Evening star., 1914-08-20
NEW POPE CHOSEN
BY &C. CARDINALS
Sacred College Required to
Meet in Ten Days to
Name Pontiff.
ITALIANS STILL HOLD
MAJORITY IN CONCLAVE
Theoretically Any Catholic Can Be
Elected to the Chair of
St. Peter.

sixty three members, of whom flfty-sx
were present at the conclave. Today
there are sixty-six cardinals. of whom
it is not expected that more than sixty
will be present at the conclave which
is to elect the successor to Pope Plus x.
OF the cardinals composing the present
Sacred College none was created by Plus
TX, twenty by Leo Kill and forty-six
by Plus x. Under the late pontiff. forty
six cardinals have died. Of whom three
were Of his own creation.
The nationality OF the Sacred COLLEGE,
which not infrequently plays an i'm
portant part in the election Of Pope, is
thus distributed at present:
Italian, "a; French, 6; Spanish. 8;
American. English. Austrian and Hun
garian. 3: German and Portuguese. 2, and
Irish. Brazilian, Dutch, Belgian and
Canadian. I.
very different aspect would have been
presented by the Sacred College prlor 70
the famous consistory OF November ~
1911 on the eve of which there were only
forty-seven living cardinals, of whom not
more than forty would have been in SUI
iciently good health to attend con
claye In that consistory no less tnah
eighteen cardinals were appointed, IouI
of whom were citizens of the United
States
Non-Italian Pope Possible.
Owing to the fact that in the coming
conclave italian cardinals have MAJOR
ity of only two, there has been much
speculation as to the possibility OF non
Italian Pope being elected.
The election Of Popes by conciave
dates from the middle ages. In ancient
times the vote Of the Roman clergy,
cast in the presence of the faithful. was
the elective power, but as the papaI o,s
nity Increased In wealth and splenoor
il became an object Of ambition IN the
vear 400 Symmachus enacted laws which
definitely settled the mode OF eiection,
but it was not until 1868. under Nicholas
III, that the papacy was compietsy
emancipated from the tempolal1 I1,i a1au, ,.a.
the last Pope to make even nominal
concession to laymen.
The word "conclave'' came into use
about the middle of the thirteenth cen
tury. and originated In the custom ~ ~
selecting a hall whose door could De
securely fastened (cum ciavi-wltn q
kew behind the voting cardinals untl
they agreed by a two-thirds maoorty
on a candidate. In some instances
where stubborn electors ~ neiH d;ro,ntsh,ne
their quantity of food. The conciave
which met in 127O at Viterbo 70 eject
Gregory x lasted a year ana MAJ nsAI pe
fore a result was obtained.
hah,tants of viterbo finally nasteneu
= decision by removing the roof OF tne
paIazzo yescovile, where the conciAvo
was held. leaving the venerable Iatne,s
!, prey to the inclemency OF the weathe''
Eligible for Papacy.
Theoretically, any one may be elected
pope. He need be neither cardinal
priest. nor yet an Italian. sfxt"s '.
a. swipeherd in his youth: Cardinal
;otti's father was a stevedore, "nie
the parents of Plus X. were peasants.
AS soon as a Pope breathes MS Iast
the cardinal chamberlain taxes posses- @
ION of the apostolic palace. He pro-
ceeds to the death chamber, assures
himself of, and instructs q notary 70
certify to- the fact that the Pope 10
really dead. Then the ring OF the FISH
erman is broken and the sea- oes..oyeH, =,
The body is embalmed and carried IN
procession to the chapel of the blessed
Sacrament in the Vatican basihca.
where 1t remains for three Gays, .ne
feet protruding a little through an open
ing in the iron railing which incloses
the chanel that the faithful may ap-
proach and kiss the embroidered slipper.
The nine days of funeral services are
gone through with. During the las.
three days the services are performed
faluue On each of these days nve
cardinals in turn give the absoiutlon,
and on the ninth day funeral orauon
is pronounced. The body Is reverentiy
put into cypress WOOD comm. ms Is
put into a leaden case. properly IN
scribed. and then all is placed In a
wooden box covered with red pail. and
in this condition 1t il carried to the last
resting place, previously selected by the
deceased.
Shut Up in the conclave.
On the tenth day the cardinals assem-
BILE in the forenoon. and the preparations
are made for the conclave. All the per
sons who are to remain in the conclave-
as prelates. custodians. attendants on the
cardinals, physicians, BARRIERS. masons-
are passed in review and take an oath not
TO speak even among themselves Of mat
ters concerning the election. Every ave
nue. leading to the conclave. except the
eight loopholes, is walled up by the ma
sons: but one door is left SO that it may
he opened by the late-coming cardinals
or TO let out any one who may be ex-
PEELED or who for any good reason may
he obliged to go out. One who leaves
cannot return This only door has a
combination lock. to be opened by the key
of the prince marshal outside and of the
cardinal chamberlain inside.
The food for the cardinals Is intro
duced by turn. so well known in con-
vents of cloistered communities.
The next day. after the mass Of the
HOLY Ghost the balloting begins, and con-
tinues until some one receives the neces-
sary two-thirds. The ballots are cast into
a chalce on the altar.
When a conclave assemblies the popu-
lar mind submits each candidate to what t
is known as the prophetic test of a GER
tain ST. Malachy, the Irish Archbishop of
Armagh. in the twelfth century. who
wrote a treatise called "The Tree of
Life" in which he set down a prophetic
list of future Popes. describing each in a
few words. emblematic of their careers or
their identity.
Prophecies Accurate.
His prophecies have been more accu-
rate than might have been expected.
The phrase indicating Leo XIII was 'lu-
men I'm caelo," which the comet in his
coat-of-arms appears to justify His de-
scription of the next Pope was ''ignis ar
dens.' burning fire. which before the
conclave Of 1903 was said to point d.
rectly to the succession of Cardinal Svam-
pa, for svampa means fare How the
phrase may be applied to the late Pope
is a matter of controversy.
After the "ignis ardens" eight Popes
are prophesied in the Tree Of Life" and
then the end Of the world. under Petrue
Secundus, who In generally supposed tc
'ypify the millennium and the return OF
In N. ev~rt ~ a SeaA1or,r at tha eoro-