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The College of Cardinals is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church.[1]
A function of the college is to advise the pope about church matters when he summons them to an ordinary consistory.[2] It also convenes on the death or abdication of a pope as a papal conclave to elect a successor.[3] The college has no ruling power except during the sede vacante (papal vacancy) period, and even then its powers are extremely limited by the terms of the current law, which is laid down in the Apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis and the Fundamental Law of Vatican City State.
Historically, cardinals were the clergy of the city of Rome, serving the Bishop of Rome as the Pope, who had clerical duties in parishes of the city. The College has its origins in the events surrounding the crowning of Henry IV as King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor at the age of six, after the unexpected death of Henry III in 1056. Up until this point secular authorities had significant influence over who was to be appointed Pope, and the Holy Roman Emperor in particular had the special ability to appoint him. This was significant as the aims and views of the Holy Roman Emperor and the Church did not always coincide. Members of what was to become known as the Gregorian Reform took advantage of the new King and his lack of power, and in 1059 declared that the election of the Pope was an affair only for the Church. This was part of a larger power struggle, named the Investiture Controversy, as the Church attempted to gain more control over their clergy, and in doing so gain more influence in the lands and governments they were appointed to. Theological implications aside, its creation represented a significant shift in the balance of power in the Early Medieval world. From the beginning of the 12th century, the College of Cardinals started to meet as a college, when the cardinal bishops, cardinal priests, and cardinal deacons ceased acting as separate groups.[4]
The Dean of the College of Cardinals and the Sub-Dean are the president and vice-president of the college. Both are elected by and from the cardinals holding suburbicarian dioceses, but the election requires Papal confirmation. Except for presiding, the dean has no power of governance over the cardinals, instead acting as primus inter pares (first among equals).
The Secretary of State, the prefects of the Congregations of the Roman Curia, the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, the Vicar General of Rome, and the Patriarchs of Venice and Lisbon, are usually Cardinals, with few, generally temporary, exceptions. The Fundamental Law of Vatican City State requires that appointees to the state's legislative body, the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, be cardinals.[5]
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Under the terms of Pope Paul VI's motu proprio Ingravescentem Aetatem, cardinals who had reached the age of 80 before the conclave opened had no vote in papal elections. The current rules for the election of the Roman Pontiff, those in Pope John Paul II's Universi Dominici Gregis of 22 February 1996, state that cardinals who have reached the age of 80 before the day the see becomes vacant do not have a vote.[3]
Although the canonical qualifications required of candidates for episcopacy, indicated in canon 378 of the Code of Canon Law, leave a broad field open to the cardinals, they have in fact for over six centuries consistently elected one of their own number to be Bishop of Rome. The last time they chose someone who was not a cardinal was at the 1378 election of Pope Urban VI. However, the conclave rules specify the procedures to be followed, should someone residing outside Vatican City or not yet a bishop be elected.[6]
The following is the list of all living Cardinals as of 11 December 2011. Cardinals are shown in order of precedence, based on seniority by date of appointment. Eugênio de Araújo Sales is the most senior member of the College by length of service (the Protopriest); he is the last surviving from the 1969 consistory. Angelo Sodano, however, has the highest precedence as a Cardinal Bishop as Dean of the College of Cardinals.
Cardinals who have reached the age of 80 are indicated with an asterisk (*). José Saraiva Martins will be the next Cardinal to lose his right to participate in the conclave on 6 January 2012. The oldest living Cardinal is currently Ersilio Tonini. There are now a total of 192 Cardinals, of whom 109 are aged under 80. Of the voting-age cardinals, 63 were appointed by Pope John Paul II, and 46 by Pope Benedict XVI.
All but thirteen of the Cardinals alive at the death of Pope John Paul II were appointed by him. Three of those thirteen were under 80 years old as of the day of John Paul II's death. One of those three, Joseph Ratzinger, was elected Pope in the resulting conclave and took the name Benedict XVI, another one (Jaime Sin) did not attend that conclave for health reasons and died shortly afterwards, and the third, William Wakefield Baum, turned 80 on 21 November 2006.
There are three ranks of Cardinals: Cardinal Bishops, Cardinal Priests, and Cardinal Deacons. Almost all Cardinals are also bishops.
| 2005 | 17.09 |
|---|---|
| October 1978 | 22.50 |
| August 1978 | 22.80 |
| 1963 | 35.36 |
| 1958 | 35.80 |
| 1939 | 54.80 |
| 1922 | 51.60 |
| 1914 | 50.76 |
| 1903 | 56.25 |
Titular Bishops of Seven Suburbicarian Sees
Patriarchs of Oriental Rites
Consistory of 28 April 1969
Consistory of 5 March 1973
Consistory of 24 May 1976
Consistory of 30 June 1979
Consistory of 2 February 1983
Consistory of 25 May 1985
Consistory of 28 June 1988
Consistory of 28 June 1991
Consistory of 26 November 1994
Consistory of 21 February 1998
Consistory of 21 February 2001
Consistory of 21 October 2003[8]
Consistory of 24 March 2006
Consistory of 24 November 2007
Consistory of 20 November 2010
Cardinal Deacons have the right to apply to become Cardinal Priests after ten years as Cardinal Deacons. All living eligible Cardinal Deacons have exercised this right.
Consistory of 21 October 2003[8]
Consistory of 24 March 2006
Consistory of 24 November 2007
Consistory of 20 November 2010