CARDINAL

also called Redbird, or Cardinal Grosbeak (species Cardinalis, formerly Richmondena, cardinalis), songbird of North America east of the Rocky Mountains, belonging to the family Fringillidae (placed by some authors in the Emberizidae; order Passeriformes). It is 20 cm (8 inches) long, with pointed crest; the male is bright red, the female being a duller reddish or olive brown. Pairs of these birds utter loud, clear whistling notes year-round in gardens and open woodlands. They feed on insects (and thus are beneficial for pest control) and on wild seeds and wild fruits. The cardinal is especially abundant in the southeastern United States and has been introduced into Hawaii, southern California, and Bermuda. a member of the Sacred College of Cardinals, whose duties include electing the pope, acting as his principal counselors, and aiding in the government of the Roman Catholic church throughout the world. Cardinals serve as chief officials of the Roman Curia (the papal bureaucracy), as bishops of major dioceses, and often as papal envoys. They wear distinctive red dress, have been addressed as Eminence, and are known as princes of the church. Scholars have disagreed about the origin of the title. There is, however, tentative consensus among modern scholars that the Latin word cardinalis, from the word cardo (pivot, or hinge), was first used during the barbarian invasions of western Europe to designate a bishop who was incorporated into a vacant see after his own see had been overwhelmed. In Rome the first persons to be called cardinals were the deacons of the seven regions of the city, at the beginning of the 6th century, when the word began to mean principal, eminent, or superior. The name was also given to the senior priest in each of the title churches (the parish churches) of Rome and to the bishops of the seven sees surrounding the city. By the 8th century the Roman cardinals constituted a privileged class among the Roman clergy. They took part in the administration of the church of Rome and in the papal liturgy. By decree of a synod of 769, only a cardinal was eligible to become pope. In 1059, during the pontificate of Nicholas II, cardinals were given the right to elect the pope. For a time this power was assigned exclusively to the cardinal bishops, but the Third Lateran Council (1179) gave back the right to the whole body of cardinals. In cities other than Rome, the name began to be applied to certain ecclesiastics as a mark of honour. The earliest example of this occurs in a letter sent by Pope Zacharias in 747 to Pippin III the Short, ruler of the Franks, applying the title to the priests of Paris to distinguish them from country clergy. This meaning of the word spread rapidly, and from the 9th century various episcopal cities had a special class among the clergy known as cardinals. The use of the title was reserved for the cardinals of Rome in 1567 by Pius V. The College of Cardinals, with its structure of three orders (bishops, priests, and deacons), had its origin in the reform of Urban II (108899). These ranks within the College of Cardinals do not necessarily correspond to a cardinal's rank of ordination; e.g., the bishop of a diocese such as New York City or Paris may be a cardinal priest. From the time of the Avignon papacy (130977), the question of the internationality of the Sacred College was imposed with great insistence; a reform under Sixtus V (158590) attempted to provide for it. The question has continued to be raised at various times, particularly in the second half of the 20th century. The cardinal bishops are successors of the bishops of the sees just outside Rome. There were seven of these sees in the 8th century, but the number was later reduced to six. Prior to 1962 each of the cardinal bishops had full jurisdiction in his own see; since then, however, they preserve only the title without any of the functions, which passed to a bishop actually resident in the see. In 1965 Paul VI created cardinals from among the Eastern Catholic patriarchs and arranged that they should become cardinal bishops on the title of their patriarchal sees. The second and largest order in the Sacred College is that of the cardinal priests, successors of the early body of priests serving the title churches of Rome. Since the 11th century this order has been more conspicuously international than the orders of cardinal bishops and deacons, including the bishops of important sees from throughout the world. The cardinal deacons are successors of the seven regional deacons. By the 10th11th century there were 18 deaconries in the city, and the reform of Urban II assigned a cardinal deacon to each of them. Originally, the order was limited to those who had advanced no further than the diaconate. Later legislation prescribed that a cardinal deacon be at least a priest. John XXIII and Paul VI, after appointing cardinal deacons who were not bishops, immediately consecrated them bishops. The total number of cardinals was fixed at 70 by Sixtus V in 1586, of which 6 were cardinal bishops, 50 were cardinal priests, and 14 were cardinal deacons. John XXIII eliminated the restriction of 70, and since then the number has reached more than 100. New cardinals are appointed only by the pope. He calls a secret consistory (meeting) of the cardinals and announces to them the names of the new cardinals. The newly named cardinals then receive the red biretta and the ring symbolic of the office in a public consistory.