cardinal (catholicism)

In the Roman Catholic Church, a cardinal is a dignitary of the second-highest rank, inferior only to the Pope. The term cardinal derives from the Latin cardo, or door-hinge. Collectively, cardinals form the Sacred College of Cardinals. The Cardinals are of three ranks: cardinal bishops, cardinal priests, and cardinal deacons. The Pope creates new cardinals in ceremonies called consistories. Sometimes referred to as "princes of the Church," cardinals are the Pope's highest counsellors; many run the Roman Curia and oversee the administration of the Holy See. Moreover, cardinals are responsible for electing Popes; they also run the Church during a sede vacante, or vacancy in the papacy.

Privileges

A cardinal enjoys many privileges. If the cardinal is not a bishop, he is allowed the ceremonial privileges of one, such as being saluted and being kissed on the ring, which all cardinals receive on elevation along with the red biretta and zucchetto. Since the 13th century Cardinals have also been distinguished by their bright red vestments, the color symbolizing their willingness to die for the faith if necessary. Cardinals also place a red galero above their coat of arms, since the galero is the ancient symbol of their office. Since 1630, cardinals have taken the style Eminence, and upon elevation the word "Cardinal" becomes part of the prelate's name, coming immediately before the surname. As an example, the full style of Cardinal McCarrick is "His Eminence, Theodore Cardinal McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington."

Functions

The cardinals did not always elect the Pope: the Pope was originally elected by the people of Rome, but during the medieval times the right of election was gradually restricted until only cardinals possessed it. The Pope could substitute another body of electors for the College of Cardinals at any time; in fact there have been proposals in the past to have the Synod of Bishops perform this function (the proposals have not been adopted because, among other reasons, the Synod of Bishops can only meet when called by the Pope). In early modern times, English and French monarchs had cardinals as their chief ministers - Wolsey in England, Richelieu and Mazarin in France. These men were cardinals, not because of their religious duties, but because it allowed their kings to pay them from church revenues. Rome accepted the loss of some revenue in order to protect the rest of its property and revenue. The word 'cardinal' comes from Latin for door-hinge, for the cardinals are supposed to be the 'hinges' of the church. The Latin form of the title is Cardinalis. The term 'cardinal' for a red colour and a red bird derives from cardinals' red vestments.

Orders

According to Canon 350 of the Code of Canon Law, the College of Cardinals is divided into three orders:

the episcopal order (Cardinal Bishops)
the presbyteral order (Cardinal Priests)
the diaconal order (Cardinal Deacons)

The cardinal bishops are those cardinals to whom the Pope assigns the title of a suburbicarian church, and such Patriarchs of the Eastern Rite Churches as the Pope sees fit to appoint to the College (Eastern patriarchs retain the titles of their patriarchal sees). The cardinal priests and cardinal deacons are each assigned a title or deaconry in Rome by the Pope. Note that all cardinal priests and almost all cardinal deacons are actually bishops. Originally any Catholic male could be appointed to the College: for example in the 16th century Reginald Pole was a cardinal for 18 years before he was ordained a priest. Today only bishops are normally created cardinals. Canon 351 specifically requires that a cardinal at least be in the order of priesthood, and those who are not already bishops must receive episcopal consecration. A recent example is Rev. Avery Dulles, S.J., who was a priest at the time of his elevation to Cardinal in 2001. He successfully petitioned Pope John Paul II for a dispensation from episcopal consecration due to advanced age. Pope Sixtus V limited the number of cardinals to 70 (6 cardinal bishops, 50 cardinal priests, 14 cardinal deacons), after the College had expanded in the 16th century. Popes since John XXIII have disregarded this limitation in order to make the college of cardinals a more representative body. Only those cardinals under age of eighty (nominally limited in number to 120 by Paul VI, but John Paul II has disregarded this as well) participate in the election of the pope. The cardinal bishops holding suburbicarian dioceses elect the Dean of the College of Cardinals to be the head of the college (the dean is primus inter pares); the election must be approved by the Pope. The present Dean is His Eminence Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In addition to the named cardinals, a pope may name cardinals in pectore, Latin for in the heart. A cardinal named in pectore is known only to the pope, not even the cardinal so named is aware of his elevation. Cardinals are named in pectore to protect them from reprisals if their identies were known. If conditions change such that a secret cardinal would be safe, the pope may at any time make public a previously in pectore cardinal, who ranks in precidence with those of his original consistory. If a pope dies before revealing the identity of an in pectore cardinal, the cardinalate expires. Pope John Paul II elevated an additional 31 cardinals in a consistory on October 21, 2003, bringing the number of cardinal electors to 135 out of a total of 194 in the College of Cardinals. As of March 18, 2005 cardinal electors numbered 117 and the College as a whole 183.