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138-540: God Schools Relations with: The College of Cardinals , more formally called the Sacred College of Cardinals , is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church . As of 25 November 2024, there are 232 cardinals , of whom 120 are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope . Cardinals are appointed by the pope for life but eligibility to vote ceases at the age of 80. Since

276-801: A beard, a depiction largely derived from, and justified by, the near-physical, but still figurative, description of the Ancient of Days . In the Annunciation by Benvenuto di Giovanni in 1470, God the Father is portrayed in the red robe and a hat that resembles that of a Cardinal. However, even in the later part of the 15th century, the symbolic representation of the Father and the Holy Spirit as "hands and dove" continued, e.g. in Verrocchio's Baptism of Christ in 1472. In Renaissance paintings of

414-590: A bull dated 18 September 1437, Pope Eugene again pronounced the dissolution of the Council of Basel and summoned the fathers to Ferrara in the Po Valley . The first public session at Ferrara began on 10 January 1438. Its first act declared the Council of Basel transferred to Ferrara and nullified all further proceedings at Basel. In the second public session (15 February 1438), Pope Eugene IV excommunicated all who continued to assemble at Basel. In early April 1438,

552-400: A compromise; but as time went on, the fathers became more and more intractable, and between him and them gradually arose an impassable barrier. Abandoned by a number of his cardinals , condemned by most of the powers, deprived of his dominions by condottieri who shamelessly invoked the authority of the council, the pope made concession after concession and ended on 15 December 1433 with

690-468: A cornerstone of modern Christian understandings of God—however, some Christian denominations hold nontrinitarian views about God . Christians, in common with Jews and Muslims , identify with the biblical patriarch Abraham to whom God revealed himself. It is believed that Abraham was the first to affirm monotheism (the belief in one God) and had an ideal relationship with God. The Abrahamic religions believe that God continuously interacted with

828-438: A different logical dynamic which from such attributes as infinite goodness since there are relative forms of the latter but not of the former. In Christian theology, the name of God has always held deeper significance than purely being a label, considered instead to have divine origin and be based upon divine revelation. The Bible usually uses the name of God in the singular (e.g., Exodus 20:7 or Psalms 8:1), generally using

966-574: A formal doctrine of the Trinity as such, "it does repeatedly speak of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit... in such a way as to compel a Trinitarian understanding of God". Around 200 AD, Tertullian formulated a version of the doctrine of the Trinity which clearly affirmed the divinity of Jesus. This concept was later expanded upon at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, and

1104-688: A high of 135 in February 2001 and again in October 2003. Three of Pope Benedict XVI 's five consistories resulted in more than 120 cardinal electors, the high being 125 in 2012. Pope Francis has exceeded the limit in all nine of his consistories , reaching as high as 137 in September 2023. Other changes to the college in the 20th century affected specific orders. The 1917 Code of Canon Law decreed that from then on only those who were priests or bishops could be chosen as cardinals, thus officially closing

1242-478: A later definitive form was produced by the Ecumenical Council of 381 . The Trinitarian doctrine holds that God the Son, God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit are all different hypostases (Persons) of one substance, and is not traditionally held to be one of tritheism . Trinitarianism was subsequently adopted as the official theological doctrine through Nicene Christianity thereafter, and forms

1380-411: A military loss which he attributed to the undue veneration of icons. The edict (which was issued without consulting the church) forbade the veneration of religious images, but did not apply to other forms of art, including the image of the emperor, or religious symbols such as the cross. Theological arguments against icons then began to appear with iconoclasts arguing that icons could not represent both

1518-737: A misunderstanding between them which soon led to a rupture. The Byzantine emperor John VIII Palaiologos , pressed hard by the Ottoman Turks , was keen to ally himself with the Catholics. He consented to come with the principal representatives of the Byzantine Church to some place in the West where the union could be concluded in the presence of the pope and of the Latin council. There arose a double negotiation between him and Eugene IV on

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1656-408: A number of references to the Holy Spirit, with the theme which appears in 1 Thessalonians 4:8 – "...God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit" – appearing throughout his epistles. In John 14:26, Jesus also refers to "the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name". By the end of the 1st century, Clement of Rome had repeatedly referred to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and linked

1794-763: A peace with the Calixtine faction of the Hussites in January 1433. Pope Eugene acknowledged the council in May and crowned Sigismund Holy Roman Emperor on 31 May 1433. The divided Hussites were defeated in May 1434. In June 1434, the pope had to flee a revolt in Rome and began a ten-year exile in Florence . In 1438, Pope Eugene convened a new council at Ferrara , which however was transferred to Florence in 1439 because of

