The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1889-09-13

4iex3nOer Ill. TOOK away rom lie
imperial line the locus standi in papal
elections, and general council later
on held at the Lateran, decreed that
the ection should .henceforth res;
with the Cardinals alone" This
Late an decree was confirmed and de-
veloped at the Council of Lyons. pre-
sided over by Pope Gregory ", and in
all its substantial features the discip-
line then laid down still obtains in all
papal elections.
The immediate body or convention
which chooses the head of the church
is called conclave: the building or
hall in which sucn 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 last incumbent 1t is provided
that the election shall neither be de-
iayed or precipitated; that the electors
should be in no fear OF their personal
safety, and that they must not be sub
jected to any external persuasion in
casting their vote. Immediately uDon
the death of u Pope one of the secre
taries of the Sacred College notifies
each Cardinal of the Pontiff demise.
and summons them to the city in
which the Pope breathed his last. The
election must take place in the same
city where the death occurs.
The cOnclave is under the absolute
charge of two guardians. One of these
Is a prelate of high standing, previous
- selected by the Sacred College, and
is called the Governor The other is
a prominent layman, whose official
appellatiOn is marshal. Each Cardi-
nal is allowed to have two members of
his resident household in personal at
tendance upon him. A number of
other attendants and minor officials
are also there in the common service
Of the conclave, including a sacrist, a
monk or friar to hear confessions. two
or three BARRIERS. eight or ten porters
and number of messengers. But one
entrance to the building is allowed to
remain open, and that is in charge O;
prelate officials.
They must exercise strict SUP
Vigilance over every body going in OF
out. and prevent the entrance of un-
authorized persons. They must also
examine the food brought for the
Cardinals. for the purpose of prevent
ing outside communication with them
l1p oh oh
after the commencement of the con-
Gave, 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 sub
sist upon bread. wine and 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
secret scrutiny, by means of voting
papers, is instituted, so as to ascertain
if any candidate has obtained the
required majority of two-thirds.
NEE are lufee valid MODES OF cleo
ton. The first of these. and the
ordinary method. is by scrutiny; the
second. compromise, and the third by
what is known as quasi inspiration.
BY compromise is meant when all the
Cardinals, finding that it is an impos-
sibilty 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 time that compromise was
resOrted to was in 1879. when tn.
conclavo. after six months of scrutiny.
appointed committee of three
Cardinals, who elected Pope Plus VII
Baltimore sun.