To what congregation did Maronite affairs originally belong?

[Digitonomy]

In 1769, Pope Clement XIV noted

to remove any suspicion of simony the aforesaid custom was rejected by the particular congregation to which the affairs of the Maronites belong

A curious way to put it, as if he didn’t actually remember the appropriate congregation. This seems unlikely, since he had been a cardinal for 10 years, although he had only been pope for 4 months.

In any case, it made me curious about the history of Maronite affairs in Rome. This page profiling the Congregation for the Oriental Churches has the following to say:

The Congregation for the Oriental Churches began as part of the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide pro negotiis ritus orientalis, established by Pope Pius IX on January 6, 1862 with the Apostolic Constitution Romani Pontifices. Pope Benedict XV declared it independent on May 1, 1917 with the Motu Proprio Dei Providentis and named it Congregatio pro Ecclesia Orientali. Pope Paul VI with the Apostolic Constitution Regimini Ecclesiae Universae of Augsut 15, 1967 changed the name to Congregatio pro Ecclesiis Orientalibus.

So what dicastery dealt with the Maronites prior to 1862?

 

[malphono]

In 1769, Pope Clement XIV notedA curious way to put it, as if he didn’t actually remember the appropriate congregation. This seems unlikely, since he had been a cardinal for 10 years, although he had only been pope for 4 months.

In any case, it made me curious about the history of Maronite affairs in Rome. This page profiling the Congregation for the Oriental Churches has the following to say:So what dicastery dealt with the Maronites prior to 1862?

As I recall it being explained to me by someone “on the inside” (i.e., someone who worked for a good number of years in that dicastery,) all Eastern affairs (not only Maronite) were originally handled by the Holy Office, then moved to the Propaganda, and eventually spun-off on their own into the so-called Oriental Congregation. There’s a rumor that it may revert to the Holy Office, but that’s just a rumor.