Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1893-1895, 1895-02-01

- soon ~ ig rs clear tnat tne pope
,or,st die coon all the cardinals comps
Ing the sacred college who are IN 49,
gather az the bedside and on thelf kneea
Tait for the end. The saorisfan bishop
,d,ninisters the viaticum and the eA-
,reme unction; the grand penltentiary
&c. ahsolntion; the penitential psalms
s,a then intoned: the sacristan blsnoP
n-opouuces the consecrated formula; 'he
diving pope, if he has the strength 70 no
so. gives his benediotion to the asSeiii
bly. and the dirge Of the hymns ior .,'e
dead continues to the last. Then the
camerlengo. 20 make the official RECORD
N the death. with small silver nam
mer strikes three light blows on tIe
dead mans head and calls him py ms
Christian name. p...
when in 1873 the dead pope was Flus
TX (tiioyanni Mastai- Ferretti) the cam
erlepgo. Cardinal Pecci, the present
none. after striking the three blows with
tbs hammer. called, Giovanni! Olo-
vannil Giovanni" then, turning TO the
assembly, said, "The pope Is really
dead" Thereupon, while the Assembly
is kneelirg, the camrlengo lntohes .ne
"De Profuudis. The master OF inc
chambers then removes from the dead
none's finger the "hgherman's ring ana
| hands IL TO the camcrlencO, symDol Oh
the temporary transfer OF Tie authority
of the holy see At the first plenary
meeting Of the sacred college tlls rllig'
the seals and other insignia OF onico
connected with the late pope are broken
up and destroyed. Tire temporary sover-
aigntv has passed into the hands OF the
sacred college.
In its choice Of pope the sacred col
lepe is not limited by any law or regu-
lation to Italians, though 1t Is 3iO years
,ince pope Of any other naiionallty
i mas been elected The last YES Adrian
Florent, q NetherlandCr, Pope Adrian
vi. in l522-3, whose nearest non-ltal-
| IAN predecessor was the infamous hou-
rigo Borgia, Pope Alexander VI, elect,
cd 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 he
be a layman, is eligible. The conclave
has the whole Catholic world to choose
from, but for a precedent for a layma1
pope it would have to go back to lO24'
when the Patlician Crescentius became
Pope John XIX. The only indispensa
BILE rules are that a majority Of all the
cardinals living shall be present, ano
hat Of those present a majority OF two
thirds il required to elect Thus If the
sacred college had its full number OF 7C
cardinals, which it rarely has (the lates
list contains only G2 nanes), 81 OF thes'
must be present at the conclave, and a
east 20 of these would then have t.
lgglue ON the same candidate. There
we're 90 cardinal, present at the con
| clave which elected Plus TX and 60 a
that which made Leo Mi pope. O
the G2 cardinals now living who vii
have the right to elect the next pope "
are Italians and 80 belong TO other ma
tionalities.
The bull issued to regulate the mex
conclave confirms to the sacred colleg'
the exclusive right to elect the pope
absolutely excluding any intervention
ON the part of the secular power. Al
previous rules as to the duties Of civi
and municipal magistrates in connec
f. tion with the oonclave are done ava,
with, leaving the regulation Of all mat
ters concerning it in the hands Of tn
cardinals. Should the pope die at Rom
the cardinals present must decide a
once by majority vote whether tn
conclave shall be held out of Rome an'
out of Italy, or not, If held in Italy
the moment any pressure is brought q
bear on it either by private persons O
by the government, the conclaye mus
dissolve and reassemblo out of Italy
The pope expresses his personal wisl
that considering the peculiar position
Of the holy see, the next conclave b
held out Of Italy.
In times past France, Austria ant
Spain have vetoed papal elections, AM
these countries still claim the right &
veto II any one of them were to try +
exercise il, II is very likely that Ital.
would claim tho right too The papa
, see has never acknowledged the legalit
OF those claims, but the possibility o
the interposition Of veto undoubted
4 ly has weight in the selection Of q can
, didate, --NeY York Sun.