1932-486: A pitiable surrender of all the points at issue in a papal bull , the terms of which were dictated by the fathers of Basel, that is, by declaring his bull of dissolution null and void and recognising that the synod as legitimately assembled throughout. However, Eugene IV did not ratify all the decrees coming from Basel, nor make a definite submission to the supremacy of the council. He declined to express any forced pronouncement on this subject, and his enforced silence concealed

2070-600: A relatively rare phenomenon. Between 1791 and 2018, only one was removed from the college – Étienne Charles de Loménie de Brienne in 1791 – and five resigned: Tommaso Antici in 1798, Marino Carafa di Belevedere in 1807, Carlo Odescalchi in 1838, Louis Billot in 1927, and Theodore Edgar McCarrick in 2018. For the Middle Ages , sources concerning the size of the College of Cardinals are most frequently those relating to papal elections and conclaves . A function of

2208-519: A series of intellectual attributes: knowledge-omniscience ; wisdom ; veracity and then, the moral attributes of goodness (including love, grace, mercy and patience); holiness and righteousness before dealing finally with his sovereignty . Gregory of Nyssa was one of the first theologians to argue, in opposition to Origen , that God is infinite . His main argument for the infinity of God, which can be found in Against Eunomius ,

2346-578: A similar tall full-length symbol for the Father. The Rohan Book of Hours of about 1430 also included depictions of God the Father in half-length human form, which were now becoming standard, and the Hand of God becoming rarer. At the same period other works, like the large Genesis altarpiece by the Hamburg painter Meister Bertram , continued to use the old depiction of Christ as Logos in Genesis scenes. In

2484-521: A whole human figure. In many images, the figure of the Son supplants the Father, so a smaller portion of the person of the Father is depicted. By the 12th century depictions of God the Father had started to appear in French illuminated manuscripts , which as a less public form could often be more adventurous in their iconography, and in stained glass church windows in England. Initially the head or bust

2622-493: Is created a cardinal would no longer be assigned a titular church in Rome, but maintain his see and join the order of cardinal bishops, the rank previously reserved to the six cardinals assigned to the suburbicarian dioceses . He also required that the suburbicarian bishops elect one of themselves as the Dean and Vice-Dean of the college, instead of allowing them to select any member of the college. In June 2018, Pope Francis eased

2760-605: Is derived from the Latin cardō , meaning "hinge". The office of cardinal as it is known today slowly evolved during the first millennium from the clergy of Rome. "The first time that the term cardinal appears in the Liber Pontificalis is in the biography of Pope Stephen III when in the Roman Synod of 769, it was decided that the Roman pontiff should be elected from among the deacons and cardinal priests." In 845

2898-503: Is no formal distinction in the Confession, Reformed authors have interpreted in it a specifically Reformed distinction between incommunicable and communicable attributes; the former being those which have no unqualified analogy in created things (e.g., simplicity and eternity), the latter being those which have some analogy in some created things such as humans (e.g., wisdom and goodness). The relationship between these two classes

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3036-497: Is not of the substance of the created universe. Traditionally, some theologians such as Louis Berkhof distinguish between the incommunicable and communicable attributes of God. The former are those attributes which have no unqualified analogy in created things (e.g., simplicity and eternity), in other words, attributes that belong to God alone. The latter attributes are those which have some analogy in created things, especially humans (e.g., wisdom and goodness). Thus, following

3174-624: Is often symbolized using a man wearing a papal dress and a papal crown, supporting the dead Christ in his arms. They are depicted as floating in heaven with angels who carry the instruments of the Passion . Representations of God the Father and the Trinity were attacked both by Protestants and within Catholicism, by the Jansenist and Baianist movements as well as more orthodox theologians. As with other attacks on Catholic imagery, this had

3312-512: Is one God, Paul's statement (which is likely based on pre-Pauline confessions) includes a number of other significant elements: he distinguishes Christian belief from the Jewish background of the time by referring to Jesus and the Father almost in the same breath, and by conferring on Jesus the title of divine honor "Lord", as well as calling him Christ. In the Book of Acts (Acts 17:24–27), during

3450-485: Is such that the incommunicable attributes qualify all the communicable attributes, thus, God is infinite, eternal and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth, following the classic definition of God in the Westminster Shorter Catechism . Thus, Article 1 is said to begin by enumerating the incommunicable attributes, but from 'almighty' to 'good' enumerates

