The times., 1899-03-05
| TEE METHOD OF
ELGUTING A Pope
Interesting Ceremony tOSecure
the Head Of the Church.
Hard Work Imposed Upon the CO..
iege oi Cardinals.
After the Death of the For-
mer Poatin.

The illness of the Pope and the possi-
bility of his death have caused much spec
uiation as to mis- successor.
Last week Cardinal Ledichowski the
Prefect of the Congregation OF the Propa-
ganda Eide. consulted with Cardinals SAD
to Stefano. Dean of the Sacred College:
Camerlungo. OF the Holy Roman Church
and Prefect OF the Congregation of Care
monial. and Mertel. Vice Chancellor OF the
Holy Roman Church and First Cardinal
Deacon, who, in conjunction with Cardinal
Ledochowski. according to the apostoi,
constitutions assume the government OF
the Church In case Of the Popes death
Below will be found an interesting az
count of how q successor is chosen TO fill
the vacancy caused by the death OF Ro-
man pontiff:
When life has vanished, the Cardinal
Camerlungo, dignitary whose duties are
purely ceremonial, proceeds to hold what
might be termed an inquest on the remains
of the Ponti1. Accompanied by certain Of
hcers to act as witnesses. the Camerlungo
proceeds to the death chamber On arriv-
ing he finds the door closed, whereupou
a golden mailet is handed him, with which
being no answer he calls aloud the name OF
the Pope. and again receiving no reply he
enters the chamber. Approaching to the
bedside, this time with a silver mallet.
he taps the forehead of the dead Pope three
times. again calling him by name. Silence
being once more the only answer, the Ca
merlungo proclaims that the Pope is in
truth no more. The Papal physicians are
then ordered to draw up statement OF the
cause of death, which, when prepared and
certified. is then deposited in the pontificaI
archives.
Opening of the ConcInve.
THE election OF Pope must begin ten
days after the death. and in the same city
where the death occurred. On the tenth
day solemn mass is said, after which
the Cardinals, having now assembled, form
in procession and march to the conelave.
The conclave is open to the public during
the whole OF the first day, and friends OF
the electors are allowed TO visit them. At
8 o'clock that evening the conclave Is
closed; everybody is turned out except the
Cardinals and their immediate attendants.
and no visitors are allowed to enter the
portals again until the election OF Pope
has been declared
The conclave is under the absolute
charge of two guardians. One of these Is
prelate of high standing. previously
elected by the Sacred College, and Is called
the governor. The other is q prominent
layman. whose official appellation is mar
shall. Each cardinal is allowed to have
two members of his resident household in
attendance upon him.
4 Strict Surveillance.
"a number of other attendants and min
or officials are also there in the common
service of the conclave, including a sacrist.
monk or friar TO hear confessions, two or
three BARRIERS, eight or ten porters, and
| number Of messengers But one entrance
| to the building IS allowed TO remain open,
and that is in charge of prelate officials.
They must exercise a strict surveil-
lance over everybody going in or out, and
prevent the entrance OF unauthorized per-
sons They must also examine the food
brought for the Cardinals for the purpose
OF preventing outside communication with
them through this channel.
Three days after the commencement OF
the conclave, il no result has been obtain
ed, the supply Of food is restricted. The
! rule used to prevail that if at the end OF
| five days no election had been made the
Cardinals were compelled to subsist upon
| bread. wine, and water. But during the
last half century the rigor of this rule
has been much abated and modified.
The Method OF Voting.
Every morning and evening the Car
dinals meet in the chapel, and a secret
scrutiny by means of voting papers is in
stituted, so as to ascertain il any eandi-
date has obtained the required majority
OF two-thirds. There are three valid
modes OF electing. The first OF these and
the ordinary method. is by scrutiny. the
second by compromise, and the third by
what is known as quasi-inspiration. BY
compromise is meant when all the Car
dinals finding it is an impossibility for
any candidate to be elected under ths
method of scrutiny. agree to intrust the
| election to a committee of three or five
of their number. The last time that COM
promise was resorted TO was in 1893. when
| the conclave. after six months of scrutiny.
appointed a committee OF three Cardinals
who elected Pope Plus VII"