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Comments on the Material Pope Thesis. Fourth Part.

(1) The right to elect the Pope (2) The power to appoint the Electors

Argument 1:

The “popes” during and after the Second Vatican Council are not popes formally but only materially. However they have the authority to appoint electors to the papacy. All of this pertains to the order of designation, and not to the order of jurisdiction. But it is the power of jurisdiction (power to rule) which makes a pope a pope, and not the power of designation. The thesis maintains that Novus Ordo retains the power to designate people to receive the power of jurisdiction in the Church."

REV. S. B. SMITH explains that those matters and acts fall directly under ecclesiastical jurisdictions which are essentially spiritual:

"NATURE AND OBJECT OF ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION.
204. What objects or things fall under ecclesiastical jurisdiction?
Some things come directly within the reach or compass of the Church's authority, others but indirectly. ⁽⁵⁰⁾
1. Now, those matters and acts fall directly under ecclesiastical jurisdiction which are essentially spiritual. But how are temporal things distinguished from spiritual?
Certainly not because the former are corporeal, visible, or external, while the latter are invisible or immaterial; otherwise, sacraments, being visible signs, would have to be accounted ⁽⁵¹⁾ temporal objects. Spiritual things, therefore, are distinguished from temporal by reason of their respective ends. Hence, those matters are spiritual ⁽⁵²⁾ which have an exclusively spiritual ⁽⁵³⁾ end - namely, the salvation of the soul - even though they be of a corporal structure."
⁽⁵⁰⁾ Cfr. Craisson, Man., n. 26.
⁽⁵¹⁾ Phillips, vol. ii., p. 534.
⁽⁵²⁾ lb., p. 536.
⁽⁵³⁾ Soglia, vol. i., p. 320.
(ELEMENTS OF ECCLESIASTICAL LAW , COMPILED WITH REFERENCE TO THE SYLLABUS, THE "CONST. APOSTOLICAE SEDIS" OF POPE PIUS IX, THE COUNCIL OF THE VATICAN AND THE LATEST DECISIONS OF THE ROMAN CONGREGATIONS, BY REV. S. B. SMITH. D.D., FORMERLY PROFESSOR OF CANON LAW, AUTHOR OF "NOTES," etc., etc., FOURTH EDITION, REVISED ACCORDING TO THE ANIMADVERSIONS OF THE ROMAN CONSULTORS APPOINTED BY THE CARDINAL PREFECT OF THE PROPAGANDA, BOOK I, NEW YORK, CINCINNATI, ST. LOUIS, AND EINSIEDELN: BENZIGER BROTHERS, PRINTERS TO THE HOLY APOSTOLIC SEE, 1881, Nihil Obstat: Rev. S. G. MESSMER, S.T.P., Censor Deputatus, Imprimatur: JOANNES CARD. McCLOSKEY, Archiepiscopus Neo-Eboracensis, Datum Neo-Eboraci, Die 25 Martii, 1877, p. 89, 90)

I don't think anyone would deny that designation of people to receive jurisdiction in the Church fall directly under ecclesiastical jurisdictions and have a spiritual end - namely, the salvation of souls.

Now let's see who has the right to elect the Pope, and who has the power to appoint the electors?

1. Who has the right to elect the Pope?

Since Pope Gregory X (1271-1276) the right of electing the Pope is reserved to the Cardinals of the Roman Church; therefore the only authorized electors are the Cardinals.

A COMMENTARY ON THE NEW CODE OF CANON LAW, By THE REV. P. CHAS AUGUSTINE:

"The historical evolution of the process of electing a Pope shows various phases.
(1) Up to the time of Nicholas I (1059-1061) not only the clergy but also the senate and people of Rome had a share in the election, whilst the emperor claimed the right of ratifying it.
(2) Nicholas II endeavored to reduce the undue influence of senate and people. He reserved the right of electing the Pope chiefly to the clergy of the titular or cardinal churches of Rome, but did not entirely exclude the emperor. His decree expressly emphasizes "the honor and reverence due to the King."
(3) The decretals of Alexander III (1159-81) went further, and Gregory X (1271-76) finally reserved the right of electing the Pope to the Cardinals of the Roman Church. The so-called "Veto" or jus exclusivae, which the monarchs of Austria, France, and Spain arrogated to themselves and by means of which they excluded candidates unacceptable to them through the agency of one of their cardinals, was definitively abrogated by Pius X."
(A COMMENTARY ON THE NEW CODE OF CANON LAW, By THE REV. P. CHAS AUGUSTINE, O.S.B., D.D., Professor of Canon Law, VOLUME II, Clergy and Hierarchy B. HERDER BOOK CO. 17 SOUTH BROADWAY, ST. Louis, Mo. AND 68 GREAT RUSSELL ST. LONDON, W. C., 1918, NIHIL OBSTAT: Sti. Ludovici, die Sept. 7, 1918, F. G. Holweck, Censor Librorum, IMPRIMATUR: Sti. Ludovici, die Sept. 8, 1918, +Joannes J. Glennon, Archiepiscopus Sti. Ludovici, Printed in U. S. A. pp. 117-118)

