Reginald Pole was an English cardinal and the last Catholic archbishop of Canterbury, holding the office from 1556 to 1558, during the Counter-Reformation.
Portrait by the school of Sebastiano del Piombo, c. 1549
Pole with Paul III in a 1539 portrait by Perino del Vaga
Pole as a cardinal
Pole's tomb at Canterbury Cathedral
Cardinal (Catholic Church)
A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the pope and typically hold the title for life. Collectively, they constitute the College of Cardinals. The most solemn responsibility of the cardinals is to elect a new pope in a conclave, almost always from among themselves, when the Holy See is vacant. During the period between a pope's death or resignation and the election of his successor, the day-to-day governance of the Holy See is in the hands of the College of Cardinals. The right to participate in a conclave is limited to cardinals who have not reached the age of 80 years by the day the vacancy occurs. In addition, cardinals collectively participate in papal consistories, in which matters of importance to the Church are considered and new cardinals may be created. Cardinals of working age are also appointed to roles overseeing dicasteries of the Roman Curia, the central administration of the Catholic Church.
Cardinal Richelieu, chief minister of France
Cardinal Innitzer, Archbishop of Vienna and Cardinal-Priest of San Crisogono
Choir dress of a cardinal
Angelo Sodano was Dean of the College of Cardinals from 2005 to 2019.