Pastor
A pastor is an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. A pastor gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation, it is derived from the Latin word pastor, meaning shepherd. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, the term may be abbreviated to "Pr" or "Ptr" or "Ps"; the word "pastor" derives from the Latin noun pastor which means "shepherd" and is derived from the verb pascere – "to lead to pasture, set to grazing, cause to eat". The term "pastor" relates to the role of elder within the New Testament, but is not synonymous with the biblical understanding of minister. Many Protestant churches call their ministers "pastors". Present-day usage of the word is rooted in the Biblical metaphor of shepherding; the Hebrew Bible uses the Hebrew word רעה, used as a noun as in "shepherd," and as a verb as in "to tend a flock." It occurs 173 times in 144 Old Testament verses and relates to the literal feeding of sheep, as in Genesis 29:7. In Jeremiah 23:4, both meanings are used, "And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.".
English-language translations of the New Testament render the Greek noun ποιμήν as "shepherd" and the Greek verb ποιμαίνω as "feed". The two words occur a total of 29 times in the New Testament, most referring to Jesus. For example, Jesus called himself the "Good Shepherd" in John 10:11; the same words in the familiar Christmas story refer to literal shepherds. In five New Testament passages though, the words relate to members of the church: John 21:16 - Jesus told Peter: "Feed My sheep" Acts 20:17 - the Apostle Paul summons the elders of the church in Ephesus to give a last discourse to them. 1 Corinthians 9:7 - Paul says, of himself and the apostles: "who feedeth a flock, eateth not of the milk of the flock?" Ephesians 4:11 - Paul wrote "And he gave some, apostles. Around 400 AD, Saint Augustine, a prominent African Catholic bishop, described a pastor's job: Disturbers are to be rebuked, the low-spirited to be encouraged, the infirm to be supported, objectors confuted, the treacherous guarded against, the unskilled taught, the lazy aroused, the contentious restrained, the haughty repressed, litigants pacified, the poor relieved, the oppressed liberated, the good approved, the evil borne with, all are to be loved.
In the United States, the term pastor is used by Catholics for what in other English-speaking countries is called a parish priest. The Latin term used in the Code of Canon Law is parochus; the parish priest is the proper clergyman in charge of the congregation of the parish entrusted to him. He exercises the pastoral care of the community entrusted to him under the authority of the diocesan bishop, whose ministry of Christ he is called to share, so that for this community he may carry out the offices of teaching and ruling with the cooperation of other priests or deacons and with the assistance of lay members of Christ's faithful, in accordance with the law. In some Lutheran churches, ordained presbyters are called priests, while in others, such as the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, the term pastor is used more frequently. Ordained presbyters are called priests in the Church of England, as in all other ecclesiastical provinces of the Anglican Communion. United Methodists ordain to the office of deacon and elder, each of whom can use the title of pastor depending.
United Methodists use the title of pastor for non-ordained clergy who are licensed and appointed to serve a congregation as their pastor or associate pastor referred to as licensed local pastors. These pastors may be lay people, seminary students, or seminary graduates in the ordination process, cannot exercise any functions of clergy outside the charge where they are appointed; the use of the term pastor to refer to the common Protestant title of modern times dates to the days of John Calvin and Huldrych Zwingli. Both men, other Reformers, seem to have revived the term to replace the Roman Catholic priest in the minds of their followers; the pastor was considered to have a role separate from the board of presbyters. Some groups today view the pastor and elder as synonymous terms or offices; the term "pastor", in the majority of Baptist churches, is one of two offices within the church, deacon being the other, is considered synonymous with "elder" or "bishop". In larger churches with many staff members, "Senior Pastor" refers to the person who brings the sermons the majority of the time, with other persons having titles relating to their duties.
