” from Vatican departments, the new constitution renames pontifical councils as “dicasteries.” The constitution says: “The Roman Curia is composed of the Secretariat of State, the Dicasteries and other bodies, all juridically equal to each other.” The Curial Institutions is now made up of 16 dicasteries. Each dicastery is headed by a prefect, and supported by secretary and under-secretary.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Dicastery for Evangelization is competent for the fundamental questions of evangelization in the world and for the establishment, accompaniment and support of the new particular Churches, without prejudice to the competence of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.


title: Roman Curia

text: This new dicasteries is a merger of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization. It is made up of two Sections: one for fundamental questions of evangelization in the world and one for first evangelization and the new particular Churches in the territories within its competence. It is presided over directly by the Roman Pontiff, currently Pope Francis. Each of the two sections is governed in his name and by his authority by a Pro-Prefect.


title: Roman Curia

text: It is the task of the Section to study, in collaboration with the particular Churches, Episcopal Conferences and Eastern Hierarchical Structures, Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the fundamental questions of evangelization and the development of an effective announcing the Gospel by identifying appropriate forms, instruments and language. The Section gathers the most significant experiences in the field of evangelization, making them available to the entire Church. It encourages reflection on the history of evangelization and mission, especially in their relationship to the political, social, and cultural events that have marked and conditioned the preaching of the Gospel. The current Pro-Prefect is Archbishop Salvatore (Rino) Fisichella.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Section supports the proclamation of the Gospel and the deepening of the life of faith in the territories of first evangelization and deals with everything that concerns the erection of ecclesiastical circumscriptions or their modifications, as well as their provisioning, and it carries out the other tasks in the same way as the Dicastery for Bishops does within the scope of its competence. The Section, according to the principle of just autonomy, supports the new Particular Churches in the work of first evangelization and growth, collaborating with the Particular Churches, Episcopal Conferences, Institutes of Consecrated Life, Societies of Apostolic Life, associations, ecclesial movements, new communities, and ecclesial assistance agencies. To this section are entrusted the Pontifical Missionary Societies: the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith, the Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle, the Pontifical Society of the Missionary Childhood, and the Pontifical Missionary Union, as instruments for the promotion of the missionary responsibility of every baptized person and for the support of the New Particular Churches. The current Pro-Prefect is Luis Antonio Cardinal Gokim Tagle.


title: Roman Curia

text: The International Council for Catechesis (COINCAT) was established by Pope Paul VI on June 7, 1973, as a consultative body within the Congregation for the Clergy. The general purpose of COINCAT as explained in the "Annuario Pontificio" is "to study the more important catechetical themes for the service of the Apostolic See and the episcopal conferences and to present proposals and suggestions." Specifically, it investigates concrete themes and important catechetical problems for the universal Church, suggesting solutions and proposals for pastoral action; it provides information on the necessity of catechesis and new approaches being taken in various parts of the world; and it facilitates the exchange of catechetical experiences between the Holy See and the diverse areas in the Church and among the members themselves. The current President is Archbishop Salvatore (Rino) Fisichella.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, previously known as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition, is the oldest of the dicasteries of the Roman Curia. The task of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith is to assist the Roman Pontiff and the Bishops/Eparchies in the proclamation of the Gospel throughout the world, promoting and protecting the integrity of Catholic doctrine on faith and morals, drawing on the deposit of faith and also seeking an ever deeper understanding of it in the face of new questions. The Dicastery is made up of two sections: the Doctrinal Section and the Disciplinary Section, each coordinated by a Secretary who assists the Prefect in the specific area of his competence. The current Prefect is Luis Francisco Cardinal Ladaria Ferrer, S.J.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Doctrinal Section fosters and supports study and reflection on the understanding of faith and morals and the development of theology in different cultures, in the light of sound doctrine and the challenges of the times, so as to offer answers, in the light of faith, to the questions and arguments that emerge with the progress of the sciences and the evolution of civilizations.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Disciplinary Section, through the Disciplinary Office, deals with crimes reserved to the Dicastery and dealt with by it through the jurisdiction of the Supreme Apostolic Tribunal therein established, proceeding to declare or impose canonical penalties in accordance with the norms of law, whether common or proper, without prejudice to the competence of the Apostolic Penitentiary.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors is established within the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. Its task is to provide the Roman Pontiff with advice and counsel and to propose the most appropriate initiatives for the protection of minors and vulnerable persons and promote local responsibility in the particular Churches for the protection of all minors and vulnerable adults. The current president is Seán Patrick Cardinal O’Malley.