3588-694: Is that God's goodness is limitless, and as God's goodness is essential , God is also limitless. Many early Christians believed that a number of verses within the Bible, were meant to apply not only to God, but to all attempts aiming to depict God. However, early Christian art, such as that of the Dura Europos church , displays the Hand of God , a theological symbol representing the right hand of God, and Christ himself, along with many saints, are depicted. The Dura Europos synagogue nearby has numerous instances of

3726-509: Is that insofar as God the Father or the Spirit did not become man, visible and tangible images and portrait icons would be inaccurate, and that what was true for the whole Trinity before Christ remains true for the Father and the Spirit, but not for the Word. John of Damascus wrote: If we attempt to make an image of the invisible God, this would be sinful indeed. It is impossible to portray one who

3864-404: Is the eternal , supreme being who created and preserves all things. Christians believe in a monotheistic conception of God , which is both transcendent (wholly independent of, and removed from, the material universe) and immanent (involved in the material universe). Christians believe in a singular God that exists in a Trinity , which consists of three Persons: God the Father , God

4002-600: Is without body: invisible, uncircumscribed and without form. Around 790, Charlemagne ordered a set of four books that became known as the Libri Carolini ("Charles' books") to refute what his court understood to be the iconodule decrees of the Byzantine Second Council of Nicaea regarding sacred images. Although not well known during the Middle Ages, these books describe the key elements of

4140-501: The Apostle Paul 's statement in 1 Corinthians 8:5–6, written c.  AD 53–54 , about twenty years after the crucifixion of Jesus , and 12–21 years before the earliest of the canonical gospels was written: ...for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. Apart from asserting that there

4278-491: The Areopagus sermon given by Paul, he further characterizes the early Christian understanding: The God that made the world and all things therein, he, being Lord of heaven and earth Paul also reflects on the relationship between God and Christians: ...that they should seek God, if haply they might feel after him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us for in him we live. The Pauline epistles also include

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4416-579: The Byzantine ambassadors who were in attendance at Basel to Italy. Some Council members rejected the papal decree and remained at Basel: this rump Council suspended Eugene, declared him a heretic , and then in November 1439 elected an antipope , Felix V . After becoming the Council of Florence (having moved to avoid the plague in Ferrara), the Council concluded in 1445 after negotiating union with

4554-453: The Council of Meaux–Paris "required Bishops to establish Cardinal titles or parishes in their towns and outlining districts". At the same time, the popes began referring to the cardinal priests of Rome to serve as legates and delegates within Rome at ceremonies, synods, councils, etc., as well as abroad on diplomatic missions and councils. Those who were assigned to the latter roles were given

4692-723: The Eastern Orthodox Church . This bridging of the Great Schism proved fleeting, but was a political coup for the papacy. In 1447, Sigismund's successor Frederick III commanded the city of Basel to expel the Council of Basel; the rump Council reconvened in Lausanne before dissolving itself in 1449. The initial location in the Prince-Bishopric of Basel reflected the desire among parties seeking reform to meet outside territories directly controlled by

4830-849: The Hebrew Bible aloud, Jews replace the Tetragrammaton with the title Adonai , translated as Kyrios in the Septuagint and the Greek New Testament. Jah (or Yah ) is an abbreviation of Jahweh/Yahweh/Jehovah. It is often used by Christians in the interjection " Hallelujah ", meaning "Praise Jah", which is used to give God glory. In the New Testament, Theos and Pater ( πατήρ , "father" in Greek ) are additional words used to reference God. Respect for

4968-644: The Orthodox Church of the Byzantine East, scheduled to be held there with a view to ecumenical union (18 December 1431). That order led to an outcry among the fathers and incurred the deep disapproval of the legate Cesarini. They argued that the Hussites would think the Church afraid to face them and that the laity would accuse the clergy of shirking reform, both with disastrous effects. The pope explained his reasons and yielded certain points, but

5106-606: The Pauline epistles and the early Christian creeds , which proclaimed one God and the divinity of Jesus . Although some early sects of Christianity, such as the Jewish-Christian Ebionites , protested against the deification of Jesus, the concept of Jesus being one with God was accepted by the majority of Gentile Christians . This formed one aspect of the split of early Christianity and Judaism , as Gentile Christian views of God began to diverge from

