Cardinal (Catholic Church)
A cardinal (Latin: Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis; lit. 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the pope and typically hold the title for life. Collectively, they constitute the College of Cardinals. The most solemn responsibility of the cardinals is to elect a new pope in a conclave, almost always from among themselves (with a few historical exceptions), when the Holy See is vacant. During the period between a pope's death or resignation and the election of his successor, the day-to-day governance of the Holy See is in the hands of the College of Cardinals. The right to participate in a conclave is limited to cardinals who have not reached the age of 80 years by the day the vacancy occurs.[1] In addition, cardinals collectively participate in papal consistories (which generally take place annually), in which matters of importance to the Church are considered and new cardinals may be created. Cardinals of working age are also appointed to roles overseeing dicasteries of the Roman Curia, the central administration of the Catholic Church.
Cardinals are drawn from a variety of backgrounds, being appointed as cardinals in addition to their existing roles within the Church. Most cardinals are bishops and archbishops leading dioceses and archdioceses around the world – often the most prominent diocese or archdiocese in their country. Others are titular bishops who are current or former officials within the Roman Curia (generally the heads of dicasteries and other bodies linked to the Curia). A very small number are priests recognised by the pope for their service to the Church; as canon law requires them to be generally consecrated as bishops before they are made cardinals,[2] but some are granted a papal dispensation.[a] There are no strict criteria for elevation to the College of Cardinals. Since 1917, a potential cardinal must already be at least a priest, but laymen have been cardinals in the past. The selection is entirely up to the pope and tradition is his only guide.
As of 29 June 2024, there are 236 serving cardinals, of whom 125 are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope.
Papal elections[edit]
In 1059, Pope Nicholas II gave cardinals the right to elect the Bishop of Rome in the papal bull In nomine Domini. For a time this power was assigned exclusively to the cardinal bishops, but in 1179 the Third Lateran Council restored the right to the whole body of cardinals.[10]
Numbers[edit]
In 1586, Pope Sixtus V limited the number of cardinals to 70:[11] six cardinal bishops, 50 cardinal priests, and 14 cardinal deacons. Pope John XXIII exceeded that limit citing the need to staff church offices.[12] In November 1970 in Ingravescentem aetatem, Pope Paul VI established that electors would be under the age of eighty years. When it took effect on 1 January 1971, it deprived 25 cardinals of the right to participate in a conclave.[13] In October 1975 in Romano Pontifici eligendo, he set the maximum number of electors at 120, while establishing no limit on the overall size of the college.[14]
Popes can set aside church laws[15][16] and they have regularly brought the number of cardinals under the age of 80 to more than 120, twice reaching as high as 135 with Pope John Paul II's consistories of February 2001[17] and October 2003. No more than 120 electors have ever participated in a conclave, but most canon lawyers believe that if their number exceeded 120 they would all participate.[18][b]
Pope Paul VI also increased the number of cardinal bishops by assigning that rank, in 1965, to patriarchs of the Eastern Catholic Churches when named cardinals.[19][20] In 2018, Pope Francis expanded the cardinal bishops of Roman title, because this had not been done despite recent decades' expansion in the two lower orders of cardinals, besides having all six such cardinals being over the age limit for a conclave.
Title and reference style[edit]
In 1630, Pope Urban VIII decreed their title to be Eminence (previously, it had been "illustrissimo" and "reverendissimo")[c] and decreed that their secular rank would equate to prince, making them second only to the pope and crowned monarchs.[d][e]
In accordance with tradition, they sign by placing the title "Cardinal" (abbreviated Card.) after their personal name and before their surname as, for instance, "John Card(inal) Doe" or, in Latin, "Ioannes Card(inalis) Doe". Some writers, such as James-Charles Noonan,[25] hold that, in the case of cardinals, the form used for signatures should be used also when referring to them in English. However, official sources, such as the Catholic News Service,[26] say that the correct form for referring to a cardinal in English is normally as "Cardinal [First name] [Surname]". This is the rule given also in stylebooks not associated with the church.[27][28][29][30] This style is also generally followed on the websites of the Holy See and episcopal conferences.[31] Oriental patriarchs who are created cardinals customarily use "Sanctae Ecclesiae Cardinalis" as their full title,[32] probably because they do not belong to the Roman clergy.[22]
The [First name] Cardinal [Surname] order is used in the Latin proclamation of the election of a new pope by the cardinal protodeacon,[f] if the new pope is a cardinal, as has been the case since 1378.
