Cardinal Deacon
The
Cardinal Deacons are the lowest-ranked of the three orders of
Cardinals of the
Roman Catholic Church. They derive originally from the seven deacons in the Pope's household and the seven deacons who supervised the Church's works in the districts of
Rome during the early Middle Ages, when the Church administration was effectively the government of Rome and provided all social services --thus, there were traditionally 14 Cardinal Deacons, but this number has been expanded in recent years.
Until
1918 it was possible to become a Cardinal without entering
Holy Orders, but only the order of Cardinal Deacons was open to those who were not
priests. To become a
Cardinal Priest one had to be a priest and to become a
Cardinal Bishop one had to be a
bishop. After 1918 it was established that all cardinals, even the Cardinal Deacons, had to be priests, and since 1962 all cardinals have been bishops with rare exceptions where permission was granted to decline episcopal consecration because of advanced age (for example,
Avery Cardinal Dulles) -- most of these have been eminent theologians who are priests, and have been appointed Cardinal Deacons like Dulles, but have already passed their 80th birthday and so were appointed already in retirement, so to speak.
Under the
1587 decree of
Pope Sixtus V that fixed the maximum size of the
College of Cardinals until
1958, there were fourteen diaconates, but the number has increased.
As of 2005 there were over fifty recognized titular diaconates, though only thirty cardinals were of the order of Deacons. Cardinal Deacons have long enjoyed the right to "opt for the order of Cardinal Priests" (
optazione) after they have been Cardinal Deacons for ten years, and after this they rank in precedence as if they had been Cardinal Priests from when they first became Cardinals. They may on such elevation take a vacant
title (church allotted as the titular dignity of a Cardinal Priest) or their existing diaconate may be elevated to title for that occasion.
Today, appointment as a Cardinal Deacon is usually granted to officials of the
Roman Curia and to the aforementioned cardinals who have not been consecrated bishops. Bishops with pastoral responsibilities on the other hand are created Cardinal Priests.
When not in Mass but still serving a liturgical function, such as the bi-annual Urbi et Orbi Papal Blessing and some events at Ecumenical Councils, Cardinal Deacons can be recognized by the
Dalmatics they would don with the simple white mitre.
The Cardinal Protodeacon (that is, the senior-most Cardinal Deacon in order of appointment to the College of Cardinals) has the privilege of announcing a new Pope's election in the famous "
Habemus Papam" announcement given from the central loggia at the Basilica of Saint Peter. The current protodeacon is
His Eminence Jorge Cardinal Medina Estevez.
*
List of all Cardinal Deacons by Giga-Catholic Information
*
List of all Cardinal Deaconries by Giga-Catholic Information
