Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-04-02

THE MAKING
OF A POPE.
Written for the Times Republican. !
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES


1t is not question thatsinterests one
section of this country, or the the Unit
ed States alone, but the world IN gen.
era|. and is none other than that of the
length of life of the church's beloved
pope. Leo Kill, who is now 80 years of
age and is in such poor health that his
death may be daily expected.
AS the end is likely very near the Sc
lection of Leo successor to the papacy
of the Roman Catholic faith will soon
engross the attention of the Catholic
world. The selection of pope is an IN
teresting procedure, and one that is
practically the same now as 1T was
when it's substantial features were set
tied upon at the council of Lyons In
1874. At that time Gregory X. decided
the matter once and for all time to
come, taking decisive step after years
of controversy that embraced the ques-
tions of whether or not the Roman
pontiff could legally nominate his own
successor; who or who was not eligf-
BILE; what would happen in the event OF
all the cardinals dying before the cleo
ton, etc
After the council of Lyons, and to the
present day. the discipline OF the man.
ner of electing successor to the pope,
has been observed.
In the election of pope 1T is obvious
that there are certain conditions, the
exact fulfillment of which is of the ut
most consequence. OF these are the
rules that all those qualified to vote,
and only those, shall take part in the
election; that the election shall not be
Unnecessarily delayed; that it shall not
be precipitated: that the electors shall
be in no fear for their personal safety,
which would prevent the election from
being free; and that they shall be sub
jected to no external persuasion tend
ing to make them vote, or at least to
come under the suspicion of voting,
from motives lower from those that
ought to actuate them.
After the death of the pope the cardi-
nails who are absent from Rome are
Immediately summoned to the conclave
by one of the secretaries of the sacred
college, and The election begins ten days
after the pope's death. In whatever
city the pope dies, there must the cleo
ton of some cardinal as his successor
be held. Within the ten days the con-
clave, which is properly chamber
that can be closed with one key, must
be constructed in the papal palace. or
in some other suitable edifice. The
large halls of the palace are so divided
as to furnish smaller compartments,
two for an ordinary cardinal and three
for one of princely rank, all open upon
a corridor. Here the cardinals must
remain until they have elected a pope,
1t matters not how long that shall be.
On the tenth day after the popes death
the solemn mass of the Holy Ghost is
said in the vatican church, and after 1t
the cardinals form procession and
march to the conclave, taking posses
sion of their respective apartments. as
the lot may have distributed them. For
the rest of that day the conclave is
open and the crowds may circulate
among the apartments and corridors,
and the ambassadors and delegates
from foreign states, besides their per-
sonal friends, may visit the cardinals
for the last time. In the evening every
one, is excluded from the conclave ex-
cepting the cardinals and those author
lied to remain with them. each cardinal
being allowed two members of his
household as personal attendants. The
conclave is then closed under the SUI
perintendence of two guardians, one a
prelate previously appointed by the sa-
cred college, who is termed the gov
ernor," and the other lay official, des-
ignated as "the marshal" In the COM
mon service Of the cardinals there may
be a carpenter, a mason, sacrist a
monk or friar, to hear the confessions,
two BARRIERS and eight or ten porters
and messengers. After the conclave is
closed the strictest kind of a watch is
kept over the one entrance, to SCI that
no unauthorized person may enter, and
to exercise a surveillance over the food
brought for the cardinals, to see that no
written communication might be con-
yeyed to them by that means.
If there is no election after three days
the supply of food is restricted, and If
five days more elapse and still there be
no successor to the pope chosen the rule
formerly was in vogue that from that
time on the cardinals could subsist on
nothing but bread, wine and water.
This rigorous method, however, has
been somewhat modified by later ordi-
nanceS.
On each morning and evening the
cardinals meet in the chapel, and Sc
cret scrutiny by means of voting papers
ie usually instituted, in order to ascer-
tain whether any candidate has the re-
CURED majority of two-thirds A
cardinal coming from a distance may
enter the conclave after the closure,
but only If he claims the right of doing
so within three days after his arrival in
the city. Every actual cardinal. even
tho he may lie under sentence OF ex-
communication, has the right to vote,
unless he has not yet been admitted to
deacon's orders. Even in this case the
right of voting has sometimes been con-
ferred by special papal indult.
There are three valid methods OF
election-by scrutiny, by compromise
and by what is called neutrality-suspicious..
Scrutiny is the ordinary mode. and
since the thirteenth century elections
have usually been made by this man
ner, and with reasonable dispatch. In
times of disturbance, however, the diff
ficulty Of obtaining a two-thirds vote
has been known to protract the pro-
ceedings over a long period. The long
est time consumed in an election was
in the celebrated instance Of the. con-
clave of 1899, which lasted six months.