2. Who has the power to appoint the electors?

REV. S. B. SMITH explains that the Sovereign Pontiff has the sole and free power of appointment to the Cardinalate:

"487. Origin. - Cardinals are the immediate counsellors or advisers of the Pope, and form, so to speak, the senate of the Roman Church. Hence, they are compared to the seventy ancients appointed to assist Moses, and to the apostles chosen to aid our Lord. The College of Cardinals is thus defined: "Clericorum coetus ad auxiliandum Romano Pontifici in Ecclesiae regimine, sede plena, et ad supplendum eundem, sede vacante, institutus." p. 233
“The Sovereign Pontiff has the sole and free power of appointment to the cardinalate; in making appointments he is not obliged to use any specific formula, though the following is given in the Roman ceremonial: "Auctoritate Dei Patris . . . assumimus N. in presbyterum vel diaconum S. R. Ecclesiae cardinalem"." p. 234
"493. - I. Dignity and Rights of Cardinals. - The cardinalate is, after the Papal, the highest dignity in the Church. Being the electors of the Sovereign Pontiff sede vacante, and his counsellors sede plena, the cardinals take precedence of even patriarchs, metropolitans, and primates. The reason is that priority of rank is regulated, not by the ordo, but by one's office and jurisdictio. Now, cardinals have greater jurisdictio than bishops; for, together with the Pope, they have charge, not of one diocese each, as other bishops, but of all the dioceses of the Catholic world. Cardinals are, moreover, Roman princes - nay, are considered princes of the blood." p. 236-237
(ELEMENTS OF ECCLESIASTICAL LAW, COMPILED WITH REFERENCE TO THE SYLLABUS, THE "CONST. APOSTOLICAE SEDIS" OF POPE PIUS IX, THE COUNCIL OF THE VATICAN AND THE LATEST DECISIONS OF THE ROMAN CONGREGATIONS, BY REV. S. B. SMITH. D.D., BENZIGER BROTHERS, 1881, Nihil Obstat: Rev. S. G. MESSMER, S.T.P., Censor Deputatus, Imprimatur: JOANNES CARD. McCLOSKEY, Archiepiscopus Neo-Eboracensis, Datum Neo-Eboraci, Die 25 Martii, 1877, p. 233, 234, 236-237)

THE REV. P. CHAS AUGUSTINE explains on CREATION AND QUALIFICATIONS OF CARDINALS (Can. 232-235):

"The mode of creating Cardinals is left to the Roman Pontiff. However, as a rule, the Pope creates them and publishes their names in a secret consistory, at which only the Cardinals already created are de iure present, and from this moment the new cardinals begin to enjoy cardinalitial rights and privileges. In a subsequent public consistory, to which, among others, the diplomatic corps, dignitaries, clergy and laity are admitted, they receive the red hat and take the oath of fidelity to the Pope."
(A COMMENTARY ON THE NEW CODE OF CANON LAW, By THE REV. P. CHAS AUGUSTINE, O.S.B., D.D., Professor of Canon Law, VOLUME II, Clergy and Hierarchy B. HERDER BOOK CO. 17 SOUTH BROADWAY, ST. Louis, Mo. AND 68 GREAT RUSSELL ST. LONDON, W. C., 1918, NIHIL OBSTAT: Sti. Ludovici, die Sept. 7, 1918, F. G. Holweck, Censor Librorum, IMPRIMATUR: Sti. Ludovici, die Sept. 8, 1918, +Joannes J. Glennon, Archiepiscopus Sti. Ludovici, Printed in U. S. A. pp. 233-234)

Rev. Peter A. Baart expounds on the creation of the Cardinals that the whole substance of the Cardinalate consists in the power of jurisdiction and its consequent prerogatives:

