The Washington herald., 1909-07-25
Rr RunoLPH DE zAPP-


scme time. which is growing stronger and
more insIstent every day. that the Catho-
lie Church OF America should have
a stronger representation. numerically
speaking. IN the Sacred College at the
Vatican. BY this is meant that the Unit
e6 States should have at least four. II
rot five or six. cardinals, instead Of only
enc. who may have their say and cast
their votes when Pope Is TO be elected.
This contention is largely based on the
claim that the Catholic population OF the
United states is as large or larger than
that OF some Of the countries which have
a stronger representation in the Sacred
College than the United States: that the
American Catholics are among the most
loyal In their spiritual allegiance to the
Pope: that the return OF Peters Pence
from the faithful Of this country TO the
holy father Is bigger than that from any
other country. with only one exception,
and that the United States offers a more
prolific field for the Catholic proseIyter
and missionary and propagandist than
any other country in the world
II has been announced. unof8cially. Of
course. from time to time that during
Cardinal Gibbons lifetime the cardinals
authority in the United States would not
be divided: that while he lived he would
be the only American cardinal.
! At present there are fifty-five cardinals
Of whom thirty-fOSr are italian. OF the
| twenty-One cardinals allotted 20 the rest
Of the Catholic world. five are Spanish or
| Portuguese and four French. so that the
Latin countries Otaly, Spain, Portugal,
and France) have forty-three OF the fifty
five cardinals
The recent decree OF the Pope. OF date
June q. 1905. remodeling the Roman con-
greGations taking the United States out
| OF the category Of missionary countries
and placing IL in a coordinate place with
Italy France, and Spain in the family OF
| Christian nations. may presage other
changes also. America may entertain
some hope that the very inadequate rep
resentation Of the western hemisphere IN
/ the college Of cardinals IS now az last 10
| be remedied. The Catholic population
\ now under the American flag may be
safely estimated at 24.000.000. OF nearly
| one-tenth Of the entire Catholic popula-
tion Of the world.
! In a recent Interview accredited 10 Car
dinal Satoll, former rapal delegate to
! this country, he Is quoted as saying.
/ Pope Plus wishes are the only criteri-
ons now 70 be followed in the making OF
! cardinals. His holiness decides every
/ thing independently. hence II is impossi-
/ bic TO predict when a new American car
dinal viii be created. but possibly ii will
] be soon. Personally. I have the greatest
I admiration Tor Archbishops John Farley.
Of New York; Quigley, Of Illinois. and
Ireland, OF Minnesota. as cultivated and
/ holy prelates
There is possibility that some Aneri-
can archbishop or bishop has been ere
served in pettO, which phrase is applied
20 the creation Of cardinals whose names
are kept secret or the publication thereof
delayed for some reason or other. II It Is
so. as reported. that Archbishop Farley,
Of New York. has been reserved in
petto," he is denied the privilege OF as
/ suming the rank OF a cardinal until his
name has been published, but as soon as
proclaimed he takes precedence over
others from the day he was created and
reserved Should the Pope die before
the publication Is made the creation Is
void. There are supposed TO have been
cases Of this character
And now. what is a cardinal? The
name is derived from the Latin word
'cardo.' hinge. for, as Pope Eugene "
said in the fifteenth century. AS the door
OF house revOlves on its hinges, so on
the cardinals the door OF thS apostolic
see and the whole church rests" This.
however, is % be interpreted. for IN
earlier times all those who were attached
70 the service OF a specified church or
'incardinated' 10 II were called cardinals.
The canOns OF Ravenna. CompOstella. in
Spain. Of Milan. OF Naples. and elsewhere
were called cradinals until Pope Plus V.
A D. 1871. abolished their title and re-
stricted Il 10 its present meaning But
even after this pope's prohibition the
name was applied 10 some Of the priests
serving In some Of the churches OF
France. The title, office and dignity are
therefore Of ecclesiastical origin
The cardinals IN the present restricted
and specific meaning OF the word are the
senate Of the Roman church. have the
sole right OF electing the Pope and the
special duty OF helping him in the govern
ment OF the whole church, although they
are by no means his sole helpers nor his
sole advisers in that arduous under
taking
in the first centuries the popes were
elected by the suffrage Of the local Ro-
man clergy. especially of the bishops.
who took into consideration the wishes Of
the Roman people. This was natural. for
the Pope is the Bishop Of Rome. and must
be the Bishop OF Rome. for he is the sue
cessor OF st. Peter. and from this fact he
derives the right TO rule and teach the
whole church as Christ's vicar on earth. |
But as this mode OF election eventually
became the occasion Of mobs and schisms. !
and as the temporal rulers Of Europe in
truded into these popular elections and
tried 10 enslave the church to the tenn
pOral power. a new and better form or
election was evolved by able popes like !
Nicholas II. A. D. 1859, and especially By I
Alexander III. A D. IT'S. This pope ex-
cluded the inferior clergy, the Roman /
people. and the emperors from the papal /
election and reserved f. exclusively 10 the /
cardinals in the Third Council Of Lateran. |
A d. 1179. which decreed. with his sane |
ton, that the cardinals alone were TO be /
the electors. and that two-thirds Of the |
cardinals present should be necessary for /
a choice. The second general council OF /
Lyons, A. D. 1874, and the general council I
Of Vienna. A. d. 1872 confirmed the Late I
ran decree and supplemented Il by de- I
creeing that the election should take 4
place in a cenclave.
Before the reign OF Pope Sixtus V. in 1