Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1894-11-17
WHEN THE POPE DIES.
The Scenes and FormaIities which Attend
His Deathbed.

As soon as it is clear that the pope
must die soon all the cardinals compos-
ing the sacred college who are in Rome
gather at the bedside and ON their knees
wait for the end. The sacristan bishop
administers the viaticum and the ex-
treme JUNCTION; the grand penitentiary
gives absolntion; the penitential psalms
are then intoned; the sacristan bishop
pronounces the consecrated formula; the
dying pope, if he has the strength TO do
GO, gives his benediction to the assem-
bly,, and the dirge of the hymns for the
dead continues TO the last Then the
camerlenso, TO make the official record
of the death, with a small silver ham
mer strikes three light blows on the
dead mans head and calls him by his
Christian name.
When Ill 1878 the dead pope was Plus
TX Giovanni Mastai- Ferretti), the cam
eriengo, Cardinal Pecci, the present
pope. after striking the three blows with
the hammer, called, Giovanni Clio
yannil Giovannir' then, turning to the
assembly, said. Tho pope is really
dead = Thereupon, while the assembly
is kneeling, the camerlengo jntones the
de Profundis. The master of the
chambers then removes from the dead
pope's finger the fisherman S ring" and
hands it TO the camerlengo, q symbol of
the temporary transfer of the authority
Of the holy see AT the first plenary
meeting Of the sacred college this ring,
the seals and other insignia of Office
connected with the late pope arc broken
up and destroyed. The temporary sover-
eighty has passed into the hands of the
sacred college.
In its choice Of a pope the sacred COL
lege is not limited by any law or regu-
iation to Italians, though it is $40 years
since q pope of any other nationality
has been elected. The last was Adrian
Florent, a Netherlander, Pope Adrian
VI, i'll 1522-3, whose nearest non-Ital
ian predecessor was tho infamous Rod
rigo Borgia, Pope Alexander VI, elect
ed the year of Columbus discovery of
America. Neither is the college restrict
ed by law TO cardinals or to priests.
Any faithful Catholic. even though be
be layman, is eligible The conclave
has the whole Catholic world to choose
from, but for precedent for a layman
pope it would have to go back to 1924,
when the Patrician Crescentius became
Pope John XIX The only indispensa-
BILE rules arc that majority of all the
cardinals living shall be present, and
that of those present majority of two
thirds is required to elect. Thus if the
sacred college had its full number Of 20
cardinals, which it rarely has 1.-THE latest
list contains only CO names), 81 of these
must be present at the conclave, and at
least 20 of these would then have to
agree On the same candidate. There
were 90 cardinals present at the con-
clave which elected Plus TX and co at
that which made Leo XIII pope OF
the 62 cardinals now living who will
have the right to elect the next pope SO
are Italians and 80 belong to other ma
tionalities.
The bull issued to regulate the next
conclavo confirms to the sacred college
the exclusive right to elect the pope,
absolutely excluding any intervention
Oh the part Of the secular power All
previous rules as to the duties of civil
and municipal magistrates in connee-
tion with the corclave are done away
with, leaving the regulation of all mat
tens concerning it in the hands of the
cardinals. Should the pope die at Rome
tho cardinals present must decide at
once by majority vote whether the
conclayc shall bo held out of Romo and
out Of Italy, or not, if held in Italy.
the moment any pressure is brought to
bear on it either by private persons or
by the government, the conclaye must
dissolve and reassemble out of Italy.
The popo expresses his personal wish
that, considering the peculiar position
Of the holy see, the next conclaye be
held out of Italy.
III times past France, Austria and
Spain have vetoed papal elections, and
these countries still claim the right to
veto If any one of them were to try to
exercise it, it is very likely that Italy
would claim the right too. The papal
see has never acknowledged the legality
of these claims, but the possibility of
the interposition Of veto undoubted-
y has weight i'll the selection of can
didate. New York Sun.