Rensselaer Republican, Volume 22, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 November 1889 — HOW POPES ARE ELECTED. [ARTICLE]

HOW POPES ARE ELECTED.

The Manner In Which the Head of the Church Is Chosen. The manner of electing a Pope of the Boman Catholic Church is not an uninteresting subject at the present time, in view of the feeble health of the reigning Pontiff, Leo XIII., and the probable necessity for the naming' of his successor at no distant day. Time was when the election of the supreme head of the church was vested in the cardinal bishops, ‘•with the consent of the other cardinals and the clergy and people of Rome, saying, also, the honor due to the king of the Romans.” But this recognition of a kingly and imperial right to interfere with papal elections was the cause of endless troubles. It proved to be a fertile source of antipopes and other vexations, and finally became so intolerable th tt Alexander 111. took away from the imperial line the locus standi in papal elections, and a general council later on, held at the Lateran, decreed that the election should thenceforth rest “with the cardinals alone.” This Lateran decree was confirmed and developed at the Council of Lyons, presided over by Pope Gregory X., and in all its substantial features the discipline then laid down still obtains in all papal elections. The immediate body or convention which chooses the head of the Church is called a concl ive; the building or hall in,which such convention is held is also designated by the same name—conclave. The election of a Pope must begin ten days after the death of the list incumbent. It is provided that the election shall neither be delayed nor precipitated; that the electors should be in no fe ir for their personal safety, and that they must not be subjected ; to any external persuasion in casting their vote. Immediately upon the death of a pope one of the secretaries of the Sacred College notifies each cardinal of the Pontiffs demise, and summons them to the city in which the Pope breathed his last The election must t ike place in the same city where the death occurs. Should Leo XIII. go to Madrid for an asylum, as has been mooted during the past few days, and die there, the conclave to elect his successor would therefore be held in Madrid. Within the ten days the conclave must be constructed in the Vatican at Rome, or in some other suitable building if it be held ih another city. On the tenth day solemn mass is said, at the conclusion of which the cardinals form in procession and march to the conclave. The conclave is open to the public during the whole of the first day, and friends of the electors are permitted to visit them. At 9 o’clock that evening the conclave is closed; everybody is turned out except the cardinals and their immediate attendants, and no visitors are allowed to enter the portal* again until the election of a Pope has been declared. The conclave is under the absolute charge of two guardians. One of these is a prelate of high standing, previously selected by the Sacred College, and is called the governor. The other is a prominent layman, whose official appellation is marshal. Each cardinal is,allowed to have two members of his resident household in personal attendance upon him. A number of other attendants and minor officials are also there In the common service of the conclave, including a sacristan, a morrtr or friar to hear confessions, two or three barbers, eight or ten porters, and a number of messengers. But one entrance to the building is allowed to remain open, and that is in charge of prelate officials. They must exercise a strict surveillance over everybody going in or out, and prevent the entrance of unauthorized persons. They must also examine the food brought for the Cardinals, for the purpose of preventing outside communication with them through this channel. Three days after the commencement of the conclave, if no result has been attained, the supply of food is restricted. The rule used to prevail that if at the end of five days no election had been made the Cardinals were compelled to subsist upon bread, wine ard water, but during the last half century the rigor of this rule has been much abated and modified. Every morning and evening the cardinals meet in the chapel, and a secret scrutiny, by means of voting papers, is instituted, so as to ascertain if any candidate has obtained the required majority of two-thirds. There are three valid modes of election. The first of these, and the ordinary method, is by scrutiny; the second, compromises, and third by what is known as quasi inspiration. By compromise is meant when all the cardinals, finding that it is an impossibility for any candidate to be elected under the method of scrutiny, agree to intrust the election to a committee of three or five of their number. The last lime that “compromise” was resorted to was in 1799, when the conclave, after six months of scrutiny, appointed a committee of three cardinals, who elected Pope Pius VII. It will readily be seen how difficult, under the ten-day low and ordinary circumstances, it would be for an American cardinal to participate in the election of a Pope. A cardinal coming from a distance has the privilege of entering into the conclave after its closure, provided he announces his in-

tent ion to claim the right within three days after his arrival in the city where it is being held; but under peaceful and harmonious conditions conclaves are usually of short duration and would finish their work before an American cardinal—could reach—the place of holding.—Baltimore Sun.