Other religions have started to use terms such as "Buddhist pastor". Bercot, David W.. Will The Real Heretics Please Stand Up. Scroll Publishing. ISBN 0-924722-00-2. Dowly, Tim; the History of Christianity. Lion Publishing. ISBN 0-7459-1625-2. CS1 m
Papal diplomacy
An apostolic nuncio is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is appointed by and represents the Holy See, is the head of the diplomatic mission, called an Apostolic Nunciature, the equivalent of an embassy; the Holy See is distinct from the Vatican City or the Catholic Church. A nuncio is an archbishop. An apostolic nuncio is equivalent in rank to that of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, although in Catholic countries the nuncio ranks above ambassadors in diplomatic protocol. A nuncio has the same diplomatic privileges. Under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, to which the Holy See is a party, a nuncio is an ambassador like those from any other country; the Vienna Convention allows the host state to grant seniority of precedence to the nuncio over others of ambassadorial rank accredited to the same country, may grant the deanship of that country's diplomatic corps to the nuncio regardless of seniority.
The representative of the Holy See in some situations is called a Delegate or, in the case of the United Nations, Permanent Observer. In the Holy See hierarchy, these rank to a nuncio, but they do not have formal diplomatic status, though in some countries they have some diplomatic privileges. In addition, the nuncio serves as the liaison between the Holy See and the Church in that particular nation, supervising the diocesan episcopate and has an important role in the selection of bishops; the name nuncio is derived from the ancient Latin word, meaning "envoy" or "messenger". Since such envoys are accredited to the Holy See as such and not to the State of Vatican City, the term "nuncio" emphasizes the unique nature of the diplomatic mission; the 1983 Code of Canon Law claims the "innate right" to send and receive delegates independent from interference of non-ecclesiastical civil power. Canon law only recognizes international law limitations on this right; the title Internuncio denoted a papal diplomatic representative of the second class, corresponding to Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary as a title for diplomatic representatives of states.
Before 1829, Internuncio was the title applied instead to the ad interim head of a mission when one Nuncio had left office and his replacement had not yet assumed it. A legate a latere is a representative for a special purpose; the most important type of apocrisiary was the equivalent of a nuncio, sent by the Pope to the Byzantine Empire. Pro-nuncio was a term used from 1965 to 1991 for a papal diplomatic representative of full ambassadorial rank accredited to a country that did not accord him precedence over other ambassadors and de jure deanship of the Diplomatic Corps. In those countries, the papal representative's precedence within the corps is on a par with that of the other members of ambassadorial rank, so that he becomes dean only on becoming the senior member of the corps. In countries with whom the Holy See does not have diplomatic ties, an Apostolic Delegate may be sent to act as a liaison with the Roman Catholic Church in that country, though not accredited to its government. Apostolic delegates have the same ecclesiastical rank as nuncios, but have no formal diplomatic status, though in some countries they have some diplomatic privileges.
For example, an apostolic delegate served as the Holy See's de facto diplomatic representative to the United States and the United Kingdom, until both major Anglo-Saxon states with a predominantly Protestant tradition established full-fledged relations with the Holy See in the late twentieth century, allowing for the appointment of a Papal Nuncio. Archbishop Pio Laghi, for example, was first apostolic delegate pro-nuncio, to the United States during the Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush presidencies. Apostolic delegates are sent to regions such as the West Indies and the islands of the Pacific; these delegates are appointed nuncio to at least some of the many states covered by their delegation, but the area entrusted to them contains one or more territories that either are not independent states or are states that do not have diplomatic relations with the Holy See. Article 16 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations provides: Heads of mission shall take precedence in their respective classes in the order of the date and time of taking up their functions in accordance with Article 13.
