OCR Text |
Show RIGID OATH FOR CARDINALS. Piux X. has drawn up a new and very rigid form of oath to be taken by all the Cardinals takingr part in the election of his successor. It runs as follows: "We. Cardinals, Bishops, priests and deacons of the Holy Roman Catholic church, do promise, resolve re-solve and swear to observe inviolably and to the letter everything contained in the constitution of the Supreme Pontiff, Pius X.. on vacancy. We also promise, resolve and swear that whoever of us may be, by the disposition of Providence, raised to be the Roman Pontiff he will never cease to proclaim and defend integrally and strenuously the temporal rights, especially concerning the civil principality, of the Roman Pontiff and the liberty of the Hoiy See, and that he shall again make this promise anil oath after his elevation to the lofty office of Supreme Su-preme Pontiff. "But we especially promise and swear that we shall most accurately and with due regard to all. including in-cluding attendants or conclavists, observe secrecy in everything relating in any way whatsoever to the election of the Roman Pontiff and in those things which are done in conclave or the place of election, and that we shall never, in any way. violate vio-late this secrecy either during the conclave- itself or even after the election of the new Pontiff, unless un-less a special faculty or express dispensation be given us by the future Pontiff himself, and also that we shall never in any way accept under any pretext from any civil power whatever the office of proposing a veto or exelusion,.even under the form of a mere desire, and that we shall not make known sucb a veto, however it may have become known to us, either to the entire College of Cardinals, taken as a body, or to the individual fathers and Cardinals Cardi-nals in writing or orally, directly and proximately, or indirectly and through others, either beforeor during the conclave, and that we shall never lend favor fa-vor to any intervention or intercession or any other method whatever by which the lay powers of any grade or order whatsoever may wish to interfere in the election of Pontiff." |