The term Prince of the Church has historically been applied to cardinals of the Catholic church, and sometimes more broadly to senior members of the church hierarchy. It has been rejected by Pope Francis, who stated to a group of newly created cardinals "He (Jesus) does not call you to become 'princes' of the Church, to 'sit on his right or on his left.' He calls you to serve like Him and with Him."[34] The term is still applied, both seriously and as a criticism of the perceived attitudes of some cardinals.[35][36]
Special types of cardinals[edit]
Camerlengo[edit]
The Cardinal Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, assisted by the Vice-Camerlengo and the other prelates of the office known as the Apostolic Camera, has functions that in essence are limited to a period of sede vacante of the papacy. He is to collate information about the financial situation of all administrations dependent on the Holy See and present the results to the College of Cardinals, as they gather for the papal conclave.[56]
Cardinals Walter Kasper (left) and Godfried Danneels (right) wearing their choir dress: scarlet (red) cassock, white rochet trimmed with lace, scarlet mozetta, scarlet biretta (over the usual scarlet zucchetto), and pectoral cross on a cord (or, in Danneels' case, wrongly on a chain).
Cardinal Bertone in dress for hot tropical countries (white cassock with scarlet piping and buttons).
When in choir dress, a Latin Church cardinal wears scarlet garments—the blood-like red symbolizes a cardinal's willingness to die for his faith.[63][64] Excluding the rochet — which is always white—the scarlet garments include the cassock, mozzetta, and biretta (over the usual scarlet zucchetto). The biretta of a cardinal is distinctive not merely for its scarlet color, but also for the fact that it does not have a pompon or tassel on the top as do the birettas of other prelates. Until the 1460s, it was customary for cardinals to wear a violet or blue cape unless granted the privilege of wearing red when acting on papal business. His normal-wear cassock is black but has scarlet piping and a scarlet fascia (sash). Occasionally, a cardinal wears a scarlet ferraiolo which is a cape worn over the shoulders, tied at the neck in a bow by narrow strips of cloth in the front, without any 'trim' or piping on it.[65] It is because of the scarlet color of cardinals' vesture that the bird of the same name has become known as such.
Eastern Catholic cardinals continue to wear the normal dress appropriate to their liturgical tradition, though some may line their cassocks with scarlet and wear scarlet fascias, or in some cases, wear Eastern-style cassocks entirely of scarlet.[66]
In previous times, at the consistory at which the pope named a new cardinal, he would bestow upon him a distinctive wide-brimmed hat called a galero. This custom was discontinued in 1969[65] and the investiture now takes place with the scarlet biretta. In ecclesiastical heraldry, however, the scarlet galero is still displayed on the cardinal's coat of arms. Cardinals had the right to display the galero in their cathedral, and when a cardinal died, it would be suspended from the ceiling above his tomb. Some cardinals will still have a galero made, even though it is not officially part of their apparel.
To symbolize their bond with the papacy, the pope gives each newly appointed cardinal a gold ring,[67] which is traditionally kissed by Catholics when greeting a cardinal (as with a bishop's episcopal ring). Before the new uniformity imposed by John Paul II, each cardinal was given a ring, the central piece of which was a gem, usually a sapphire, with the pope's stemma engraved on the inside.[68] There is now no gemstone, and the pope chooses the image on the outside: under Pope Benedict XVI it was a modern depiction of the crucifixion of Jesus, with Mary and John to each side. The ring includes the pope's coat of arms on the inside.[69]
Cardinals have in canon law a "privilege of forum" (i.e., exemption from being judged by ecclesiastical tribunals of ordinary rank): only the pope is competent to judge them in matters subject to ecclesiastical jurisdiction (cases that refer to matters that are spiritual or linked with the spiritual, or with regard to infringement of ecclesiastical laws and whatever contains an element of sin, where culpability must be determined and the appropriate
ecclesiastical penalty imposed). The pope either decides the case himself or delegates the decision to a tribunal, usually one of the tribunals or congregations of the Roman Curia. Without such delegation, no ecclesiastical court, even the Roman Rota, is competent to judge a canon law case against a cardinal.[70]
Additionally, canon law gives cardinals the faculty of hearing confessions validly and licitly everywhere, whereas other priests and bishops must be granted this faculty and might be restricted in its use by the local bishop.[71]