Pope Francis recently appointed Cardinal Robert McElroy, a harsh critic of President-elect Donald Trump's immigration policies, to lead the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, D.C.
The move has raised concerns among some Catholics about how he might interact with the new administration, especially since Trump announced plans to name Brian Burch, the head of a conservative Catholic political group, as ambassador to the Vatican.
As an expert on medieval Catholicism, I am aware of the important role cardinals played in church administration and secular politics over the centuries.
In addition to their pastoral ministry, cardinals who serve as bishops in their own countries can play an important role in shaping public opinion. Others are bishops who have served or still serve as papal nuncios in various countries around the world.
ancient origins
After Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in the early fourth century, Christianity spread rapidly in the west and east of the Roman Empire. The bishops were the leaders of the city's central church, supported by the emperor, and they met in several ecumenical councils to denounce heresies and distribute power more clearly.
By the end of the fifth century, the bishops of five major cities, including Rome, had gained wider authority over an expanded geographical territory. They were called patriarchs, from the Greek and Latin words meaning "father."
At this time, Rome survived numerous attacks from pagan tribes in Europe and the Huns from Asia, before finally succumbing to the Germanic barbarians in 476 AD.
During this turbulent century, the church gained more secular authority and largely took over the civil administration of Rome.
In fact, Justinian, the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire in the sixth century, called the Pope not only the Patriarch of "Rome" but also the Patriarch of the "West," implicitly extending the Pope's jurisdiction to all churches in the former Western Roman Empire. . The pope himself did not use this title until the seventh century.
As Roman Christianity spread across Western Europe, so did the intersection of political activity and religious authority.
first cardinal
In its earliest centuries, Christianity developed three categories of clergy, each with different responsibilities: Bishops oversaw churches in specific geographical areas; priests administered various local church communities—dioceses; and deacons assisted priests, especially in Charity activities.
By the seventh century, deacons from seven of Rome's oldest and most important churches served as special advisers to the pope. They are called cardinals, from the Latin words "cardo" meaning hinge and "cardinalis" meaning key or body.
Later, priests and bishops were also chosen for this honor. Over time, the cardinal became a powerful member of the Church of Rome and Italian Catholicism.
After Christianity was legalized in the fourth century, the faith quickly expanded beyond the borders of Rome's old empire. However, the cardinals of these countries were not named until much later, in the 12th century.
Missionaries to Europe
The Pope began sending missionaries to convert other pagan peoples in Europe. As early as the fourth and fifth centuries, some leaders of Germanic tribes—such as the Frankish King Clovis—were baptized themselves. Thanks to another papal missionary, Augustine of Canterbury, the early Celtic Church in England adopted Roman Christian practices in the seventh century.
However, the tenth and early eleventh centuries were a dark time for the popes. Rome's politically powerful families competed to select relatives to serve as popes, but there was no fixed election mechanism. Some of these popes lived immoral lives; At one point, a 20-year-old was elected Pope Benedict IX, who subsequently sold the office to another clergyman.
The main focus of Roman attention was the papal power struggle rather than missionary activities. But by the end of the eleventh century, a series of reform-minded clergy were appointed popes with the help of powerful European leaders known as the Holy Roman Emperors.
One of them, Pope Nicholas II, established new rules for the election of a new pope: he would be elected by a conference of cardinals. Elections were later designated by a two-thirds majority.
The popes also refocused their efforts on missionary activity. One result was the establishment of the first cardinals outside Italy in France, England and Germany. However, their numbers were far less than those of the Italians. In the late Middle Ages, cardinals from Austria, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, and Spain also joined what became known as the College of Cardinals.
political activities
Cardinals were increasingly viewed as important dignitaries and referred to as "eminent men," even though many of them were not the sons of kings or nobles. Of course, most of them were involved in late medieval European politics, as secular and religious interests were often intertwined. Many became wealthy patrons of art and architectural projects.
Not only are cardinals the pope's chief advisers, but some also hold secular political offices. The most famous of these was Thomas Wolsey, who became Lord Chancellor of England in the 16th century under King Henry VIII, although he was a commoner.
Two cardinals also served as chief ministers to King Louis XIII of France in the 17th century: Frenchman Armand-Jean du Plessis de Richelieu and Italian-born Jules Mazarin.
Even in modern times, the appointment of a foreign cleric as a cardinal is seen as a measure of the country's importance in the Catholic world. For example, America's first Cardinal, John McCloskey, was ordained a cardinal in 1875, about 100 years after the birth of the United States. The first person from strongly Catholic Latin America was appointed a cardinal in 1906, when Brazilian Bishop Joaquim Arcoverde de Albuquerque Cavalcanti was appointed for a cardinal.
The Philippines, another Catholic country, did not have a cardinal until 1960, Rufino J. Santos. Diverse Sri Lanka's small Catholic community did not have a cardinal until 2010, when Malcom Ranjith was elected.
contemporary issues
Since 1962, only bishops can be ordained as cardinals; priests must agree to be ordained as bishops before they can be appointed cardinals.
Some nominees declined the honor because they were unwilling to be ordained bishops for various reasons: health, advanced age, or because they did not want to leave their religious communities. There are occasional exceptions to this rule—for example, Cardinal Avery Dulles, a Jesuit who was over 80 when named, and more recently the Dominican priest and theologian Timo Timothy Radcliffe is a 79-year-old Dominican member of the Order. Both were allowed to continue serving as priests.
Today, many cardinals engage in pastoral ministry as bishops of dioceses or as archbishops of larger archdioceses. Other bishops and cardinals serve in one of several departments within the Vatican bureaucracy called episcopate.
In addition, there are other offices within Cardinal College. For example, the leader or head of the college is called the dean; one of his duties is to coordinate the conclave held on the death or resignation of a pope.
Cardinals are appointed for life, although they can resign voluntarily or under pressure. Resignation is rare; only three countries have done so since 1900.
Since his election in 2013, Francis has held 10 synods (extraordinary meetings of the College of Cardinals), appointing most cardinals under the age of 80 who will be eligible to elect his successor.
Francis has chosen not only like-minded progressive candidates, but also candidates from countries that are more marginalized or ravaged by violence. Most recently, cardinals have been chosen from Ivory Coast and Ukraine; another is a Chilean-born archbishop of Palestinian descent. These new cardinals offer new and perhaps challenging perspectives to the once-important European College of Cardinals.
I predict that in the future all of these cardinals, including Cardinal McElroy in a key role, will play important roles in supporting or criticizing church and national politics.