title: Roman Curia

text: The International Theological Commission (ITC) is a body of the Roman Curia that advises the Magisterium of the church, in examining doctrinal questions of major importance, particularly the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. The President of the Commission is the "ex officio" Prefect of the Dicastery.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Pontifical Biblical Commission is a consultative body, placed at the service of the Magisterium and linked to the Dicastery, to ensure the proper interpretation and defense of the Bible. The President of the Commission is the "ex officio" Prefect of the Dicastery.


title: Roman Curia

text: The College for the review of appeals by clergy accused of "delicta reservata" is a commission under the jurisdiction of the Dicastery composed of bishops tasked to review sexual abuse cases of minors committed by clerics. The current President is Archbishop Charles Jude Scicluna.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Dicastery for the Service of Charity, also called the Apostolic Alms Office, is a special expression of mercy and, starting from the option for the poor, the vulnerable and the excluded, it exercises in any part of the world the work of assistance and help towards them in the name of the Roman Pontiff, who in cases of particular indigence or other need, personally arranges the aid to be allocated.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Dicastery, under the guidance of the Prefect, the Almoner of His Holiness, in contact with other competent Dicasteries, makes concrete, through its activity, the solicitude and closeness of the Roman Pontiff, as Pastor of the Universal Church, towards those who live in situations of indigence, marginalization or poverty, as well as on the occasion of serious calamities.


