NEW CARDINALS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1330, 6 January 1912, Page 6

NEW CARDINALS.

9- • ... SECRET CONSISTORY. ALLOCUTION BY THE POPE.

Summoned by Pope Pius X, the Cardinals assembled in a secret consistory on November 27, and confirmed the Papal nomination of nineteen now members in the College of Cardinals, tho supreme governing body of tho Roman Catholic Church. Of those thus honoured, three are citizens of tho United States: Mgr. .John M. Farley, Archbishop of' New York; Mgr. William O'Connell, Archbishop of Boston; and Mgr. Diamede Falconio, Apostolic Delegate at Washington.

Thus, with Cardinal Gibbons,- America will now for the first time have a representation .of four in the Cardinalate which probably much as now constituted, will elect a successor to the reigning Pontiff.

As the Pope entered the hall of tho consistory, his step was less litre, aiid the careworn face bore 6igns of recent illness. • Nevertheless, he stood the fatigue of (lie meeting bravely. In accordance with the ecclesiastical law, a public consistory must be held fchreo days after tho private gathering.' Then the new Cardinals, with the exception of those from Spain and- Austria, will receivo their red hats. The Spanish and Austrian prelates, as is provided in tho Concordat with those countries, must receive tho biretta first from the hands of- their temporal sovereign. Tho public consistory will be held on Thursday . in the Hall of the Beatification, instead of in the Sala Regia, as at first planned. The former hall is much the larger, and was dccided upon this morning, because of the great number of applications for admittance. To-day's ceremony, though comparatively :siniple ( , was .carried out-jvith. a stately flignity arid" form' that -..lias; characterised tho institution from the earliest days. It might have been a' scene from the thirteenth or fourteenth. • century. In olden times the sacred collego met in secret consistory and there discussed and finally decided upon the Pope's nominations. Frequently, objections were raised to candidates, and their names were never proclaimed. Hence the privacy of the meeting. At present, howover, the consent of tho members to tho Papal programme is assured in advance, and the election is purely formal. The consistory was set for nine o'clock, and early in the day great crowds gathered in tho Piazza of St. Peter's and around the Basilica to witness the arrival of the Cardinals and other dignitaries. Soon after eight o'clock a procession of carriages was entering tho Porta della Hecca and passing through, the court'of San Domeso from where their occupants found entrance to the .palace.... Gathered in the hall of tho consistory, •thoso whom duty or privilego brought thero chattcd for a few moments, noting sadly the passing of several who had been present on-the. last similar occasion. As the. moment arranged for the appearance of the Pontiff approached, the assemblage separated in three groups beforo the throne. In one group were the cardinal bishops, in another, the cardinal pril'sts, to whom tho new American cardinals' will bo added, • while the third section comprised the cardinal deacons. Behind the cardinals were the patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, heads of orders, other high personages,' and' various ' persons familiar to the Papal Court.

Presently the door at tho rear of the hall was opened and the Noble Guards in their brilliant uniforms appeared, making way for tho white-clacf figure of the Pope. "Followed by Swiss Guards and his suite, tho Pontiff, paused for a moment at the thrcshhold, .while those present bent, the knee'. With a smile, he greeted them and then walked to the throne. The procession before tho throne came next. Each dignitary, according to precedence, approached, and, kneeling. Kissed the Papal ring. It" was' a long and tiresomo ceremony. . As tho last of the number paying homage returned to his place, tho master of ceremonies loudly ' proclaimed: "Extra Omues," and gradually numbers withdrew, until the Pontiff and the cardinals were left alone. Piux ,X broke the silenco that followed by voicing a simple prayer,. and then, still sitting, delivered a' brief allocution. He began by saying that the present year was a year."of mourning for tho Church. All felt that this phrase alluded to the clamorous commemoration of tho Italian jubilee, which, it is felt, offended the rights, .of the Holy See. The manifestations of sectarians (evidently a hint at the Free Masons' hatred'to the Catholic faith) offended the faithful of tho whole world, although tho supreme greatness of Italy was this faith which had inspired everv civil progress and which alono was the soiirco of peace and lasting prosjv The Pope lamented the impunity which had been granted to the enemies of religion in Rome, especially tho iniquitous body (as ho referred to them) which opposed the existence of Clod and the Christian order. He then dealt with the persecution of the Church in Portugal by the same body and expressed the hope that tho Portuguese nation, boasting of centuries of attachment to tho Church, would react against her enemy.

The evils of modernism and naturalism were counterbalanced, the ■■ Pope continued, everywhere by the lovo of the holy eucharist, as.was proved by the congresses held in Cologne, London, Montreal, and Madrid. Spain, especially, had, he said, demonstrate;! her true religious sentiment, and ho ended with the hope that God would preserve her from the evil threatening her peace and happiness. The creation of the cardinals, and the confirmation by the I'ope of the archbishops and bishops already appointed by brief followed. In all instances the procedure, was the same. The name of each chosen for honour was read, tho Pope inquiring of the cardinals in turn whether they approved the nomination. Assent was given by raising their rod skull caps. A surprise came when it was made known that the Popo had created still another cardinal "in pectore"—that is, to be kept secret, the identity of. the one so honoured not being revealed. 'This makes an addition of nineteen to tho cardinalatc.

This, departure from the known programme gave rise to all sorls of rumours, including one that Archbishop li-eland would roecivo a red hat. Official denial r>f this or that any other American prelate would be elevated was authorised at the Vatican.