The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-08-23
At THE POPE'S DEATHBED
ELABORATE AND cEREMoNIoUs
FoRMALITIEs coNsEo ENT
UPON THE DEATH OF A POPE.

the dramatic finale that SuperVenes
upon the close of Pontiff's life The
work contains many chapters dealing
with the historic etiquette and privi-
lege that attach to ST. Peters Sue
cessor, both at the period of his cleo
ton to the sacred Chair and at the
last act in his mortal career. We
seize upon the latter part of the work
as containing much that appeals at
once to ones sense of the awe-inspir-
ing and the knowingly dramatic.
AS soon as the illness of the Pope
has assumed a grave character, says
Lector, the Cardinal Secretary of
State notifies first the Cardinal Dean
Cor senior of his rank, in order that
he may assemble his fellow Cardinals
at the Vatican and, secondly, the Car
dinal Vicar, whose duty it becomes to
order special prayers for his Holiness
in all the churches. The Diplomatic
Corps is also notified. Supposing the
Pontiff not to be too i'll, he calls
around him his domestic prelates as
well as the dignitaries of his ponti-
fical family or encourage. The Grand
Penitentiary assists the dying Pope,
whose personal confessor is also pre-
sent; the bishop-sacristan always a
monk of the Order of st. Augustine
and nearly always Titular Bishop of
Porphyris) takes the Viaticum to him
and administers Extreme Unction, af-
ter which the Grand Penitentiary
hoorc +ho dx,ipo Dopo rooifo Iic yoro.
fession of Faith as formulated by the
Councils of Trent and the Vatican.
The generals of the great religious
Orders are present so as to give the
dying Pontiff the special indulgences
which they have the privilege of con-
ferring. At the moment of the last
agony, the gentlemen of the Guard
are warned so as to be at hand to
commence their vigil. If his condi-
ton allows it, the Pontiff addresses
his brethren for the last time, recon-
mending to their care all things in
the Church, and speaks word or two,
perhaps, as to the election of a sue
cessor, also indicating where he wishes
to be buried, and concluding with his
last blessing There is nothing in the
world so moving as these supreme
allocutions of the Father of the Chris
tian Church. AS soon as the Pope has
breathed his last, the Cardinal Gamer
lengo is informed, and with his pre-
lates, officers and attendants, this dig
nitary takes official cognizance of the
decease of the Pope and arranges for
the government of the Church in the
interregnum. Thus on February 7,
1878, Cardinal Pecci afterwards Leo
KID took up his quarters in the Vati-
can and, indeed, never left it again.
Etiquette does not permit the Cardinal
Camerlengo to enter the death cham
Der till the Pontiff's passing has been
announced to him officially.
Dressed in violet, which is the Papal
mourning color, and wearing rochet
covered with a black cape under his
distinctive robe, the Camerlengo pro-
ceeds to the threshold of the death
chamber, and is led to the couch upon
which the dead Pope lies, no hand
having as yet touched his body. A
white veil covers the Pontiff's face,
a group of Penitenciars of st. Peter
continue to recite the prayers for the
dead. Kneeling upon violet cushion,
the Camerlengo prays for a moment
in silence, whilst the chamberlains re-
move the veil from the Pope's face.
Then he approaches the bedside in or
der to take official cognizance of the
death of the Vicar of Christ. He is
then handed small silver {? ivory
hammer, with which he taps the fore
head of the deceased, at the same time
calling out thrice in high-pitched and
mournful tones the baptismal name of
the departed Pontiff.
In the case of Pope Leo the name
was Joachim, in Italian, Gioachino, a
name which lends itself well to sol
emn and dramatic intenation Turn
ing then to those present, the Gamer
lengo announces that the Sovereign
Pontiff is truly dead" and all begin
the recital of the De Profundis. At
the same moment the chief Chamber
lain hands the Cardinal the Fisher
mans Ring, who will have it broken,
together with the official leaden Seals
of the Papacy, in the presence of all
his colleagues when the first meeting
of the Sacred College takes place. To
the same chief Chamberlain pre-
late always-will belong the privilege
of handing the Pope-elect new Ring,
and will do so kneeling on the steps
Of the Papal throne, after which cere-
mony the new Pope will put on his
white silk skull-cap, transferring his
own of purple to the head of the
kneeling Chamberlain, who is by this
very fact appraised that he is to be ap-
pointed a Cardinal. But this is an
ticipating matters, somewhat.
When in the death chamber, the
formalities connected with the attest
alton of death are completed, the
Cardinal Camerlengo retires to one of
the neighboring halls in order to make
the official notifications for the period
of the Church's mourning. At this
time, Rome is apprised of the Pope's
having passed by the tolling of every
available church bell in the city. Tele-
graphic dispatches are made to all
parts of the world, to the chiefs of
the Hierarchy as well as to the heads
of all civil governments The Cam
erIanpo fhua hocomnS during fhn in.