The Congregation for Indulgences and Sacred Relics (Latin: Congregatio indulgentiarum et sacrarum reliquiarum) was a body of the Roman Curia, created in 1669 and suppressed in 1904.
Pope Clement IX established the Congregation for Indulgences and Sacred Relics in his apostolic letter In ipsis pontificatus nostra primordiis on 6 July 1669,[1] giving permanent form to a commission of cardinals created on 4 August 1667.
Initially the Congregation had a purely disciplinary character overseeing the application and observance of the Council of Trent's decree De indulgentiis issued on 3-4 December 1563[2] and limiting the abuses introduced in the distribution of indulgences by the Secretariat of the Briefs.
Pius IX's instructions were reiterated with greater force by Pope Leo XIII in the motu proprio Christianae reipublicae of 31 October 1897.
On 29 June 1908, with the apostolic constitution Sapienti consilio, Pius X suppressed the Congregation and transferred its responsibilities for indulgences to the Holy Office.