title: Roman Curia

text: Formerly the Office of Papal Charities, the change gives the office “a more significant role in the Curia.” The current Prefect is the Almoner of His Holiness, Konrad Cardinal Krajewski.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Dicastery for the Eastern Churches is responsible for contact with the Eastern Catholic Churches for the sake of assisting their development, protecting their rights and also maintaining whole and entire in the one Catholic Church, alongside the liturgical, disciplinary and spiritual patrimony of the Latin Church, the heritage of the various Oriental Christian traditions. It has exclusive authority over the following regions: Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula, Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, southern Albania and Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, and Ukraine. Its members include all Eastern Catholic patriarchs and major archbishops, as well as the Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity. The current Prefect is Leonardo Cardinal Sandri.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments promotes the sacred liturgy according to the renewal undertaken by the Second Vatican Council. The spheres of its competence concern all that which by provision of law pertains to the Apostolic See concerning the regulation and promotion of the sacred liturgy and the vigilance that the laws of the Church and the liturgical norms are everywhere faithfully observed. It is the task of the Dicastery to provide for the editing or revision and updating of typical editions of liturgical books. The Dicastery confirms the translations of liturgical books into current languages and grants "recognitio" to their appropriate adaptations to local cultures, legitimately approved by the Local Bishops' Conferences. It also grants "recognitio" to the particular Calendars, the Proprieties of Masses and of the Liturgy of the Hours of the particular Churches and of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life approved by the relevant competent authority. It is concerned with the regulation and discipline of the sacred liturgy with regard to the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite and for the protection of the of sacred relics, the confirmation of the patrons and the granting of the title of Minor Basilica. The current Prefect is Arthur Cardinal Roche.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Vox Clara Committee has been established to assist and advise the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in fulfilling its responsibilities with regard to the English translations of liturgical texts. Representing the different continents as it does, the committee reflects the international character of the English language. This makes available to the Holy See the great wealth of pastoral experience drawn from different cultures. The current President is vacant.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Dicastery for the Causes of Saints oversees the process that leads to the canonization of saints, passing through the steps of a declaration of "heroic virtues" and beatification. After preparing a case, including the approval of miracles, the case is presented to the pope, who decides whether or not to proceed with beatification or canonization. The Dicastery establishes the canonical procedure to be followed to verify and declare the authenticity of sacred relics and to ensure their preservation. It is up to the Dicastery to judge about the granting of the title of Doctor of the Church to a saint, after having obtained the vote of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith about his eminent doctrine. The current Prefect is Marcello Cardinal Semeraro.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Dicastery for Bishops oversees the selection of new bishops that are not in mission territories or those areas that come under the jurisdiction of the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches who deal with the Eastern Catholics, pending papal approval. It consequently holds considerable sway over the evolution of the church. It also schedules the papal audiences ""ad limina apostolorum"" required for bishops every five years and arranges the creation of new dioceses. The Dicastery carries out its activity in a spirit of service and in close collaboration with the Episcopal Conferences and their regional and continental unions. It endeavors to work with them with regard to the celebration of Particular Councils and the establishment of Episcopal Conferences and the recognition of their statutes. It receives the acts and decrees of the above-mentioned bodies, examines them and, after consulting the Dicasteries concerned, grants the necessary recognition to the decrees. Finally, it carries out what is established by the canonical dispositions concerning ecclesiastical provinces and regions. The current Prefect is Marc Cardinal Ouellet, PSS.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Pontifical Commission for Latin America is instituted at the Dicastery. Its task is to study questions concerning the life and development of these particular Churches in order to assist the Dicasteries concerned by reason of their competence and to assist them with advice and financial means. It is also responsible for fostering relations between international and national ecclesiastical institutions that work for the regions of Latin America and curial institutions. The President of the Commission is the "ex officio" Prefect of the Dicastery.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Dicastery for the Clergy is the department of the Roman Curia responsible for overseeing matters regarding priests and deacons not belonging to institutes of consecrated life or societies of apostolic life, as well as for the seminaries (except those regulated by the Dicasteries for Evangelization and for the Oriental Churches), and houses of formation of religious and secular institutes. It handles requests for dispensation from active priestly ministry, as well as the legislation governing presbyteral councils and other organizations of priests around the world. The Dicastery also deals with matters within the competence of the Holy See concerning: the general discipline concerning the Diocesan Council for Economic Affairs, the Presbyteral Council, the College of Consultors, the Chapter of Canons, the Diocesan Pastoral Council, the Parishes, the Churches; the associations of clerics and public clerical associations; to the latter it may grant the faculty of incardination, after consulting the competent dicasteries and receiving the approval of the Roman Pontiff; ecclesiastical archives; and the extinction of pious wills in general and pious foundations. The current Prefect is Lazarus Cardinal You Heung-sik.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Pontifical Work for Priestly Vocations is established within the Dicastery responsible to encourage and coordinate efforts to promote vocations to the sacred priesthood of the Catholic Church. It is concerned primarily with setting forth a true and clear notion of the nature, the necessity, and the excellence of the priesthood; promotes the offering up of Masses, Communions, prayers and works of penance and charity to the end that God may grant many and excellent priestly vocations; and encourages the growth of the project which is established in each diocese for priestly vocations, and tries to have such projects set up where they do not already exist. The President of the Commission is the "ex officio" Prefect of the Dicastery.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Interdicasterial Commission for Candidates to Sacred Order is established within the Dicastery responsible for the selection of candidates for Holy Orders, including their human, spiritual, doctrinal and pastoral training in seminaries and in special centres for permanent deacons, to their continuing formation, including their living conditions and ways of exercising the ministry. The President of the Commission is the "ex officio" Prefect of the Dicastery.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and for Societies of Apostolic Life is responsible for the promotion, animation and regulation of the practice of the evangelical counsels as it is lived out in the approved forms of consecrated life, and also with regard to the life and activity of Societies of Apostolic Life throughout the Latin Church. It is the responsibility of the Dicastery to approve Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, to erect them and also to grant the license for the validity of the erection of an Institute of Consecrated Life or Society of Apostolic Life of diocesan right by the Bishop. The competence of the Dicastery also extends to Third Orders and to associations of the faithful erected with a view to becoming an Institute of Consecrated Life or a Society of Apostolic Life. The current Prefect is João Bráz Cardinal de Aviz.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life is competent for the enhancement of the apostolate of the lay faithful, the pastoral care of the young, of the family and its mission according to God's plan, of the elderly, and for the promotion and protection of life. In pursuing its own competences, the Dicastery maintains relations with the particular Churches, with the Bishops' Conferences, their regional and continental Unions, the Oriental Hierarchical Structures and other ecclesial organisms, promoting exchange among them and offering its collaboration so that the values and initiatives connected with these matters may be promoted. The Dicastery expresses the Church's special solicitude for young people, promoting their protagonism in the midst of the world's challenges. It studies and deepens, with the support of experts, the major causes of crises in marriages and families, with particular attention to the experiences of those involved in failed marriages, especially with regard to children, in order to promote a greater awareness of the value of the family and the role of parents in society and in the Church. The current Prefect is Kevin Joseph Cardinal Farrell.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Dicastery collaborates with the Pontifical Academy for Life in matters concerning the protection and promotion of human life and makes use of its expertise. It is dedicated to promoting the Church's consistent life ethic. It also does related research on bioethics and Catholic moral theology. The current President of the Academy is Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for Matrimonial and Family Science is devoted to the study of the truth about the human person in all of its dimensions: theological, philosophical, anthropological, and indeed cosmological-scientific. The Institute centers its study of the person in the community that is the original cell of human society: marriage and family. The current President of the Institute is Monsignor Philippe Bordeyne.