Alterations in the credentials of a head of mission not involving any change of class shall not affect his precedence. This article is without prejudice to any practice accepted by the receiving State regarding the precedence of the representative of the Holy See. In accordance with this article, many states give precedence to the Nuncio over other diplomatic representatives, according him the position of Dean of the Diplomatic Corps reserved in other countries f
Pope
The pope known as the supreme pontiff, is the Bishop of Rome and ex officio leader of the worldwide Catholic Church. Since 1929, the pope has been head of state of Vatican City, a city-state enclaved within Rome, Italy; the current pope is Francis, elected on 13 March 2013, succeeding Benedict XVI. While his office is called the papacy, the episcopal see and ecclesiastical jurisdiction is called the Holy See, it is the Holy See, the sovereign entity of international law headquartered in the distinctively independent Vatican City State, established by the Lateran Treaty in 1929 between Italy and the Holy See to ensure its temporal and spiritual independence. The primacy of the Bishop of Rome is derived from his role as the apostolic successor to Saint Peter, to whom primacy was conferred by Jesus, giving him the Keys of Heaven and the powers of "binding and loosing", naming him as the "rock" upon which the church would be built; the apostolic see of Rome was founded by Saint Peter and Saint Paul in 1st century, according to Catholic tradition.
The papacy is one of the most enduring institutions in the world and has had a prominent part in world history. In ancient times the popes helped spread Christianity, intervened to find resolutions in various doctrinal disputes. In the Middle Ages, they played a role of secular importance in Western Europe acting as arbitrators between Christian monarchs. In addition to the expansion of the Christian faith and doctrine, the popes are involved in ecumenism and interfaith dialogue, charitable work, the defense of human rights. In some periods of history, the papacy, which had no temporal powers, accrued wide secular powers rivaling those of temporal rulers. However, in recent centuries the temporal authority of the papacy has declined and the office is now exclusively focused on religious matters. By contrast, papal claims of spiritual authority have been firmly expressed over time, culminating in 1870 with the proclamation of the dogma of papal infallibility for rare occasions when the pope speaks ex cathedra—literally "from the chair"—to issue a formal definition of faith or morals.
Still, the Pope is considered one of the world's most powerful people because of his extensive diplomatic and spiritual influence on 1.3 billion Catholics and beyond, as well as the official representative of the Catholic Church being the largest non-government provider of education and health care in the world, with a vast international network of charities. The word pope derives from Greek πάππας meaning "father". In the early centuries of Christianity, this title was applied in the east, to all bishops and other senior clergy, became reserved in the west to the Bishop of Rome, a reservation made official only in the 11th century; the earliest record of the use of this title was in regard to the by deceased Patriarch of Alexandria, Pope Heraclas of Alexandria. The earliest recorded use of the title "pope" in English dates to the mid-10th century, when it was used in reference to the 7th century Roman Pope Vitalian in an Old English translation of Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum.
The Catholic Church teaches that the pastoral office, the office of shepherding the Church, held by the apostles, as a group or "college" with Saint Peter as their head, is now held by their successors, the bishops, with the bishop of Rome as their head. Thus, is derived another title by which the pope is known, that of "Supreme Pontiff"; the Catholic Church teaches that Jesus appointed Peter as leader of the Church, the Catholic Church's dogmatic constitution Lumen gentium makes a clear distinction between apostles and bishops, presenting the latter as the successors of the former, with the pope as successor of Peter, in that he is head of the bishops as Peter was head of the apostles. Some historians argue against the notion that Peter was the first bishop of Rome, noting that the episcopal see in Rome can be traced back no earlier than the 3rd century; the writings of the Church Father Irenaeus who wrote around AD 180 reflect a belief that Peter "founded and organized" the Church at Rome.
Moreover, Irenaeus was not the first to write of Peter's presence in the early Roman Church. Clement of Rome wrote in a letter to the Corinthians, c. 96, about the persecution of Christians in Rome as the "struggles in our time" and presented to the Corinthians its heroes, "first, the greatest and most just columns", the "good apostles" Peter and Paul. St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote shortly after Clement and in his letter from the city of Smyrna to the Romans he said he would not command them as Peter and Paul did. Given this and other evidence, such as Emperor Constantine's erection of the "Old St. Peter's Basilica" on the location of St. Peter's tomb, as held and given to him by Rome's Christian community, many scholars agree that Peter was martyred in Rome under Nero, although some scholars argue that he may have been martyred in Palestine. First-century Christian communities would have had a group of presbyter-bishops functioning as leaders of their local churches. Episcopacies were established in metropolitan areas.
