dicastery

Etymology

From Ancient Greek δικαστήριον (dikastḗrion, “court, tribunal”), from δίκη (díkē, “right, custom, judgement”).

Why this word is great

DICASTERY — [Noun] A ministry or department of the Roman Curia, or an ancient Athenian judicial body composed of dicasts. From Ancient Greek δικαστήριον (dikastḗrion, "court, tribunal"), from δίκη (díkē, "right, custom, judgement"). Unlike "congregation" (which narrows to historic Curial divisions) or "synod" (a fleeting council), a dicastery is a fixed instrument of governance or justice. It is the hushed rustle of parchment in a Vatican office, the raised hands of Athenian jurors casting clay ballots, or the bureaucratic hum of a modern tribunal—each a mechanism for imposing order, however imperfect, upon the ceaseless tide of human dispute.

noun

A ministry or department of the Roman Curia of the Holy See, whether administrative or ecclesiastical.“The dicastery will continue to oversee the appointment of bishops in the mission territories. … There is no longer a distinction between congregations and pontifical councils because all the Vatican’s main departments are now defined as dicasteries.”
A judicial body of the ancient Athenian state, made up of dicasts.“The better cause has conquered; and there is at least this advantage to the Athenian legal system, there will be no appeal nor tedious technicalities before a "higher court." The verdict of the dicastery is final.”