Posted on 01/14/2015 6:15:24 AM PST by marshmallow
Study weighs increasing number of voters for next pontiff
(ANSA) - Vatican City, January 9 - Pope Francis is considering the feasibility of expanding the number of cardinal electors who will chose the next pontiff to 140 from the current 120.
The proposal is contained in a document recently presented to Francis by Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera.
The issue is to be discussed in the consistory, or meeting of college of cardinals, next month.
(Excerpt) Read more at ansa.it ...
Does this mean he wants to add a lot of “liberal” cardinals who will elect a “liberal” pope?
OTOH, if he merely wants to broaden the spectrum, and adds a lot of Third World cardinals (who are likely to be more conservative), then perhaps the next pope will be more conservative on social issues.
Oh dear, this would appear to be like Roosevelt trying to pack the court. I thought Pope Francis was against “careerist” ecclesiastical honors?
Surely 20 Jesuits. Straight out of the Borgias.
‘Does this mean he wants to add a lot of “liberal” cardinals who will elect a “liberal” pope’.
Absolutely.
He’s not really “packing the court.” While 120 is the aim, John Paul II typically would approach nearly 140, in the rationale that by the time they actually voted on a new pope, there would probably be around 120. Benedict and Francis have only ever brought the number up to 120. So going to 140, but leaving that as a firmer cap would be closer to the practice of JP2.
Though that's never really worked out:
ALL of the cardinals who elected John XXIII had been elevated by conservative Popes Pius XI and Pius XII.
All (I believe but I'm not certain) of the cardinals who elected John Paul II had been elevated by liberal Popes John XIII and Paul VI.
ALL of the cardinals who elected Francis had been elevated by conservative Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
Actually, not all the Borgias were bad, few were Jesuits, and the Jesuits in those days were the good guys.
Francis Borja (not a pope) was cannonized as a saint!
And aside from nepotism, Pope Callixtus III (Alfons Borja) is considered to have been a very good pope. He defeated the Muslims in Belgrade, helped heal the Western Schism, was a leader of the Council of Basel (which failed to end the Great Schism between the Catholics and Orthodox, but yielded theological treatieses on many key issues which all Catholic and Orthodox bishops could agree to), and vindicated Joan of Arc. His greatest failure was the papal bull Inter Caetera, which was intended to deal with the problem of conquered warriors, but ended up being used to justify slavery in the Americas. Giovanni Pamphilj (Innocent X) was also considered to be a strong pope, without such scandal as Inter Caetera. The fact that many heirs of the Borjas became cardinals under Callixtus is often presumed to be motivated by worldly corruption and vice, but making them Cardinals meant that when they died, the Church — and not the Borgia family — inherited any wealth they had.
Even Alexander VI, the most infamous of all popes, was considered in his day to have been a great pope by many. He is known to have had illegitimate children, but contemporaries claim he changed his stripes before becoming pope. That such a man could manuever himself into the papacy is still a terrible scandal on the Catholic church, but the lack of any contemporary scandal makes the infamous “Banquet of Chestnuts” orgy highly questionable. Many suppose that the orgy was added to a contemporary diary centuries later by opponents of the Borjas.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.