ABSTRACT
The graces granted by the Penitentiary indicated what the attitude of the Church was towards irregular candidates who were dreaming of an ecclesiastical career. The decision-making in the Penitentiary was in the hands of a few qualified persons. The cardinal penitentiary Filippo Calandrini was very active in handling cases and in his absence the decisions were taken by his deputies, the regents. The petitioners who used the services of the Penitentiary came from all over Christendom. This demonstrates that the ordination regulations of the Church were known and understood everywhere. The existence of petitions in which the supplicants requested absolution from a violation committed against the ordination regulations of the Church demonstrates that mistakes and abuses of orders took place at local level as well as in the papal curia. The signature of Pope Pius II himself can even be found in certain special cases copied into the registers of the Penitentiary.
