Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1889-09-27
ELECTING A POPE.
HOW THE PONTIFICAL SUCCESS.
SOR IS CHOSEN.
Past and Present Observation-Disclosures
and How Cardinals Meet in
Conclavc- Secrecy OF
che Proceedings.

The manner of electing Pope of the
Roman Church is not an uninterestinp
subject ut the present time, in view oil
the feeble health of the reigninc Poptiif.
Leo XIII, and the probable necessity for
the naming OF his successor at 10 distant
day.
Time was when the election of the
supreme head Of the Church was vested
in the Cardinal Bishops, with the CON
sent of the other Cardinals and the clergy
and people of Rome, saving, also, the
honor due to the King of the Romans. ~
But this recognition Ola lSingly and i'm
pcrial right to interfere with Papal cleo
tons was the cause of endless troubles.
1t proved to be Il fertile source of anti
Popes and other vexations, and finally
became SO intolerable that Alexander
III, tool; away from the imperial line
the locus stdndi i'll Papal elections; and II
General Council later on, held Mt the
Lateran, decreed that the election should
thcnceforth rest "with the Cardinals
alone" This Lateran decree was con-
iirmed 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 conclave; the building or hall in
which such convention is held is also de-
slgnated by the same namc-conclavc.
The election of a Pope must begin ten
! days after the death of the last incum
bent. 1t is provided that the election
snail neither he delayed nor prccipitated;
that the electors should be in no fear for
their personal safety and that they must
not be subjected to any external persua
sion in casting their vote. Immediately
upon the death of Pope one of the
secretaries of the Sacred College notifies
each Cardinal of the Pontiif's demise, and
summons them to the city in which the
Pope brcathed his last. The election
must take place in the same city where
death occurs.
Should Leo NH. 90 to Madrid for an
asylum, us has been mootcd and die there.
the conclavc 10 elect his successor would
therefore be held in Madrid. Within the
ten days the conclavc must be constructed
III the Vatican Mt Rome, or in some other
suitable building if il be held in another
city. On the tenth day solemn mass is
SAID, ut the conclusion of which the Car
dinals form i'll procession and march to
the conclavc. The conclave is open to
the public during the whole of the first
day, and friends of the electors are per
mittcd to visit them At nine O'Clock
that evening the concnvc is closed; every
body is turned out except the Cardinals
and their immediate attendants, and no
visitors are allowed to enter the portals
again until the election of Popc has
been declared.
The concave is under the absolute
charge of two guardians. One of these
Is prelatc Of high standing, previously
selected by the Sacred College, and is
called the Governor. The other is Il
prominent layman, whose official appel!a-
ton is Marshal. Each Cardinal is allowed
10 have two members of his resident
household in personal attendance upon
him. a number of other attendants and
minor officials IRE also there in common
service of the conclavc, including a sacrist,
monk Or friar to near confessions, two
or three BARRIERS, eight or ten porters and
II number OF messengers. But one en-
trance to the building is allowed to re-
main open, and that is in charge of pre-
late officials.
They must exercise strict survc;l-
lance over everybody going in or ont, and
prevent the entrance of unauthorized FER
sons. They must also examine the food
brought for the Cardinals, for the pur-
pose OF preventing outside communica-
-. Il
Three days after the commencement OF
the conclave, if no result has heen attained,
the supply of food is restricted. The
rule used to prevail that il ut the end OF
live days no election had been made the
Cardinals We're compelled to subsist 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 Cartli-
! nails meet in the chapel, and a secret
scrutiny, by means of voting papers, is
instituted, so rs 10 ascertain If any can
tiidate has obtained the required mn-
jority Of two-thirds. There arc three
valid modes Of election The first of
these, and the ordinary method, is by
scrutiny; the second, compromise, and
the third By what is known us quasi in
spiration. BY compromise is meant when
all the Cardinals, finding that i. is an i'm,
possibility for any candidate to be elected
under the method Of scrutiny, agree to
intrust the election to committee OF
three OF i've OF their number. The last
time that compromise" was resorted 10
was in 1893, when the conclave, after
six months of scrutiny, appointed a com
mittee Of three Cardinals, who elected
Pope Plus VII
1t will readily be seen how difficult,
under the ten-day law and ordinry cir
c'imstances, it would be for an American
Cardinal TO participate in the election OF
Pope. a Cardinal coming from dis
tance has the privilege of entering into
the concavc after its closure, provided
nc announces his intention to claim the
right within three days after his arrival
in the city where it is being held; but
under peaceful and harmonious con
ditions conclaves are usually of short du-
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