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The Sacred Congregation of the Consulta or Sacra Consulta was a dicastery of the Roman Curia. It was set up as a 'special commission' by pope Paul IV in 1559 and officialised on 22 January 1588 by Pope Sixtus V in the papal bull Immensa Aeterni Dei. Sixtus named it the 'Congregation over the consultations of the ecclesiastical state' (Congregatio decimoquarta pro consultationibus negociorum Status Ecclesiastici)[1] and established its composition of four cardinals, the Secretary of State as prefect and a suitable number of prelates (around eight), one of whom would act as secretary.[2]