The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-10-24
The Veto Power In Papal Elections.

II IL reported that Il successor TO Plus TX
will be- chosen without regard To the right
II veto belonging to certain Catholic
powers. tn. purport ~ such n course will
hr appreciated II we point out just how far It
would be an innovation. What concessions,
then, were made at the conclaves which
elected the predecessors OF the present Pom
tin, and TO what extent il the weight of their
authority cuunterbalanccd by other prece-
dents and by assertions of absolute indie
pendence on the part oi the College OF Car
dinas
In 1924 when Cardinal SEvrRoLr was on
the point OF gaining the necessary two
thirds Of the votes represented in the con
clavc, Cardinal ALBASI, on behalf Of Austria,
interposcd a veto. II may be worth while
10 give the terms in which the sentence Of
exclusion was Formulated "In my ca
pacity." said the Cardinal, "of Ambassador
Extraordinary to the Sacred College IN con
clave assembled, capacity attested toy the
letter addressed 20 your cxccllcncies, a. well
as by the declaration Of the Imperial
Minister Resident, and 10y virtue Of the in
structiOns given me. ] discharge the dis
az crnllc duty Of declaring that the Court
ui Vienna cannot accept for sovereign Pom
tin his Eminonoc Cardinal SrvFRoLI but
oupo-o, to him a formal exclusion" On this
occasion the claim of Intervention was not
disputed, hut the result was that SEVERoLI
controlling the requisite majority was able
To name in his place Cardinal GENGA, who
became Pope IEo MI. The attcls election,
however seems 10 hive been secured hy ne
cld"nt Tia" French Cardinals CLhtNosT and
DE la FARE. who wcr, intrusted with n
veto, being surprised toy the rapidity of the
ballot, ana noglecting TO inter pose at the
right moment. In like manner, in 1881. the
crown Of Spain interfcred to defeat Cardinal
GvIsTrSIASr at the moment when he had
un,'d twcntv-on" votes. and lacked only
'ight Il an election. Finally. in 1910, Car
Nllai MASlAl could never have hccunc Pore
If Cardinal GAysRtoR. who was tn" bearer
of an Austrian veto against him, could have
reached Rome In sea -rn tO take part In the
cnnclavc.
The" examples show that eiure 1915 no
concinyo has boon held in which the power
If exclusion has not been eNsrcisrl bl eDmo
One Of the states ia which the light i4 ro-
cognzri. It has boon cNnlciprd. moreover
pcremplorly. without any cApos.tior Of
motives. We mag state. however, that the
IANI WAS chewing an old prejudice which
has prompted il to cxclulo IRON the papucy
any Cardinal who had held the Office Of
nunrio at Madrid. SEvgROLI was shut out
hv Austria because he va. known TO favor
the deIi,craucc of Italy from Tmns- Alpine
control and we need not say that the choice
~ the present Pope was obnoxious to the
same power hrcnree it suspected him of
lhos" liberal sNmpni hi"- which facts pres
ctl attos'"d. III those nr'cedents the point
is 10 bc needed that Carlrnls meaning b.
iniorposo a sentence Of exclusion were
obliged, in every instance, 20 demonstrate
their representative character by laying
before the conciayr the documents which
conferred their mandate.
Prior to the French revolution W. hear less
If the formal veto, because Governments
preferred "A less overt but more effective
means of intervention. This WINS the indi-
rect or constructive exclusion which was
compn-ocd by prNily combining n third Of
the votes against n particular candidate, and
which obviously cIashcd loss rudcly with
the conception of is rights and duties on
tmtaincd by the College of Cardinals. In
more than one instance however, the con
clave refused to recognize a formal veto.
thus JULIUS III. in $40. MARCELLUS III. in
1874, and PAUL w. in the same year we're
chosen not wthstanding prohibition Of
The Spanish crown, signiicd by such power
nj princes n CHARLES v and PHILIP ii
IN the conolnyc Of 1890, from which Cnr-
liuHl SFONDRATI came ont Pope. under the
unmc of Gnr,.oRY XIV. there was a long
''rh"tc touching tn" propricty Of yielding Ia
| II" Will ri the same PHILIP; and there Is
| lttlr doubt that Cardinal MoNDoyI would
nay" boon elected in spite of Spanish oppo-
-iton had not onc-third of the votes been
secured against him.