St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1886-08-14
THE CARDINALATE,
Description of the Once and It's Far
Reaching Eccleslastic Importance.

In6 NAhOINAIA <.
| Description OF the once and It's Far
Reaching Eccleslastic Importance.
In view of the pope's selection OF
Archbishop Gibbons, Of Baltimore, as
a member of the College of Cardinals,
the following facts about the Cardinal.
ate will be found interesting: The Col.
lcge OF Cardinals is the Senate and sov-
ereign council 0f the Pope in the
government and administration of the
affairs of the Catholic Church in Rome
and throughout the world, and is com.
posed of a number of distinguished
ecclesiastics. The office and dignity of
member of this body is termed the
Cardinalate. A Cardinal can not. un-
less invested with the Episcopal char.
actcr. perform any act that depends for
its validity upon such character; nor
can he lawfully Invade the jurisdiction
of Bishop; but apart from this his
rank in the church is always, every
! where and under all circumstances,
Superior to that of any Bishop, Arch.
bishop, Metropolitan, Primate or Patri.
arch.
Although all Cardinals are equal
among themselves in the principal
things, yet in many points of costume,
privilege. local office and RANK thcra
are distinctions or differences estab.
lishcd by law or custom, the most ini-
portant of which follow from the diviS-
ion of the Cardinals into three grades
namely, of Bishops, priests and dea-
cons. The membership of the sacred
college is limited to the maximum of
seventy. The number is seldom COM
plcte. In. .olden times Cardinals were
strictly obliged to reside near the Pope
The greatest act that a Cardinal can
perform is to take part in the Papal
election. When a Cardinal is living Il
long distance from Rome the election
has been known to occur before he had
lime to reach the city.
The color of Cardinals dress is red,
unless he belongs to a religious order.
in which case he retains that of his
habit, but uses the same shape of dress
as the others The red hat and the
beretta or red cap are the most widely
known distinctions of the order. A
good anecdote is told in connection
with the red cap. Pope Gregory XVI.
was a great admirer of a certain Abbot
in Rome. whose habit was white, and
rumor ran that he would certainly be
made Cardinal. Some time before
the next consistory the Pope, with
considerable retinue, went to visit the
monastery of the learned monk. When
trays of delicious pyramidal iced creams
were brought in rs refreshment the
Pope deliberately took one of the white
ones and handed it to the Abbott, and
then took red one for himself. No
one, OF course. began eating until Greg
ory had tasted first, and while all eyes
Were on him he took the top off his own
iced cream and put it on the Abbot's,
saying, with smile, as he looked
around him: ''How well, gentlemen,
the red caps the white" The Abbot
was so elatcd at the subtle suggestion
that he bought Cardinals outfit at
once. When the news of the Abbot's
prccipitancy reached the Pope he was
so displeased that he scratched the Alb.
bots name from the list.
One of the ornaments of Cardinal
is gold ring set with a sapphire, and
engraved on the metal surface of the in
side with the arms of the Pope who has
created him. The Pope himself places
it upon the Cardinals finger. The
actual value of the ring is only S25,
but for many centuries the newly elect
ed Cardinal has been expected to give
large sum of money for some pious
purpose. For long time the sum was
larger than at present, and was paid in
gold, but in consideration of the gen.
eral distress in the early part of this
century the amount was reduced to
about $50: The last Cardinal who
gave the full sum before the reduction
was Della Somalgia, in E05.
The Roman ceremonial shows the
singular Importance of the Cardinalate
by the disposition ordered to be made
of its members after death. 1t is pre-
scribed that when life has departed a
veil shall be thrown over the face and
that the body, dressed in chasuble, if
Bishop or priest. shall lie i'm state. The
hat used in his creation must be de-
posted at his feet, and after his funeral
be suspended over his tomb. His body
iHuSt Dc lstpu Ill CN Npies>-Wooi toiuu III
the presence of notary and his official
family. Il member of which lays ut his
feet little scroll of parchment, on
which have been written very brief
account of the more important events
of his life. Then the first coffin is in
closed i'm another of lead and the two
together in third one of some kind of
hard wood, each coffin having been
sealed with the seal of the dead Cardinal
and of the living notary. Before the
occupation of Rome by the Italian
Government the obsequies were very
solemn and impressive. The body
was borne by night with funeral pomp
of carriages and torches and long ar
ray of chanting friars to the church of
requiem, where it remained until the
day app ointed for the mass, at which
Cardinals and the Pope were present,
the latter giving the final :.bsolution.-
Baltimore Sun.