5244-514: The Pope , the Emperor or the kings of Aragon and France , whose influences the council hoped to avoid. Ambrogio Traversari attended the Council of Basel as legate of Pope Eugene IV . Under pressure for ecclesiastical reform, Pope Martin V sanctioned a decree of the Council of Constance (9 October 1417) obliging the papacy to summon general councils periodically. At the expiration of

5382-477: The Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges , which became law on 13 July 1438) the benefit of a great number of the reforms decreed at Basel; England and Italy remained faithful to Eugene IV. Finally, in 1447, Frederick III , Holy Roman Emperor , after negotiations with Eugene, commanded the burgomaster of Basel not to allow the presence of the council any longer in the imperial city. In June 1448 the rump of

5520-516: The 13th century, Thomas Aquinas focused on a shorter list of just eight attributes, namely simplicity , perfection , goodness , incomprehensibility , omnipresence , immutability , eternity and oneness . Other formulations include the 1251 list of the Fourth Lateran Council , which was then adopted at Vatican I in 1870 and the Westminster Shorter Catechism in the 17th century. Two attributes of God that place him above

5658-756: The 14th century the Naples Bible carried a depiction of God the Father in the Burning bush . By the early 15th century, the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry has a considerable number of symbols, including an elderly but tall and elegant full-length figure walking in the Garden of Eden , which show a considerable diversity of apparent ages and dress. The "Gates of Paradise" of the Florence Baptistry by Lorenzo Ghiberti , begun in 1425 use

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5796-498: The 15th century there was a brief fashion for depicting all three persons of the Trinity as similar or identical figures with the usual appearance of Christ . In an early Venetian school Coronation of the Virgin by Giovanni d'Alemagna and Antonio Vivarini , (c. 1443) The Father is depicted using the symbol consistently used by other artists later, namely a patriarch, with benign, yet powerful countenance and with long white hair and

5934-555: The 3rd century. The period from the late 2nd century to the beginning of the 4th century (approximately 180–313) is generally called the "epoch of the Great Church " and also the Ante-Nicene Period , and witnessed significant theological development, and the consolidation and formalization of a number of Christian teachings. From the 2nd century onward, western creeds started with an affirmation of belief in "God

6072-564: The 400 and more members, and general congregations were held either in the cathedral or in its chapter house. The clerks of ceremonies were Enea Silvio Piccolomini and Michel Brunout. Sigismund , King of Hungary and titular King of Bohemia, had been defeated at the Battle of Domažlice in the fifth crusade against the Hussites in August 1431. Under his sponsorship, the Council negotiated

6210-708: The Bible (e.g., the Lord's Prayer , stating that the Father is in Heaven ), others based on theological reasoning. The " Kingdom of God " is a prominent phrase in the Synoptic Gospels , and while there is near unanimous agreement among scholars that it represents a key element of the teachings of Jesus , there is little scholarly agreement on its exact interpretation. Although the New Testament does not have

6348-640: The Bishop of Rome over the whole Church, including the national Churches of the East (Serbian, Byzantine, Moldo-Wallachian, Bulgarian, Russian, Georgian, Armenian etc.), and nonreligious matters such as the promise of military assistance against the Ottoman Empire . On 6 July 1439 the union was proclaimed (in both Latin and Greek) in the document Laetentur Caeli ("Let the Heavens Rejoice") which

6486-760: The Byzantine contingent, over 700 strong, arrived at Ferrara. On 9 April 1438, the first solemn session at Ferrara began, with the Eastern Roman Emperor, the Patriarch of Constantinople and representatives of the Patriarchal Sees of Antioch , Alexandria and Jerusalem in attendance and Pope Eugene IV presiding. The early sessions lasted until 17 July 1438 with each theological issue of the East–West Schism (1054) hotly debated, including

6624-404: The Catholic theological position on sacred images. To the Western Church , images were just objects made by craftsmen, to be utilized for stimulating the senses of the faithful, and to be respected for the sake of the subject represented, not in themselves. The Council of Constantinople (869) (considered ecumenical by the Western Church, but not the Eastern Church ) reaffirmed the decisions of

6762-542: The Council made steady progress on a compromise formula, "ex filio" . In the following months, agreement was reached on the Western doctrine of Purgatory and a return to the pre-schism prerogatives of the papacy. On 6 July 1439 an agreement ( Laetentur Caeli ) was signed by all the Eastern bishops but one, Mark of Ephesus, delegate for the Patriarch of Alexandria, who, contrary to the views of all others, held that Rome continued in both heresy and schism. To complicate matters, Patriarch Joseph II of Constantinople had died

