cardinal

cardinal. The title, at first applied to any priest permanently attached to a church, came to be restricted to the clergy of Rome, i.e. the parish priests, the bishops of the suburbicarian dioceses, and the 7 (later 14) district deacons. These gradually formed a college and became the Pope's immediate counsellors. They assumed the government of the RC Church during a vacancy of the Holy See, and since 1179 the right of electing a Pope has been exclusively theirs.

The three ranks of cardinals originated at different times. The cardinal-priests were the parish clergy of the various Roman churches. Cardinal-deacons had care of the poor of the seven districts of Rome. Cardinal-bishops were created c. the 8th cent., when the increase in Papal business necessitated invoking the help of neighbouring bishops to act from time to time as the Pope's representative. All cardinals must now be in priest's orders and those not already bishops are given episcopal consecration. They are nominated by the Pope. Unless excused or bishops of foreign dioceses, they reside in Rome and act as heads of curial offices and Roman Congregations and preside over ecclesiastical commissions.