Word: papal
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...there are any fewer Papal statements about Communism and the international political scene generally, it will be because most aspects of world political situations have been covered by previous Church statements, Fr. Porras said...
...Abandon prognostications on the conclave," exhorted Osservatore Romano. But in the city that once saw Popes chosen in great mass meetings of people and clergy, whose politicians often used strong-arm tactics to influence papal elections (as when Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II imprisoned cardinals to keep them from voting against his candidate), such exhortations were shouting against the wind...
...only the cardinals were busy with last-minute preparations. Bricklayers and carpenters were hard at work blocking off the north wing of the Apostolic Palace and partitioning it into small apartments; a tailor was stitching up papal robes in three sizes; cooks were laying in supplies to feed the participants in the elections...
...Camerlengo (chamberlain), the 13 cardinals in Rome on the day he died hurriedly chose one: 79-year-old Vatican Diplomat Benedetto Aloisi Cardinal Masella. One of his first duties was the breaking of the Fisherman's ring worn by the late Pope as well as the larger papal seals used for documents. (Traditional purpose: to ensure against forging of papal documents...
Next, the new Camerlengo held daily meetings in the tapestried Consistory Hall with cardinals arriving from all over the world. Each cardinal had to be sworn not to reveal any detail of the papal election, and, in case he is chosen Pope, not to surrender any of the Vatican's independence. Restrictions of the Camerlengo's authority are severe; with the heads of the Sacred Congregations, he superintends whatever Vatican business may not be postponed but may not make major decisions. Sign of his office: an umbrella, ancient Oriental symbol of power, once used to represent the papacy...