The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-03-01
46 CARDINALS HAVE
DIED UNDER Plus X.
Sacred College Now Reduced to
IS Members, With One Still
to Be Named.
EIGHT ARE OCTOGENARIANS
Only % Are Italians, and
Foreign Successor to Present
Pope May BE Named.
EIGHT ARE OCTOGENARIANS
Special Correspondencet 10 Tur SIS.

to the successor of Pius y 4, St NsL
acny's Prophecy Concerning the Future
Roman Pontiffs." Is "Religio depopuiata."
AS rule no attempt is ever made at
guessing the hidden meaning OF such
notices before the death OF the reignlng
iope, since obviously 1t Is only after the
election of his successor that II can be
ascertained whether the motto IL appll-
cable. Exceptionally. however. the motto
for the next Pope IL already being ex-
planned during the lifetime OF Plus X. and
1t is said by many that "depopulated re-
ligion" refers to the small number Of
Cardinals who will assemble In conclave
TO elect the new Pope.
1t IL Of course risky to attempt an
explanation Of a prophecy beforehand. but
1t must be admitted that during the ten
years pontifcate OF Plus X. forty five Car
dinals have died and that the Sacred COL
lege has now been reduced to only fifty
1--WE Cardinals, one OF whom Is still to be
named. Now. considering that eight Car
dnals are octogenarians. seventeen sep
tuagenarians, twenty-one sexagenarians,
and that only eight are under GO years
DID, II Is safe to assume that II conclavo
were to happen within short space Ut
time and before new Cardinals are
created. old age bad health and possibly
some deaths will contribute to decrease
stu further the nuh'ber OF Cardinals
who will assemble TO elect the new Pope
Under suca circumstances the cxplana-
ton found for st. Malachy's motto does
not seem 70 he far fetched
As matter OF fact. however. the num-
Der or deaths among the members OF the
Sacred College during the pontifcate Of
fius y Is moi extraordinary. out of the
iorty-fve Cardinals who died since 1903
only five hao been created by the present
Pope, viz. Cardinals Spinola. Ctlle;ari
Samassa, Nagl and Garcia. The remain
Ing forty had been created by Leo XIII,
with the single exception Of Cardinal
Oreglia. the dean OF the Sacred College,
who had received the red hat from Plus
/ IN. Plus y. has created thirty-seven Car
dinals during his pont!fcate and all but
five are still alive.
The number OF Cardinals was denni-
lively liked 1T 20 by SiXtus V IN 1886,
but the Sacred College. with but ono
exception. under Plus ". when the Car
cinals numbered &c. never reached Il.
run number and from 10 10 IL red hats
are always vacant Although the sul,
laid down by SAtus v. has not been mod.-
lied since. before him the number OF
Cardinals was far from being constant.
81 Created at the same Time.
In the fourteent century the number
| OF Cardinals averaged 90. Later this
number increased. and IL was reduced TO
! "a by the Council OF Basel In 1917
Leo y. created 81 Cardinals at the same
time.
rhe composition OF n" Sacred College
was never -ubicct to n definite la ". but
efforts were made from time 20 time to
"nii' the number Of Cardinals OF tho
same nationality. Thus the Councils OF
Constance and Basel forbade that more
| man one-thrd OF the Cardinals should
| tel' ms 10 the same country. After tho
return Of the Popes from AviGuon. tho
ancient customs We're resumed. and where
as formerly the majority Of Cardinals
were French, since then they have heen for
the most part Italians, and the total num-
Der OF hats conferred on repro scntatves
OF other nations has always been a MI
| nority.
The Council OF Trent which reformed the
College OF Cardinals was concerned moro
over the qualifications than the number and
nationality OF Cardinals, and the law was
| laid down that only men OF learning,
holiness and an honorable life should bs
selected as Cardinals. irrespective of their
! nationality. AS regards nationality. the
Sacred College AT present consists OF %
Italian and 81 foreign Cardinals. nclud-
'ng the Cardinal Yet uuproclaim who IN
known to be the ex-patriarch OF Lisbon.
The foreign Cardinals are divided an
to'lows:
6 French.
Austrian.
| Spanish.
American. including Cardinal Fslconio.
| Portuguese.
| German.
| l Dutch.
Irish.
| English.
l Belgian.
brazilian
out OF the twenty eight Italian Caroi-
nails there are twenty who are so-called
Cardinals de curla and reside In Rome.
while the remaining eight are residential
Archbishops IN Italy. out OF the twenty
seven foreign Cardinals there are only four
de curia. viz. Cardinals Falcunio. Billot,
Van Rossum and Merry del Val.
Number soon to he Increased.
The total number of Cardinals de curia
Is therefore only twonty-four. and consid-
ering that there are twelve important con-
srcgdtions which are either presided over
! by Cardinals or else have Cardinal as
secretary. and each one Is composed of q
certain number Of Cardinals, that the
Apostolic Chambtr. the Chancery, the
Datary. the Pen.tcutlary the Segnatura.
the Secretariate of state and other offices,
departments. commits, ions and pro,ecto-
rates are held by Cardinals who .es!de In
de curia have their hands full.
The fact that the number Of Italiar
Cardinals is almost equal 10 the number
Of foreigners is practically unprecedented
and naturally the possibility of the cleo
ton OF a foreign Pope is considered great
II a conclave Is held before the number of
Cardinals is increased. II Is said on good
authority that conSstory Is imminent
and that perhaps before Easter the mum
Der OF Cardinals viii be increased Even
SO, however, the proportion between tho
? Italian and foreign Cardinals is not likely
to be considerably altered.
$ The Pope Is bound 10y ConcOrdat to
D create the following foreign Cardinals
I The Archbishop OF Co.ogne, the Arch
: bishop OF Vienna the Pr!mate OF Hungary
T. and the Archbishop OF Toledo, -Four more
, foreign Cardinals are practically assured
b and II the number of forcign Cardinals Ia
brought TO thirty-one al least twelve
e Italian Cardinals must be created in order
e to bring their number 90 a majority. 1t II
n the difficulty OF creating so many Car
z dinals at The same time that makes the
Pope hesitate from holding : consistory
n and as In The meantime the number OF
K Cardinals Is diminishing che motto OF "de-
I populated religion Is being Interpreted as
~. IH. H.. IL Ill