The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1894-12-12
WHEN THE POPE DIES.
The Scenes and orma1ities Which Atten'
His Deathbed.

The Scenes and orrnaEties Which Attend
His Desthbed.
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 unction; the grand penltent1ary
gives absolution; the penitential psalms
are then intoeed; the sacristan bishop
pronounces the consecrated formula; the
dying pope, if he has the strength to 90
{. so, gives his benediction to the assem-
blv, and the dirge Of the hymns for the
dead continues to the last. Then the
camerIengo, to make the official record
Ee1SsHdrrh q 7asg Hdrsarh; with small silver ham
mer strikes three light blows on the
dead mans head and calls him by his
Christian name.
When in 1878 the dead pope was Plus
TX Giovanni Mastai-F -Ferretti), the CAM
e-lengo, Cardinal Pecci, the present
1u,e, after striking the three blows with
! the hammer, called, Giovanni! Clio
Sanni! Giovannip' then, turning to the
~ emily, said, ''The pope is really
eva, Thereupon, while the assembly
is kneeling, the camerlenso intones the
.sDe Profundis- % The master OF the
chambers then removes from the dead
pope's finger the sfsherman's ring" ana
hands it to the camerlengo, a symbol OF
the temporary transfer of the authority
~ the holy see At the first plenary
&ng of the sacred college this ring,
The Band other insignia Of Office
~ euoscoted with the late pope are 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-
lation to Italians, though it is $40 years
since pope Of any other nationality
has been elected. The last was Adrian
Florent, Netherlander, Pope Adrian
VI, in 1928, whose nearest non-ltai-
r~~ian predecessor was the Infamous Rod
rigo Borgia, Pope Alexander VI, elect
ed the year of Columbus discovery OF
America. Neither is the college restrict
ed by law to cardinals or to priests.
ANY faithful Catholic, even though be
be a layman, is eligible. The coHcla7e
has the whole Catholic world to choose
from, but for a precedent for layman
pooe it would have to go back to 1924,
when the Patrician Crescentius became
Pope John XIX. The only indispensa-
bic rules are that majority Of all the
cardinals living shall be present, and
that Of those present majority OF two
thirds is required to elect. Thus If the
college had its full number of 70
: osinals, which it rarely has (the latest
contains only62 names), 81 of these
..8$ust be present at the conclave, and at
least 25 of these would then have to
agree on the same candidate. Fhere
iwere so cardinals present at the con-
sclaye which elected Plus * and 80 at
tthat which made Leo XIII pope. Ot
osthe 81 cardinals now living who will
Shave the right to elect the next pope 81
Care Italians and so belong to other ma
stionalities.
The bull issued to regulate the next
3 conclave confirms to the sacred college
Il the exclusive right to elect the pope,
4 absolutely excluding any Intervention
jSon the part OF the secular power. All
previous rules as to the duties Of civil
and municipal magistrates IN connec-
ton with the conclave are done away
with, leaving the regulation Of all mat
tiers concerning it IL the hands Of the
cardinals. Should the pope die at Rome
the cardinals present m1Ht decide at
once by majority vote whether the
conclave shall be held out Of Rome 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 pope expresses his personal wish
that, considering the peculiar position
of the holy see, the next conclave be
held out of Italy.
In 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 undoob5ed-
S " has weight in the selection Of can
# 6idate. New York Sun