CARDINALS

The word cardinal comes from the Latin cardo, the name given for a wedge put in between timbers. Cardinals thus were originally exceptionally able or useful priests, whom the Pope used as fixers to bypass the normal structures of the early Church. They got their big break in 1059, when Pope Nicholas II decreed that Popes should henceforth be elected only by the College of Cardinals. The traditional appointment of Popes by "the people and clergy of Rome" had exposed the office to the whims of local politics; or, even worse, the views of the Holy Roman Emperor. Nicholas' decision was an attempt to free the Papacy from external control, and he was greatly helped by the fact that the new Emperor, Henry IV, was a child at the time. The history of the following millennium shows that Papal independence was not always successful; yet it remains the case today that the Pope is chosen by the Cardinals, and that if you want to have any real chance of becoming Pope, then you have to get appointed as a Cardinal first.

Reflecting the origin of the word, Cardinals are still nominally priests or bishops of the various churches or dioceses in or around Rome, even though they are really living and working somewhere else. Most Cardinals are now either archbishops or senior administrators in the Curia, the Vatican civil service. However, being an archbishop doesn't guarantee you a Cardinal's hat. The current Archbishop of Westminster, head of the Catholic church in England, is not yet a Cardinal, but he will almost certainly become one in due course.

When a Pope dies, the Cardinals meet in conclave in order to choose his successor; though nowadays, only those under 80 years old are allowed to vote. Basically, they are locked away, voting inside the Sistine Chapel, and are not allowed out until a choice has been made, which requires a two thirds majority. The choice is signalled by sending white smoke up the chimney of the building to the faithful waiting outside in St. Peter's Square.

In this democratic age, the method for choosing the leader of a billion or so Christians seems rather bizarre (no women involved in any part of the process, for instance). Despite that, I have a bit of a soft spot for the Cardinals. The place where I did my university studies was founded by Henry VIII's able administrator Cardinal Wolsey, and was originally called Cardinal College. A fact reflected in the Cardinal's hat motif on the college tie.

Walter Blotscher