Antioch may have developed such a structure before Rome. In Rome, there were many who claimed to be the rightful bishop, though again Irenaeus stressed the validity of one line of bishops from the time of St. Peter up to his contemporary Pope Victor I and listed them; some writers claim that the emergence of a single bishop in Rome did not occur until the middle of the 2nd century. In their view, Linus and Clement were prominent presbyter-bishops
Exarch
The term exarch comes from the Ancient Greek ἔξαρχος, designates holders of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical. In the late Roman Empire and early Byzantine Empire, an exarch was a governor of a particular territory. From the end of 3rd century or early 4th, every Roman diocese was governed by vicarius, titled "exarch" in eastern parts of the Empire where the Greek language and the use of Greek terminology dominated. Even though Latin was the language of the imperial administration from the provincial level up until the 440s. In Greek texts the Latin title is spelled'Bicarios.' The office of exarch as a governor with extended political and military authority was created in Byzantine Empire, with jurisdiction over a particular territory a frontier region at some distance from the capital Constantinople. In the Eastern Christian Churches, the term exarch has three distinct uses: metropolitan who holds the office of exarch is the deputy of a patriarch and holds authority over bishops of the designated ecclesiastical region.
In the civil administration of the Byzantine Empire the exarch was, as stated above, the imperial governor of a large and important region of the Empire. The Exarchates were a response to weakening imperial authority in the provinces and were part of the overall process of unification of civil and military offices, initiated in early form by Justinian I, which would lead to the creation of the Thematic system by either the Emperor Heraclius or Constans II. After the dissolution of the Western Empire in the late fifth century, the Eastern Roman Empire remained stable through the beginning of the Middle Ages and retained the ability for future expansion. Justinian I reconquered North Africa, Italy and parts of Spain for the Eastern Roman Empire. However, this put an incredible strain on the Empire's limited resources. Subsequent emperors would not surrender the re-conquered land to remedy the situation, thus the stage was set for Emperor Maurice to establish the Exarchates to deal with the evolving situation of the provinces.
In Italy the Lombards were the main opposition to Byzantine power. In North Africa the Amazigh or Berber princes were ascendant due to Roman weakness outside the coastal cities; the problems associated with many enemies on various fronts forced the imperial government to decentralize and devolve power to the former provinces. The term Exarch most refers to the Exarch of Italy, who governed the area of Italy and Dalmatia, still remaining under Byzantine control after the Lombard invasion of 568; the exarchate's seat was at Ravenna, whence it is known as the "Exarchate of Ravenna". Ravenna remained the seat of the Exarch until the revolt of 727 over Iconoclasm. Thereafter, the growing menace of the Lombards and the split between eastern and western Christendom that Iconoclasm caused made the position of the Exarch more and more untenable; the last Exarch was killed by the Lombards in 751. A second exarchate was created by Maurice to administer northern Africa a separate praetorian prefecture, the islands of the western Mediterranean and the Byzantine possessions in Spain.
The capital of the Exarchate of Africa was Carthage. The exarchate proved both financially and militarily strong, survived until the Arab Muslim conquest of Carthage in 698; the term exarch entered ecclesiastical language at first for a metropolitan with jurisdiction not only for the area, his as a metropolitan, but over other metropolitans within local political dioceses. Since imperial vicarius was called "exarch" in eastern, Greek speaking parts of the Empire, it became customary for the metropolitans of the diocesan capitals to use the title "exarch" in order to emphasize their precedence and primatial status over other metropolitans within local political dioceses; the Council of Chalcedon, which gave special authority to the see of Constantinople as being "the residence of the emperor and the Senate," in its canons spoke of diocesan "exarchs", placing all metropolitans in dioceses of Asia, Thrace an Pontus under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Constantinople. Metropolitans-exarchs of Ephesus tried to resist the supreme jurisdiction of Constantinople, but failed since imperial government supported the creation of a centralized Patriarchate.