title: Roman Curia

text: It is the responsibility of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity to apply appropriate initiatives and activities to the ecumenical commitment, both within the Catholic Church and inrelations with other Churches and Ecclesial Communities, to restore unity among Christians. It is the task of the Dicastery to implement the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and the post-conciliar Magisterium concerning ecumenism. It is responsible for the correct interpretation and faithful application of ecumenical principles and directives established to guide, coordinate and develop ecumenical activity. It also coordinates the ecumenical initiatives of other curial institutions, offices and institutions connected with the Holy See with other churches and ecclesial communities. The current Prefect is Kurt Cardinal Koch.


title: Roman Curia

text: In order to advance the relationship between Catholics and Jews, a Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews is established at the Dicastery. It is tasked with maintaining positive theological ties with Jews and Judaism. The President of the Commission is the "ex officio" Prefect of the Dicastery.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue promotes and regulates relations with members and groups of religions that are not included under the name of Christianity, with the exception of Judaism, whose competence falls to the Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity. The Dicastery works to ensure that dialogue with the followers of other religions takes place in an appropriate manner, with an attitude of listening, esteem and respect. It fosters various forms of relations with them so that, through the contribution of all, peace, freedom, social justice, the protection and safeguarding of creation, and spiritual and moral values may be promoted. The current Prefect is Miguel Ángel Ayuso Cardinal Guixot, M.C.C.J.


title: Roman Curia

text: For the purpose of promoting relations with members of different religious beliefs, the Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims is established within the Dicastery. It tasked with maintaining positive theological ties with Muslims. The President of the Commission is the "ex officio" Prefect of the Dicastery.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Dicastery for Culture and Education works for the development of human values in people within the horizon of Christian anthropology, contributing to the full realization of the following of Jesus Christ. The Dicastery is made up of the Section for Culture, which is dedicated to the promotion of culture, pastoral animation, and the valorization of the cultural patrimony, and the Section for Education, which develops the fundamental principles of education with reference to schools, higher institutes of Catholic and ecclesiastical studies and research, and is competent for hierarchical appeals in these matters. The dicastery is formed through the merger of the Pontifical Council for Culture with the Congregation for Catholic Education. The current Prefect is José Cardinal Tolentino de Mendonça.


title: Roman Curia

text: The Section for Culture promotes and sustains relations between the Holy See and the world of culture, confronting the many requests emerging from it and especially encouraging dialogue as an indispensable means of true encounter, reciprocal interaction and mutual enrichment, so that the various cultures may become increasingly open to the Gospel as well as the Christian faith in them, and so that lovers of the arts, literature and science, of technology and sport may know and feel recognized by the Church as persons at the service of the sincere search for truth, goodness and beauty.