6900-532: The Ethiopians saying "They were black men and dry and very awkward in their bearing. At that time, Rome had delegates from a multitude of nations, from Armenia to Russia , Greece and various parts of north and east Africa . During this time the council of Basel, though nullified at Ferrara and abandoned by Cesarini and most of its members, persisted nonetheless, under the presidency of Cardinal Aleman . Affirming its ecumenical character on 24 January 1438, it suspended Eugene IV. The council went on (in spite of

7038-666: The Father (Almighty)" and the primary reference of this phrase was to "God in his capacity as Father and creator of the universe". This did not exclude either the fact the "eternal father of the universe was also the Father of Jesus the Christ" or that he had even "vouchsafed to adopt [the believer] as his son by grace". Eastern creeds (those known to have come from a later date) began with an affirmation of faith in "one God" and almost always expanded this by adding "the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible" or words to that effect. Augustine of Hippo , Thomas Aquinas , and other Christian theologians have described God with

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7176-400: The Father could be symbolized. Prior to the 10th century, no attempt was made to use a human figure to symbolize God the Father in Western art . Yet, Western art eventually required some way to illustrate the presence of the Father, so through successive representations a set of artistic styles for symbolizing the Father using a man gradually emerged around the 10th century. A rationale for

7314-508: The Father is in Heaven, while other attributes are derived from theological reasoning. In the 8th century, John of Damascus listed eighteen attributes for God in his An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith (Book 1, chapter 8). These eighteen attributes were divided into four groups based on time (such as being everlasting), space (such as being boundless), matter or quality and the list continues to be influential to date, partially appearing in some form in various modern formulations. In

7452-408: The Father may hold a globe or book (to symbolize God's knowledge and as a reference to how knowledge is deemed divine). He is behind and above Christ on the Cross in the Throne of Mercy iconography. A dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit may hover above. Various people from different classes of society, e.g. kings, popes or martyrs may be present in the picture. In a Trinitarian pietà , God the Father

7590-403: The Father to creation in 1 Clement 19.2, stating: "let us look steadfastly to the Father and creator of the universe". By the middle of the 2nd century, in Against Heresies , Irenaeus had emphasized (in Book 4, chapter 5) that the Creator is the "one and only God" and the "maker of heaven and earth". These preceded the formal presentation of the concept of Trinity by Tertullian early in

7728-401: The Father, it suggested that icons of Christ were preferred over Old Testament shadows and figures. The beginning of the 8th century witnessed the suppression and destruction of religious icons as the Byzantine iconoclasm (literally, "image struggle" or "war on icons") began. Emperor Leo III (717–741) suppressed the use of icons by imperial edict of the Byzantine Empire, presumably due to

7866-427: The Father. Even supporters of the use of icons in the 8th century, such as John of Damascus , drew a distinction between images of God the Father and those of Christ. In his treatise On the Divine Images , John of Damascus wrote: "In former times, God who is without form or body, could never be depicted. But now when God is seen in the flesh conversing with men, I make an image of the God whom I see". The implication

8004-405: The Hand of God symbol throughout its extensive decorative scheme, and is the only ancient synagogue with an extant decorative scheme. Dating to the mid-3rd century, the symbol was likely adopted into Early Christian art from Jewish art . The Hand of God was common in Late Antique art in both the East and West, and remained the main way of symbolizing the actions or approval of God the Father in

8142-451: The Hussites, and, as representatives of the universal Church, presumed to impose laws upon the sovereign pontiff himself. Eugene IV resolved to resist the Council's claim of supremacy, but he did not dare openly to repudiate the conciliar doctrine considered by many to be the actual foundation of the authority of the popes before the schism . He soon realized the impossibility of treating the fathers of Basel as ordinary rebels , and tried

8280-420: The Latin term ipsum esse , a phrase that translates roughly to "being itself". God's aseity makes the Christian God not "a being" but rather "being itself", and can be explained by phrases such as "that which is with no reliance on anything external for its being" or "the necessary condition for anything to exist at all". As time passed, theologians and philosophers developed more precise understandings of

8418-408: The Patriarch of Constantinople faced opposite a cardinal, and the other high-ranking cardinals and bishops faced the Greek metropolitans. The throne of the pope was set slightly apart and higher. With finances running thin and on the pretext that the plague was spreading in the area, both the Latins and the Byzantines agreed to transfer the council to Florence. Continuing at Florence in January 1439,

