 | ||
The Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals (Latin: Decanus Sacri Collegii) is the dean (president) of the College of Cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church. The position was established in the early 12th century.
Contents
The Dean presides over the College of Cardinals, serving as primus inter pares in the college. He always holds the rank of Cardinal Bishop. The Dean of the College of Cardinals is assisted by a Sub-Dean; in those roles they act as the president and vice-president of the college respectively. Both are elected by and from the cardinals holding suburbicarian dioceses, but the elections require Papal confirmation. Except for presiding and deputizing respectively the dean and sub-dean have no power of governance over the other cardinals. In the Order of precedence in the Catholic Church as the senior Cardinal Bishops, the Dean and Sub-Dean are placed second and third respectively after the Pope.
The Dean is often, but not necessarily, the longest-serving member of the whole College. It had been customary for centuries for the longest-serving of the six Cardinal Bishops of suburbicarian sees to be Dean; this was required by canon law from 1917 until 1965, when Pope Paul VI empowered the six to elect the Dean from among their number. This election, a formality until the time of Pope John Paul II, must be confirmed by the pope.
The Dean holds the position until death or resignation; there is no mandatory age of retirement.
Responsibilities
It is the Dean's responsibility to summon the conclave for the purposes of electing a new pope following a death or resignation. The Dean presides over the conclave unless he is too old to vote in it. Additionally, the dean has the responsibility of communicating the "news of the Pope's death to the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See and to the Heads of the respective Nations" and is the public face of the Holy See during the sede vacante period. It is the Dean, unless he is impeded, who asks the Pope-elect if he accepts the election, and then asks the new Pope what name he wishes to use. According to Canon 355 (from the Latin Code of Canon Law 1983), if the newly elected Supreme Pontiff is not already a bishop, it is the right of the Dean to ordain him as such.
The Cardinal Dean has "the title of the diocese of Ostia, together with that of any other church to which he already has a title," such as his suburbicarian diocese. This has been the case since 1914, by decree of Pope Pius X—previous deans had given up their prior suburbicarian see for the joint title of Ostia and Velletri, which were separated in that same 1914 decree.
Deans elected Pope
Nine Deans have been elected Pope: Pope Honorius II, Anastasius IV, Lucius III, Gregory IX, Alexander IV, Alexander VI, Paul III, Paul IV, Benedict XVI.
List of Deans
The following is the list of Dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals, separated into three groups to account for the Western Schism, which ended after the Council of Constance.
Each name in the following list includes years of birth and death, then comma-separated years of cardinalate and deanship.