When the proposed government of universal Christendom by five patriarchal sees, under the auspices of a single universal empire, was formulated in the legislation of Emperor Justinian I in his Novella 131, received formal ecclesiastical sanction at the Council in Trullo, the name "patriarch" became the official one for the heads of major autocephalous churches, the ti
Reader (liturgy)
In some Christian churches, a reader is responsible for reading aloud excerpts of scripture at a liturgy. In early Christian times the reader was of particular value due to the rarity of literacy. In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, the term "lector" or "reader" can mean someone who in a particular liturgy is assigned to read a Biblical text other than the Gospel, but it has the more specific meaning of a person, "instituted" as a lector or reader, is such when not assigned to read in a specific liturgy. This is the meaning. In this sense, the office was classed as one of the four minor orders and in recent centuries was conferred only on those preparing for ordination to the priesthood. With effect from 1 January 1973, the apostolic letter Ministeria quaedam of 15 August 1972 decreed instead that: What up to now were called minor orders are henceforth to be called ministries. Ministries may be assigned to lay Christians. Two ministries, adapted to present-day needs, are to be preserved in the whole Latin Church, those of reader and acolyte.
The functions heretofore assigned to the subdeacon are entrusted to the reader and the acolyte... The reader is appointed for a function proper to him, that of reading the word of God in the liturgical assembly. Accordingly, he is to proclaim the readings from sacred Scripture, except for the gospel in the Mass and other sacred celebrations, he may insofar as may be necessary, take care of preparing other faithful who are appointed on a temporary basis to read the Scriptures in liturgical celebrations. That he may more fittingly and fulfill these functions, he is to meditate assiduously on sacred Scripture. Aware of the office he has undertaken, the reader is to make every effort and employ suitable means to acquire that warm and living love and knowledge of Scripture that will make him a more perfect disciple of the Lord. Canon 1035 of the Code of Canon Law requires candidates for diaconal ordination to have received and have exercised for an appropriate time the ministries of lector and acolyte and prescribes that institution in the second of these ministries must precede by at least six months ordination as a deacon.
Instituted lectors, who are all men, are obliged, when proclaiming the readings at Mass, to wear an alb. Others who perform the function of lector, but who are not instituted in the ministry of lector, are neither required nor forbidden by universal law of the Latin Church to wear an alb: "During the celebration of Mass with a congregation a second priest, a deacon, an instituted reader must wear the distinctive vestment of their office when they go up to the ambo to read the word of God; those who carry out the ministry of reader just for the occasion or regularly but without institution may go to the ambo in ordinary attire, but this should be in keeping with the customs of the different regions." Like other lay ministers, they may wear an alb or "other suitable attire, legitimately approved by the Conference of Bishops". Neither the England and Wales episcopal conference nor that of the United States has specified a particular alternative attire. While in the dioceses of the United States of America, a cassock and surplice may be worn as "appropriate and dignified clothing"The General Instruction of the Roman Missal speaks as follows of those who, without being lectors in the specific sense, carry out their functions at Mass: "In the absence of an instituted lector, other lay people may be deputed to proclaim the readings from Sacred Scripture, people who are suited to carrying out this function and prepared, so that by their hearing the readings from the sacred texts the faithful may conceive in their hearts a sweet and living affection for Sacred Scripture."The General Instruction thus makes no distinction between men and women for proclaiming the scriptural readings in the absence of an instituted lector.