"30. The dignity of the cardinalate is, after that of the Pope, the highest in the Church. It is greater than that of bishops, archbishops, primates or even patriarchs." p. 27
46. For the creation of a cardinal all that is required is the will of the Sovereign Pontiff sufficiently expressed. Neither a certain form nor any special ceremony is essential, because the whole substance of the cardinalate consists in the power of jurisdiction, and its consequent prerogatives, which depends simply on the will of the superior. The cardinalate is not, like the priesthood, a sacrament imprinting a character and requiring sacramental matter and form divinely instituted; and hence the unanimous teaching is that the form of promoting a cardinal depends entirely on the will and word of the Supreme Pontiff." p. 42
"52. The form and ceremonies for creating a cardinal in the usual manner may be thus summarized: The Roman Pontiff calls a secret consistory, and the other business having been transacted, he addresses the cardinals who are present in these or similar words: "You have brethren." Then he mentions the names of those whom he has determined to promote to the cardinalate and asks: "What do you think?" As a sign of assent the cardinals uncover and reverently incline their heads. Then the decree concerning the promotion of the new cardinals is drawn up and at once published out of consistory.
If the newly-appointed cardinals are in Rome they proceed in their usual dress and without any attendants, to the apostolic palace, where one of the old cardinals presents them to the Holy Father who gives them the red cap or biretum. And from that time to the public consistory in which they receive the insignia, they are not allowed to make or receive any public visits, neither may other cardinals call on them without the previous permission of the Holy Father.
If a newly-appointed cardinal is absent from Rome, one of the attendants of the Sovereign Pontiff is at once dispatched to carry him the red biretum, in receiving which the new cardinal must promise on oath, under pain of deprivation of the cardinalate, that within a year he will proceed to Rome to visit the Holy Father. " pp. 47-48
(The Roman Court, OR A Treatise on the Cardinals, Roman Congregations and Tribunals, Legates, Apostolic Vicars, Protonotaries, and Other Prelates of the Holy Roman Church, BY THE Reverend Peter A. Baart, S. T. L., Author of "Orphans and Orphan Asylums," and "Episcopal Claims Disproved", FR. PUSTET, Printer to the Holy See and the S. Congregation of Rites, FR. PUSTET & CO., NEW YORK AND CINCINNATI. Nihil Obstat: Carolus O'Reilly, S. T. D., Censor Deputatus, Imprimatur: Joannes S. Foley, Episcopus Detroitensis, Die 25, m. Septembris, 1895, Press of The Statesman, Marshall, Mich. p. 27, 42, 47-48)

Argument 2:

"Q. But how could heretical cardinals have the jurisdiction to select a pope, when they too are guilty of defection from the faith?
A. They do not have jurisdiction. The right to vote (the power of designation) is not the power to rule (jurisdiction).”

Comment 2:

As it was mentioned above (See The Roman Court by Rev. Peter A. Baart) the whole substance of the Cardinalate consists in the power of jurisdiction and its consequent prerogatives.

Also, the Church teaches that the right to elect the Pope belongs exclusively to the Sacred College of the Cardinals.

ELEMENTS OF ECCLESIASTICAL LAW, BY REV. S. B. SMITH:

"§ 2. Rights and Duties of Cardinals. 494. - II. Duties of Cardinals...2. Duties of Cardinals relative to the whole Church. II. Sede vacante - i.e., during the vacancy of the Pontifical chair...3. The right to elect the new Pope belongs exclusively to the Sacred College." p. 236, 237, 238.
(ELEMENTS OF ECCLESIASTICAL LAW, BY REV. S. B. SMITH. D.D., FOURTH EDITION, BENZIGER BROTHERS, 1881, Nihil Obstat: Rev. S. G. MESSMER, S.T.P., Censor Deputatus, Imprimatur: JOANNES CARD. McCLOSKEY, Archiepiscopus Neo-Eboracensis, Datum Neo-Eboraci, Die 25 Martii, 1877, pp. 236, 237, 238)

Thus, it is clear that the right to elect the Pope is a prerogative which flows from the power of jurisdiction, and this right belongs exclusively to the Sacred College. Therefore it is clear that only true Cardinals have the right to elect the Pope.

Conclusion

• Cardinals are the electors of the Pope sede vacante, and his counselors sede plena;
• The whole substance of the Cardinalate consists in the power of jurisdiction and its consequent prerogatives one of which is the right to elect the Pope;
• The dignity of the Cardinalate is, after that of the Pope, the highest in the Church. It is greater than that of bishops, archbishops, primates or even patriarchs;
• Cardinals are the immediate counselors or advisers of the Pope, and form the senate of the Roman Church;
• The Pope has the exclusive power to appoint the Cardinals, i.e. the electors;
• The Cardinals take the oath of fidelity to the Pope;

It is clear, when Bishop Sanborn says that John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis were elected by true Cardinals, he, therefore, recognizes them to be true Popes.

Fr. V