Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-08-01
CARDINALS IN CELLS
The Largest Conclave Rome
 Ever Knew.
PRISONERS WITHIN TIE VATICAN.
No Matter How Long May Be Re- ] @uired Absolute secIusfOn Must He Maintained From the World
 Until a Pope Is Elected:

ROME, Aug. 1.-The largest conclave in the history of the Catholic church is now assembled in the Sistine chapel for the purpose of elect1ng successor to Leo XIII. sixty-two cardinals, with over 200 clerical and lay attendants, are, to all intents and purposes, prison CTS within the Vatican. One of them, Cardinal Herrero y Espinosa, archbish- op of Valencia, was prostrated imme- diately after entering the conclave and lies i'll in his cell.
 The cardinals have now entered upon the solemn duty of choosing the new pope by ballot. The general impression exists that within two or three days, possibly, though not probably, in one day new pope will be chosen. But no matter how long time may be re- auired the absclute seclusion of the princes of the church from the outer world must, according to, the church law, continue until choice is made.
 PrognOst1cation as to who will wear khe tiara as Leo's successor have little value, as even the cardinals as they entered their cells seemed to be with cut definite ideas as to the issue. Gar &lnals Rampolla Serafino VannutelH, Di Pietro, Gotti and Oreglia continue t0 be most frequently mentioned as the aikeliest candidates, but the moment khe name of one of these is mentioned 0 hundred reasons are supplied to show Shat he could not possibly be elected. So seldom have the majority of the car dinAIs now here met each other and so widely do they differ in nationality and personality that no organized movement in support of any one cardi- nal has thus far been practicable nor, an fact seriously attempted.
 This does not apply to the Italian cardinals, who naturally are well ac- ! uuainted with each other With their numerical strength the Italians could, if united, practically insure the cleo aion of pontiff of their own choosing. tt is the disunion and rivalry among the Italian cardinals which in fact makes the question of Leo's successor so uncertain as to make one guess al- most as good as another.
 The rival claims of the leading Ital- Ian cardinals, so freely ventilated in the local press, are matters which are all important in connection with the decision of the conclave, because it is assumed as & foregone conclusion that the next occupant of the holy see will be an Italian. The foreign cardinals have shown no indication of opposi- ton to this assumption, but however willing they may be to honor an Italian It is believed that the serious differ ences among the Italians themselves on matters of political and religious opinions must be reconcfled before one of them suitable to all sections can be elected. The apparent difficulty of accomplishing this has rendered inter. < est in the conclave doubly acute and is largely responsible for the frequently expressed opinion that some cardinal little talked of may emerge from the conclave as the next pope. More inter esting perhaps in certain way is the impression which prevails in certain sections that no matter what the yer dict of the conclave may be great changes are impending in the policy o1 the Vatican and that within year Ol two the new pope will no longer con Bider himself a prisoner of the Vati can," but will, unlike Leo, leave its precincts whenever necessary.
 The ceremony of the entrance of tht cardinals in conclave, which is always given as solemn character as possi ble, was inaugurated with the celebra lion of the mass of the Holy Ghost 1T Ehe Pauline chapel of the Vatican. Be fore 1870 this mass was celebrated il the chapel of the choir at St. Peter's.
 Just before going into his cell ]