Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1894-11-23
WHEN THE POPE DIES.
The Scenes and Formalities which Attend
His Deathbed.

The Scenes and Formalitles 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 unction the grand penitentiary
gives absolution the penitential psalms
are then intoned; the sacristan bishop
pronounces the consecrated formula; the
dying pope, if he has the strength to do
so, gives his benediction to the assem-
bly,, and the dirge Of the hymns for the
dead continues to the last Then the
camerlengo, 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 in 1878 the dead pope was Plus
TX Giovanni Mastai-Ferretti), the cam
erlengo, Cardinal Pecci, the present
pope, after striking the three blows with
the hammer, called, Giovanni! Clio
vanni Giovanni then, turning to the
assembly, said, 1.-THE pope is really
dead" Thereupon, while the assembly
is kneeling, the camerlengo intones the
ode Profundis. The master Of the
chambers then removes from the dead
pope's finger the "fsherman's ring" and
hands it to the camerlengo, a symbol Of
tho 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 are broken
up and destroyed. The temporary soyer-
eighty has passed into the hands Of the
sacred college,
In its choice Of a pope tho sacred col
lege Is not limited by any law or regu-
lation to Italians, though it is $40 years
since a pope Of any other nationality
has been elected. The last was Adrian
Floront a Netherlander, Pope Adrian
VI, in 1928, whose nearest nonItal-
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
cd by law to cardinals or to priests.
Any faithful Catholic, even though he
be layman, is eligible. The conclave
has the whole Catholic world to choose
from, but for a precedent for layman
pope it would have 10 go back to 1924,
when the Patrician Crescentius became
Pope John XIX. The only indispensa-
BILE rules are that majority Of all the
cardinals living shall be present, and
that Of those present a majority of two
thirds is required to elect. Thus if the
sacred college had its full number Of 10
cardinals, which 1t rarely has (the latest
list contains only 60 names), 81 Of these
must be present at the conclaye, and at
least 25 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 GO at
that which made Leo XIII pope Of
the GO cardinals now living who will
have the right to elect the next pope 80
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
on the part Of the secular power. All
previous rules as to the duties Of civil
and municipal magistrates in connec-
tion with the conolave are done away
with, leaving the regulation Of oil mat
tiers concerning It in the hands Of the
cardinals. Should the pope die at Rome
the cardinals present must 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.
Tho pope expresses his personal wish
that, considering tho peculiar position
Of the holy see, the next conclavo be
held ont 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 1t, It is very likely that Italy
would claim the right too. The papal
SEQ has never acknowledged the legality
Of these claims, but the possibility Of
the interposition Of veto undoubted-
ly has weight in the selection Of can
didate. New York Sun