In its sections the same document lists the lector's specific duties at Mass. Traditionalist Catholic organizations such as the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest and the Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney are authorized to use the pre-1973 rite for their members who receive the office of lector; the Society of St. Pius X and other traditionalist Catholic bodies in dispute with the Holy See, such as sedevacantists, use it without seeking authorization. In the Eastern Orthodox Church and in the Eastern Catholic Churches of Byzantine tradition, the reader is the second highest of the minor orders of clergy; this order is lower than the subdeacon. The reader's essential role is to read the Old Testament lessons and the Epistle lessons during the Divine Liturgy and other services, as well as to chant the Psalms and the verses of the Prokimen and certain antiphons and other hymns during the divine services. Due to this fact, it falls to the reader within a parish to construct the variable parts of the divine services according to the very compl
Lay brother
In the past, the term lay brother and lay sister was used within some Christian religious institutes to distinguish members who were not ordained from those members who were clerics. This term is now considered controversial by some because of the history of inequality between Brothers and clerics; the term "lay" has been used in the past to designate someone as "uneducated" in contrast to "illiterate". Instead, the term "religious Brother" or "Brother" is appropriate when referring to a professed male religious, neither a priest, nor seminarian; the vocational title "Brother" is capitalized to distinguish it from the word "brother" in the sense of "a male sibling". In modern religious communities, Brothers are no longer restricted by institutional inequalities of the past and enjoy the same status and opportunities as priestly and seminarian confreres, except where sacramental ministry is concerned. Brothers today pursue academic, professional, or technical training, appropriate to their interests and skills and can be found in a variety of non-sacramental ministries.
Many Brothers study theology and philosophy to some degree, although there is a great deal of variance regarding the intensity and duration of these academic curriculums. Although religious life began with communities of desert hermits and monks in which none of the members were ordained, over time the Church began to blend monastic life with the ordained ministry. Within this context, a rigid hierarchy emerged in which the lay Brothers were restricted to ancillary roles, manual labor, other secular affairs of a monastery or friary. In contrast, the choir monks of the same monastery attended to the Liturgy of the Hours, or Opus Dei, sacramental ministry, celebration of the liturgy, formal studies; the term is used of those who are Brothers in those religious congregations which have been established since the Reformation. While taking vows particular to their religious community they have not been ordained by a bishop as deacon or priest. In this regard they are considered "lay religious," where "lay" means "non-clerical".
No such distinction existed in early Western monasticism. The majority of St. Benedict's monks were not clerics, all performed manual labour, the word conversi being used only to designate those who had received the habit late in life, to distinguish them from the oblati and nutriti. But, by the beginning of the 11th century, the time devoted to study had increased, thus a larger proportion of the monks were in Holy Orders though great numbers of illiterate persons had embraced the religious life. At the same time, it was found necessary to regulate the position of the famuli, the hired servants of the monastery, to include some of these in the monastic family. So in Italy the lay Brothers were instituted. At Cluny Abbey the manual work was relegated to paid servants, but the Carthusians, the Cistercians, the Order of Grandmont, most subsequent religious orders possessed lay Brothers, to whom they committed their secular cares. At Grandmont, the complete control of the order's property by the lay brothers led to serious disturbances, to the ruin of the order.
In England, the "Black Monks" were reported by some writers to have made but slight use of lay brothers, finding the service of paid attendants more convenient. Thus one monastic historian, Dom Taunton asserted that, "in those days in English Benedictine monasteries there were no lay brothers". On the contrary, they are mentioned in the customaries of the Abbey of St. Augustine at Canterbury and the Abbey of St. Peter at Westminster. Many lay brothers were illiterate peasants who performed the domestic or agricultural work of the community; some were skilled in artistic handicrafts, others filled administrative positions. Speaking, lay brothers roles were limited within most communities; this is not to suggest. Lay brothers were sometimes distinguished from their brethren by some difference in their habit: for instance, the Cistercian lay brother wore a brown tunic, instead of white, with the black scapular. In some orders they were required to recite daily the Little Office of Our Lady, but their labor in the fields prevented them from participating in the Liturgy of the Hours.