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8556-427: The Processions of the Holy Spirit, the Filioque clause in the Nicene Creed , purgatory , and papal primacy . Resuming proceedings on 8 October 1438, the Council focused exclusively on the Filioque matter. Even as it became clear that the Byzantine Church would not consent to the Filioque clause, the Byzantine Emperor continued to press for a reconciliation. Initially, the seating arrangements were meant to feature

8694-407: The Second Council of Nicaea and helped stamp out any remaining coals of iconoclasm. Specifically, its third canon required the image of Christ to have veneration equal with that of a Gospel book: We decree that the sacred image of our Lord Jesus Christ, the liberator and Savior of all people, must be venerated with the same honor as is given the book of the holy Gospels. For as through the language of

8832-449: The Son , and God the Holy Spirit . Christian teachings on the transcendence, immanence, and involvement of God in the world and his love for humanity exclude the belief that God is of the same substance as the created universe (rejection of pantheism ) but accept that God the Son assumed hypostatically united human nature, thus becoming man in a unique event known as "the Incarnation ". Early Christian views of God were expressed in

8970-434: The West until the end of the Romanesque period . In art depicting specific Biblical scenes, such as the Baptism of Jesus , where a specific representation of God the Father was indicated, the Hand of God was used increasingly from the Carolingian period until the end of the Romanesque . The use of religious images in general continued to increase up to the end of the 7th century, to the point that in 695, upon assuming

9108-451: The adoration of the Trinity, God may be depicted in two ways, either with emphasis on The Father, or the three elements of the Trinity. The most usual depiction of the Trinity in Renaissance art depicts God the Father using an old man, usually with a long beard and patriarchal in appearance, sometimes with a triangular halo (as a reference to the Trinity), or with a papal crown , specially in Northern Renaissance painting. In these depictions,

9246-420: The age limit, which was set for the first time in 1970 by Pope Paul VI at 80. The college has no ruling power except during the sede vacante (papal vacancy) period, and even then its powers are extremely limited by the terms of the current law, which is laid down in the Apostolic constitution Universi Dominici gregis (1996) and the Fundamental Law of Vatican City State . Historically, cardinals were

9384-440: The age of 80 before the day the see becomes vacant are not eligible to vote. Canon law sets the general qualifications for a man to be appointed bishop quite broadly, requiring someone of faith and good reputation, at least thirty-five years old and with a certain level of education and five years' experience as a priest. The cardinals have nevertheless consistently elected the Bishop of Rome from among their own membership since

9522-470: The beginning of the 12th century, the College of Cardinals started to meet as such, when the cardinal bishops, cardinal priests and cardinal deacons ceased acting as separate groups. In the Catholic church, the Dean of the College of Cardinals and the Cardinal Vice-Dean are the president and vice-president of the college. Both are elected by and from the cardinal bishops (cardinals of the highest order, including those holding suburbicarian dioceses ), but

9660-421: The classes were permitted to take part in papal elections; up to this point, only cardinal-bishops had this role. From the 13th to 15th centuries, the size of the College of Cardinals never exceeded thirty, although there were more than thirty parishes and diaconal districts which could potentially have a titular holder; Pope John XXII (1316–1334) formalized this norm by limiting the college to twenty members. In

9798-457: The classic definition of God in the Presbyterian Westminster Shorter Catechism , God is infinite, eternal and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. That is, God possesses the communicable attributes to in an incommunicable manner. For example, he is wise, but infinite in his wisdom. Some such as Donald Macleod hold that all the suggested classifications are artificial and without basis. Although there

9936-488: The clergy serving parishes of the city of Rome under its bishop , the pope. The college acquired particular importance following the crowning of Henry IV as King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor at the age of six, after the unexpected death of Henry III in 1056. Until then, the Holy See was often bitterly fought for among Rome's aristocratic families and external secular authorities had significant influence over who

10074-484: The college is to advise the pope about church matters when he summons them to an ordinary consistory , a term derived from the Roman Emperor 's crown council. It also attends various functions as a matter of protocol, for example, during the canonization process. It also convenes on the death or resignation of a pope as a papal conclave to elect a successor, but is then restricted to eligible Cardinals under

10212-483: The communicable attributes. There is a general agreement among theologians that it would be a mistake to conceive of the essence of God existing by itself and independently of the attributes or of the attributes being an additional characteristic of the Divine Being. They are essential qualities which exist permanently in his very Being and are co-existent with it. Any alteration in them would imply an alteration in

