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 CONCLAVE

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CONCLAVE

and in the strict practice of common life. In the six- teenth century Julius II (1505) by the Bull "Cum tam divine" declared invalid any simoniacal flecficm of a pope. Following the example of I'lipc Syiiiirnicluis (499), Paul IV, by the Bull " Cum Secundum " (l.').5S), denounced and forbade all cabals and intrigues during the lifetime of a pope. The aforesaid Constitution of Pius IV "In Eligendis" (1562) is a codification and re-enactment of all the laws pertaining to the conclave since the time of Gregory X. In it he insists forcibly on the enclosure, which had come to be rather care- lessly observed. The finally directive legislation on the conclave is that of Gregory XV. In his short reign (1621-1623) he published two Bulls, "^terni Patris" (1621), and "Decet Romanum Pontificeni" (1622), followed hy a. C aeremoniale for the papal election (Bullar. Luxemb., Ill, 444 sqq.). Every detail of the conclave is described in these documents. Subse- quent legislation has either confirmed these measures, e. g. the "Romani Pontificis" of Urban VIII (1625), or regulated the expenditure of money on the papal obsequies, e. g. the Brief of Alexander VIII (1690), or determined their order, e. g. the "Chirografo" of Clement XII (1732). The more recent legislation of Pius VI, Pius VII, and Pius IX provides for all con- tingencies of interference by secular powers. Pius VI (who designated a Catholic country in which the ma- jority of the cardinals happened to be) and Pius IX (who left the matter to the judgment of the Sacred College) allowed the widest liberty as to the place of the conclave.

II. Ceremoni.\l of the Conclave. — Immediately on the death of a pope the cardinal camerlengo who, as representative of the Sacred College, assumes charge of the papal household, verifies by a judicial act the death of the pontiff. In the presence of the house- hold he strikes the forehead of the dead pope three times with a silver mallet, calling him by his baptismal name. The fisherman's ring and the papal seals are then broken. A notary draws up the act which is the legal evidence of the pope's death. The obsequies last nine days. Meanwhile the cardinals have been notified of the impending election and those resident in Rome {in Curia) await their absent brethren, assisting in the meantime at the functions for the deceased pontiff. All cardinals, and they alone, have the right to vote in the conclave; they must, however, be legitimately appointed, have the use of reason, and be present in person, not through a procurator or by letter. This right is acknowledged even if they are subject to ecclesiastical censures (e. g. excommunication), or if the solemn ceremonies of their "creation" have yet to be performed. During the aforesaid nine days, and until the election of a successor, all cardinals appear with uncovered rochets, just as all have canopies over their seats at the conclave, to show that the supreme authority is in the hands of the whole College. The cardinal camer- lengo is assisted by the heads of the three cardinalitial orders, known as the "Capita Ordinum" (cardinal- bishops,-priests,-deacons). There are frequent meet- ings, or "congregations", of these four cardinals to determine every detail both of the obsequies of the pope and of the preparations for the conclave. All matters of importance are referred to the general con- gregations, which since 1870 are held in the Vatican. The cardinal dean (always the Bishop of Ostia) pre- sides over the.se congregations, in which the cardinals take rank and precedence from the date of their ele- vation to the purple. Formerly they had also to pro- vide for the government of the Papal States and to repress frequent disorders during the interregnum. In the first of these congregations the various Consti- tutions which govern the conclave are read and the cardinals take an oath to observe them. Then, in the following days, the various officers of the conclave, the conclavists, confessors, and physicians, servants of IV.— 13

various kinds, are examined or appointed by a special commi.ssion. Each cardinal has a right to take into the conclave a secretary and a servant, the secretary being usually an ecclesiastic. In case of illness a third conclavist may be allowed, with agreement of the general congregation. All are equally sworn to secrecy and also not to hinder the election. After the conclave certain honorary distinctions and pecuniary emoluments are awarded to the conclavists.

Meanwhile a conclave, formerly a large room, now a large part of the Vatican palace, including two or three floors, is walled off, and the space divided into apartments, each with three or four small rooms or cells, in each of which are a crucifix, a bed, a table and a few chairs. Access to the conclave is free through one door only, locked from without by the Marshal of the Conclave (formerly a member of the Savelli, since 1721 of the Chigi, family), and from within by the cardinal camerlengo. There are four openings provided for the passage of food and other necessaries, guarded from within and without, on the exterior by the authority of the marshal and major- domo, on the interior by the prelate assigned to this duty by the three cardinals mentioned above, repre- sentative of the three cardinalitial orders. Once the conclave begins the door is not again opened until the election is announced, except to admit a cardinal who is late in arriving. All communication with the out- side is strictly forbidden under pain of loss of office and ipso facto excommunication. A cardinal may leave the conclave in case of sickness (certified under oath by a physician) and return ; not so a conclavist. It may be noted at once, with Wernz, that a papal election held outside of a properly organized conclave is canonically null and void.

Within, the cardinals live with their conclavists in the cells. Formerly every cardinal had to pro- vide his own food, which was carried in state by his men-in-waiting to one of the four openings nearest the cell of the prelate. Since 1878 the kitchen is a part of the conclave. Though all meals are taken in private they are served from a common quarter, but great care is taken to prevent written communication by this way. The cells of the cardinals are covered with cloth, purple if they are of the last pope's "cre- ation", green if not. When they wish to be undis- turbed they close the door of their cell, the frame-work of which is in the shape of a St. Andrew's cross. The conclave opens officially on the evening of the tenth day after the pope's decease, unless another day has been a.ssigned. Every precaution is observed to ex- clude those who have no right within the enclosure, and also unnecessary communication with the out- side. Papal legislation has long since forbidden the once customary "capitulations", or ante-election agreements binding on the new pope; it is also for- bidden the cardinals to treat of the papal succession among themselves during the pope's lifetime; the pope may, however, treat of the matter with the cardinals. Absolutely necessary modifications of the conclave legislation, during the conclave itself, are temporary only. All true cardinals, as stated, may enter the conclave, but those only who have received deacon's orders have a right to vote, unless they have received a special indult from the late pope. Cardi- nals who have been preconized, but not yet elevated to the purple, are entitled by a decision of St. Pius V (1571) both to be present and to vote.

Including the cardinals, prelates, and conclavists, there are perhaps two hundred and fifty persons in the enclosure. The government of the conclave is in the hands of the cardinal camerlengo and of the three representative cardinals who succeed one another in order of seniority every three days. About seven or eight o'clock on the morning of the eleventh day the cardinals assemble in the Pauline Chapel and assist at the Mass of the cardinal dean. Formerly they