Lay brothers would instead pray Paters and Glorias. Lay sisters were found in most of the orders of women, their origin, like that of the lay brothers, is to be found in the necessity of providing the choir nuns with more time for the Office and study, they served as the "extern sister" of the community: the sister with the task of greeting visitors and handling relations between the cloistered nuns and th
Lay cardinal
A lay cardinal was a cardinal in the College of Cardinals of the Catholic Church, a lay person, that is, who had never have been given major orders through ordination as a deacon, priest, or bishop. Properly speaking these cardinals were not laymen, since they were all given what was called first tonsure, which at that time made them clerics and no longer laymen, they were given minor orders, which were no obstacle to marrying or to living in a marriage contracted. The freedom to marry and to live in marriage is the reason that cardinals who were not in major orders were popularly, though inaccurately, referred to as lay cardinals. Ferdinando I de' Medici was a lay cardinal for twenty-six years. After he succeeded his brother Francesco I de' Medici as Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1587, he remained a cardinal until he married Christina of Lorraine two years later. Francisco Gómez de Sandoval, 1st Duke of Lerma was created cardinal by Pope Paul V on March 26, 1618, a title that protected him from prosecution, after he was banished from power on October 4, 1618.
Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria was a lay cardinal for about 20 years from 1620 to his death in 1641. Marino Carafa di Belvedere was created a cardinal in the consistory of 1801 by Pope Pius VII on the condition that he take major orders. In 1807 he resigned the cardinalate without receiving major orders to marry to produce an heir and maintain the line of descent for his family, he married Marianna Gaetani dell'Aquila d'Aragona and he became prince of Acquaviva. Teodolfo Mertel, a lawyer and layman, was named cardinal by Pope Pius IX in 1858, he was not a lay cardinal for long. When he died in 1899 he was the last non-priest cardinal. In 1968 Pope Paul VI considered appointing the French Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain a lay cardinal, it is commonplace to think that the title of "cardinal" is the next order after "bishop" to which a man may be ordained, as "bishop" comes after "priest" and "priest" after "deacon". In fact, the position of cardinal is not an order to which one can be ordained.
The original "cardinals" in the first Christian centuries were friends and counsellors of the Bishop of Rome. Some were ordained deacons or priests and some were not. In those days of persecution these men took on the duty of standing at the door of the house where the service and the subsequent agapē feast was being celebrated, they rejected people hoping to attend the Sacred Liturgy. They kept watch for soldiers or informers who might interrupt the gathering. Since the word for "hinge" in Latin is cardo they became known as'hingemen" – cardinals. Soon many bishops called their advisors "cardinals" but, in time, the pope decreed that only the advisors of the Bishop of Rome could be known by the title "cardinal"; the 1917 Code of Canon Law decreed that from on only those who were priests or bishops could be chosen as cardinals, thus closing the historical period in which some cardinals could be clergy who had only received first tonsure and minor orders. The same rule is repeated in the 1983 Code of Canon Law, which adds that those who are not bishops are to receive episcopal ordination.
Any priest, nominated for the cardinalate may ask for dispensation from the obligation to be ordained to the episcopacy before being created Cardinal, but in practice it is Jesuits who ask for and are granted this dispensation. For example, the dispensation was requested by the theologian Avery Dulles upon being named cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2001 who granted it. Subsequently invited to a meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2002, Cardinal Dulles at one point asked for recognition to speak to the bishops from the floor, his quip that he was there "under false pretenses" was greeted by much laughter. The same dispensation was granted to Roberto Tucci, another esteemed theologian from the Society of Jesus: he was created cardinal in the consistory of 21 February 2001 by Pope John Paul II, whom Tucci had successfully petitioned not to be ordained to the episcopacy. With the motu proprio Ministeria quaedam of 15 August 1972 Pope Paul VI ended the conferral of first tonsure and laid down that entry into the clerical state would instead be by ordination as deacon.
Crown cardinal Cardinal protector Cardinal-Infante Cardinal-nephew Tonsure Minor orders
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