10350-619: The constitution of the Sacred College. The fathers continued to devote themselves to the subjugation of the Hussites, and they also intervened, in rivalry with the pope, in the negotiations between France and England , which led to the treaty of Arras , concluded by Charles VII of France with the duke of Burgundy . Also, circumcision was deemed to be a mortal sin. Finally, they investigated and judged numbers of private cases, lawsuits between prelates, members of religious orders and holders of benefices, thus themselves committing one of

10488-401: The council migrated to Lausanne . The antipope, at the insistence of France, ended by abdicating (7 April 1449). Eugene IV died on 23 February 1447, and the council at Lausanne, to save appearances, gave their support to his successor, Pope Nicholas V , who had already been governing the Church for two years. Trustworthy evidence, they said, proved to them that this pontiff accepted the dogma of

10626-549: The danger of plague at Ferrara and because Florence had agreed, against future payment, to finance the Council. Most of the original Council moved from Basel to Ferrara in 1438. Some remained at Basel, still claiming to be the Council. They elected Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy , as Pope Felix V. He is considered an antipope , and was the only claimant to the papal throne who ever took the Basel oath. Driven out of Basel in 1448, they moved to Lausanne . In 1449, Felix V resigned and

10764-688: The death of Pope Urban VI (the last non-cardinal to become pope) in 1389. The conclave rules specify the procedures to be followed should they elect someone residing outside Vatican City or not yet a bishop. Of the 117 cardinals under the age of 80 at the time of Pope Benedict XVI 's resignation, 115 participated in the conclave of March 2013 that elected Pope Francis to succeed him. The two who did not participate were Julius Riyadi Darmaatmadja (for health reasons) and Keith O'Brien (following allegations of sexual misconduct). God in Christianity In Christianity , God

10902-494: The descendants of Abraham over millennia; both Christians and Jews believe that this covenant is recorded in the Hebrew Bible , which most Christian denominations consider to be (and refer to as) the Old Testament . In the traditional interpretations of Christianity, God is always referred to with masculine grammatical articles only. Early Christian views of God (before the gospels were written) are reflected in

11040-466: The difficulties of all kinds against which Eugene had to contend, such as the insurrection at Rome , which forced him to escape by means of the Tiber , lying in the bottom of a boat, left him at first little chance of resisting the enterprises of the council. Emboldened by their success, the fathers approached the subject of reform, their principal object being to further curtail the power and resources of

11178-443: The divine and the human natures of Jesus at the same time. In this atmosphere, no public depictions of God the Father were even attempted and such depictions only began to appear two centuries later. The Second Council of Nicaea in 787 effectively ended the first period of Byzantine iconoclasm and restored the honouring of icons and holy images in general. However, this did not immediately translate into large scale depictions of God

11316-434: The effect both of reducing church support for the less central depictions, and strengthening it for the core ones. In the Catholic Church , the pressure to restrain religious imagery resulted in the highly influential decrees of the final session of the Council of Trent in 1563. The Council of Trent decrees confirmed the traditional Catholic doctrine that images only represented the person depicted, and that veneration to them

11454-733: The election requires papal confirmation. Except for presiding and delegating administrative tasks, they have no authority over the cardinals, acting as primus inter pares (first among equals). The Secretary of Roman Curia , the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church , the Vicar General of Rome , and the Patriarchs of Venice and Lisbon , are usually cardinals, with few, usually temporary, exceptions. The Fundamental Law of Vatican City State requires that appointees to

11592-683: The emergence of the College of Cardinals in the Early Middle Ages , the size of the body has historically been limited by popes , ecumenical councils ratified by the pope, and even the college itself. The total number of cardinals from 1099 to 1986 has been about 2,900 (excluding possible undocumented 12th-century cardinals and pseudocardinals appointed during the Western Schism by pontiffs now considered to be antipopes , and subject to some other sources of uncertainty), nearly half of whom were created after 1655. The word cardinal

11730-415: The ensuing century, increasing the size of the college became a method for the pope to raise funds for construction or war, cultivate European alliances, and dilute the strength of the college as a spiritual and political counterweight to papal supremacy. The conclave capitulation of the 1352 papal conclave limited the size of the college to twenty, and decreed that no new cardinals could be created until

11868-445: The entire Church, and the father and teacher of all Christians; and that full power was given to him in blessed Peter by our Lord Jesus Christ, to feed, rule, and govern the universal Church." Eugene IV, however much he may have wished to keep on good terms with the fathers of Basel, found himself neither able nor willing to accept or observe all their decrees. The question of the union with the Byzantine church, especially, gave rise to

