The office traces its origins to that of
secretarius intimus, created by
Pope Leo X in the early 16th century to handle correspondence with the
diplomatic missions of the Holy See, which were just beginning to become permanent postings instead of missions sent on particular occasions. At this stage the secretary was a fairly minor functionary, the papal administration being led by the
Cardinal Nephew, the pope's confidant usually taken from his family. The imprudence of
Pope Julius III in entrusting the office of cardinal nephew to his alleged lover
Innocenzo Ciocchi Del Monte, a teenaged, virtually illiterate street urchin whom his brother had adopted a few years earlier, led to an upgrading of the secretary's job, as the incumbent had to take over the duties the cardinal nephew was unfit for. By the time of
Pope Innocent X the secretary of state was always himself a cardinal, and
Pope Innocent XII abolished the office of cardinal nephew in 1692. From then onward the secretary of state has been the most important of the officials of the Holy See. The separate position of Cardinal Secretary for Internal State Affairs was created by
Pope Gregory XVI in 1833 at the request of
Tommaso Bernetti, then secretary of state, reducing the workload of the secretary of state. In 1968,
Pope Paul VI's apostolic constitution
Regimini Ecclesiae Universae further enhanced the powers of the secretary of state, placing him over all the other departments of the
Roman Curia. In 1973 Pope Paul further broadened the secretaryship by abolishing the ancient office of
Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church and merging its functions into those of the secretary of state. ==List==