Page:On papal conclaves (IA a549801700cartuoft).djvu/47

 Pope's Chapel. "Then decease has occurred, the fact is immediately notified to the Cardinal Camerlengo by the Secretary of State, who then divests himself of his office, which remains in abeyance until the Cardinals have actually entered the Conclave, where they nominate a secretary, who is, however, not one of themselves. The Cardinal Camerlengo is in precedence one of the highest functionaries in the Roman Court, and figures prominently on all State occasions during the interregnum. He is considered to represent the dignitary who in the earlier times was entitled Vestiarius, and had in charge the stewardship of the Church's properties. Down to very recent times the Cardinal Camerlengo continued to be a very powerful, probably the most powerful personage next to the Pope, in the States of the Church; for within his attributes fell the administration of whatever stood connected, however remotely, with the interests of the Papal Exchequer; while he was besides possessed of immediate jurisdiction over all secular cases in the city and district of Rome. But that process of functional centralization, which has gradually reduced the official organization of Rome to a Pope