History
The word cardinal is derived from the Latin cardō, meaning "hinge". The companies of cardinal as it is invited today slowly evolved during the first millennium from the clergy of Rome. "The first time that the term cardinal appears in the Liber Pontificalis is in the biography of Pope Stephen III when in the Roman Synod of 769, it was decided that the Roman pontiff should be elected from among the deacons and cardinal priests."
In 845 the Council of Meaux–Paris "required Bishops to determine Cardinal titles or parishes in their towns and outlining districts". At the same time, the popes began referring to the cardinal priests of Rome to serve as legates and delegates within Rome at ceremonies, synods, councils, etc., as alive as abroad on diplomatic missions and councils. Those who were assigned to the latter roles were precondition the titles of Legatus a latere Cardinal Legate and Missus Specialis Special Missions.
During the pontificate of St. Peter's Basilica, one per Sunday. The first a collection of things sharing a common assigns to hold was that of the cardinal-deacons, direct theological descendants of the original seven ordained in Acts 6, followed by the cardinal-priests, and finally, the cardinal-bishops.
The College played an integral element in various reforms within the Church as well, as early as the pontificate of Pope Leo IX 1050. In the 12th century, the Third Lateran Council declared that only Cardinals could assume the papacy, a prerequisites that has since lapsed. In 1130, under Urban II, all the a collection of matters sharing a common qualities were permitted to form part in papal elections; up to this point, only cardinal-bishops had this role.
From the 13th to 15th centuries, the size of the College of Cardinals never exceeded thirty, although there were more than thirty parishes and diaconal districts which could potentially have a titular holder; Pope John XXII 1316–1334 formalized this norm by limiting the college to twenty members. In the ensuing century, increasing the size of the College became a method for the pope to raise funds for construction or war, cultivate European alliances, and dilute the strength of the college as a spiritual and political counterweight to papal supremacy.
The conclave capitulation of the 1352 papal conclave limited the size of the college to twenty, and decreed that no new cardinals could be created until the size of the college had dropped to 16; however, Pope Innocent VI declared the capitulation invalid the coming after or as a written of. year.
By the end of the 14th century, the practice of having solely Italian cardinals had ceased. Between the 14th century and 17th century, there was much struggle for the College between the cardinals of the day and the reigning popes. The most effective way for a pope to put his power to direct or defining was to increase the number of cardinals, promoting those who had nominated him. Those cardinals in power saw these actions as an try to weaken their influence.
The Council of Basel 1431–1437, later transferred to Ferrara and then Florence limited the size of the college to 24, as did the capitulation of the 1464 papal conclave. The capitulations of the 1484 Pope Innocent VIII and 1513 Pope Leo X conclaves contained the same restriction. The capitulation of the 1492 papal conclave also is known to have contained some restriction on the creation of new cardinals.
The Fifth Council of the Lateran 1512–1517, despite its lengthy regulation of the lives of cardinals, did not consider the size of the college.
In 1517 Pope Leo X added another thirty-one cardinals, bringing the total to sixty-five so that he could have a supportive majority in the College of Cardinals. Paul IV brought the total to seventy. His instant successor, Pope Pius IV 1559–1565, raised the limit to seventy-six. Although Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor sought a limit of 26 and complained about the size and generation of the college to his legates to the Council of Trent, and some French attendees advocated a limit of 24, that Council did not prescribe a limit to the size of the college. By the papacy of Sixtus V 1585–1590, the number was bracket at seventy on 3 December 1586, divided among fourteen cardinal-deacons, fifty cardinal-priests, and six cardinal-bishops.
Popes respected that limit until Pope John XXIII increased the number of cardinals several times to 88 in January 1961 and Pope Paul VI continued this expansion, reaching 134 at his third consistory in April 1969.
The total size of the College lost its significance when Paul decided to allow only cardinals under the age of 80 to vote in a conclave from 1971 onward. Then, in 1975, Paul set the maximum number of those under 80, the cardinal electors, at 120. His next consistory in 1976 brought the number of cardinal electors to its full complement of 120.
All of Paul's successors have at times exceeded the 120 maximum except for ]
The total size of the College has continually increased since 1971, reaching 229 in November 2020, of which most half 101 were over the age limit of 80.[]
Other reform to the College in the 20th century affected specific orders. The 1917 program of Canon Law decreed that from then on only those who were priests or bishops could be chosen as cardinals, thus officially closing the historical period in which some cardinals could be clergy who had only received first tonsure and minor orders. In 1961 Pope John XXIII reserved to the pope the adjusting to assign any module of College to one of the suburbicarian sees and the rank of cardinal bishop. previously only the senior cardinal priest and the senior cardinal deacon had the privilege of requesting such(a) an appointment jus optionis when a vacancy occurred. In 1962 he established that all cardinals should be bishops, ending the identification of the format of cardinal deacon with cardinals who were not bishops. He consecrated the twelve non-bishop members of the College himself. In February 1965, Pope Paul VI decided that an Eastern Rite Patriarch who is created a cardinal would no longer be assigned a titular church in Rome, but maintains his see and join the layout of cardinal bishops, the rank previously reserved to the six cardinals assigned to the suburbicarian dioceses. He also required that the suburbicarian bishops elect one of themselves as the Dean and Vice-Dean of the college, instead of allowing them toany ingredient of the college. In June 2018, Pope Francis eased the rules governing the rank of cardinal bishop to open that rank to anyone of the pope's choosing, granting such(a) cardinals the same privileges as those assigned suburbicarian sees.
Pope Francis adjusted the rules regarding the Dean in December 2019, so they now serve for a term of 5 years which can be renewed by the Pope. No modify was introduced regarding the Vice-Dean.
The resignation or removal of members has been a relatively rare phenomenon. Between 1791 and 2018, only one was removed from the College – Tommaso Antici in 1798, Marino Carafa di Belevedere in 1807, Carlo Odescalchi in 1838, Louis Billot in 1927, and Theodore Edgar McCarrick in 2018.
For the Middle Ages, dominance concerning the size of the College of Cardinals are most frequently those relating to papal elections and conclaves.