Consistory
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary · Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary
In ecclesiastical law
An assembly of cardinals convoked by the pope. The consistory is either public or secret. It is public when the pope receives princes or gives audience to ambassadors; secret when he fills vacant sees, proceeds to the canonization of saints, or judges and settles certain contestations submitted to him.