The Sacred Congregation of Rites was a congregation of the Roman Curia, erected on 22 January 1588 by Pope Sixtus VbyImmensa Aeterni Dei; it had its functions reassigned by Pope Paul VI on 8 May 1969.
The Congregation was charged with the supervision of the liturgy, the dispensation of the decrees of Canonical coronations, other various sacraments, and the process of canonizationofsaints. With the modern reforms of Pope Paul VI after the Second Vatican Council, it was divided into the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
The secretary, or second-highest official of the Congregation once served as the personal sacristan to the Pope.