The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-10-09

ELECTING A POPE.
How the Sacred College
Chooses a Successor
to St. Peter.
CATHOLIC LAYMEN ELIGIBLE
Scenes That Attend a Papal Death
Bed-Gene raj Church
News.

A. soon as it is clear that the Pope must
lfe soon all the Cardinals composing the
sacred College, who are in Rome gamer
At the bedside. and on their knees wait
for the end. The Sacristan Bishop ADMIN
tnters the yiaticum and the eAtlS
JUNCTION, the Grand P~enltenoaIs re
~absolution, the PenitentiaI Psaln sam NO
then intoned, the Sacristan bisnop Ptha
nounoes the consecraIed tormuia lne
dying Pope, il he has the stIeAssn -
do SO. gives his benedictlon 10 the ~.
bly,. and the dirge OF the hymns nan me
dead continues 10 the last. Ineh tnS
Camerlengo, to make the ofnclai le So
of the death, with a small silver "a daad
strikes three light blows 81 on MS christian
name. When in 1875 the oead rope ~
Plus TX. Giovanni Mastal-fer .e,. resaut
Camerlengo, Cardinal Pecci, the 9Th
. the hammer called Giovanni! Gaovan.
The inturning 10 the aSsds
bly, said:-"The Pope is really 9eau.
Thereupon, while the assembly Is hne
ing, the Camerlengo intones the ne - ~
fundis. The Master OF the .nSn
removes from the dead Pope,s ImseI me me
''fsherman's ring ana nahos y
transfer OF the authority OF the HOY oss;
At the first plenary meeting OF the athsr
College, this ring. the seats, aid iata
insignia of Office connected with tne M
Pope are broken up and destroyer. the
remporary sovereignty has passed into lno
hands of the Sacred College. 81
In its choice OF a Pope the Sacred Coi-
lege is not limited by any law or reSula-
ton to Italians. though 1t is siv years
since a Pope of any other n~atlonahss mao
been elected. The IaSs ma adr;an W.
in l522-23, whose nearest hoh-itaiiai
predecessor was the Roorigo
Borgia, Pope Alexander VI, eieeleu tme
year OF Columbia's discovery Oh america.
Neither is the college restricted ny laM
TO Cardinals or to priests; any IalthIui
Catholic, even though he be a layInah, Is
eligible; the Conclave has the Wnoie
Catholic world TO choose from, but a
precedent for a layman Pope II Wouio
have to go back TO l024, when the rallt-
clan C~rescentius became Pope John AlA.
The only indispensable rules are tnat q
majority of all the Cardinals iivins snali
be present, and thai of those present q
majority of two-thirds IS NrequiIeu ~
elect. thus. il the Sacred College had IT'S
full number of seventy Cardinals, WnleH
it4rarely has {the latest list contains oily
sixty-two names) sthirty-seyen OF THESE
must be present at the Conciavs1 any d.
least twenty-five of these would tnen nave
to agree on the same candidate Inere
were fifty Cardinals present at I ne con.
elaye which made made 1 leo Ag Who VIII viii have
the right to elect n next rope, appue
thirty-two are Italians and the resi- pc
long to other n~atlonalties.
The bull issued to- regulate the mex.
Conclaye confirms to the Sacred Coliese
the exclusive right to elect the POPE,
absolutely excluding any intervention on
the part of the secular power: al pre-
yious rules as to the duties of civil and
municipal magistrates in connection with
the -Conclave are done away with, leav-
ing the regulation of all matters concern
should the Pope die al. Rome. the Car
dinals present must decide at once by a
majority vote whether the Conclaye snaH
he held out of Rome and out or Italy, OF
not. II held i nItaIy, the omen any
pressure is brought to bear on IT either
by private persons or by the Government.
the C~onclave must dissolve and reassem-
BILE out of Italy.
In times past, France, Austria and
Spain have vetoed Papal elections; n
these countries still claim the right 70
veto. If any one of them were to try TO
exercise it, it is very likely that Italy
would claim the right, too The ZAP
See has never acknowledged the Legality
Intersection of 8 veto undoubtedly has
Msfght In the seleetion of q candidate.