12006-530: The entire system of "divine truth" revealed to the faithful "that believe in his name" or "walk in the name of the Lord our God" In Revelation 3:12, those who bear the name of God are "destined for Heaven". John 17:6 presents the teachings of Jesus as the manifestation of the name of God to his disciples. John 12:27 presents the sacrifice of Jesus the Lamb of God , and the ensuing salvation delivered through it as

12144-612: The essential being of God. Hick suggests that when listing the attributes of God, the starting point should be his self-existence ("aseity") which implies his eternal and unconditioned nature. Hick goes on to consider the following additional attributes: Creator being the source of all that composes his creation ( "creatio ex nihilo" ) and the sustainer of what he has brought into being; personal ; loving, good ; and holy . Berkhof also starts with self-existence but moves on to immutability ; infinity , which implies perfection eternity and omnipresence ; unity . He then analyses

12282-753: The fall of the Byzantine Empire to the Turkish Ottoman Empire two decades later). Facing the imminent threat, the Union was officially proclaimed by Isidore of Kiev in Hagia Sophia on 12 December 1452. The Emperor, bishops, and people of Constantinople accepted this act as a temporary provision until the removal of the Ottoman threat. Yet, it was too late: on 29 May 1453 Constantinople fell . The union signed at Florence, down to

12420-476: The fathers came late to Basel. Cesarini devoted all his energies to the war against the Hussites until the disaster of Taus forced him to evacuate Bohemia in haste. Pope Eugene IV , Martin V's successor, lost hope that the council could be useful owing to the progress of heresy , the reported troubles in Germany , the war that had lately broken out between the dukes of Austria and Burgundy , and finally,

12558-442: The fathers were intransigent. Considerable powers had been decreed to Church councils by the Council of Constance , which amid the troubles of the Western Schism had proclaimed the superiority, in certain cases, of the council over the pope, and the fathers at Basel insisted upon their right of remaining assembled. They held sessions, promulgated decrees, interfered in the government of the papal countship of Venaissin , treated with

12696-419: The first term fixed by this decree, Pope Martin V complied by calling a council at Pavia . Due to an epidemic the location transferred almost at once to Siena (see Council of Siena ) and disbanded, in circumstances still imperfectly known, just as it had begun to discuss the subject of reform (1424). The next council fell due at the expiration of seven years in 1431; Martin V duly convoked it for this date to

12834-488: The fourth with what they called "common concerns" ( pro communibus ). Every decision made by three "deputations" (the lower clergy formed the majority in each) received ratification for the sake of form in general congregation and, if necessary led to decrees promulgated in session. Papal critics thus termed the council "an assembly of copyists" or even "a set of grooms and scullions". However, some prelates, although absent, were represented by their proxies. Nicholas of Cusa

12972-465: The glorification of the name of God, with the voice from Heaven confirming Jesus' petition ("Father, glorify thy name") by saying: "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again", referring to the Baptism and crucifixion of Jesus . The theological underpinnings of the attributes and nature of God have been discussed since the earliest days of Christianity. In the 2nd century, Irenaeus addressed

13110-416: The historical period in which some cardinals could be clergy who had only received first tonsure and minor order , or the major orders of deacon and subdeacon without a further ordination to the priesthood. In 1961 Pope John XXIII reserved to the pope the right to assign any member of college to one of the suburbicarian sees and the rank of cardinal bishop. Previously only the senior cardinal priest and

13248-575: The intervention of most of the powers) to pronounce Eugene IV deposed (25 June 1439), giving rise to a new schism by electing (4 November 1439) duke Amadeus VIII of Savoy , as (anti)pope, who took the name of Felix V. This schism lasted fully ten years, although the antipope found few adherents outside of his own hereditary states, those of Alfonso V of Aragon , of the Swiss confederation and of certain universities. Germany remained neutral; Charles VII of France confined himself to securing to his kingdom (by

13386-410: The issue and expounded on some attributes; for example, Book IV, chapter 19 of Against Heresies states: "His greatness lacks nothing, but contains all things". Irenaeus based his attributes on three sources: Scripture, prevailing mysticism and popular piety. Today, some of the attributes associated with God continue to be based on statements in the Bible, such as the Lord's Prayer , which states that

13524-463: The local churches. Thus the council abolished annates , greatly limited the abuse of "reservation" of the patronage of benefices by the Pope and completely abolished the right claimed by the pope of "next presentation" to benefices not yet vacant (known as gratiae expectativae ). Other conciliar decrees severely limited the jurisdiction of the court of Rome and even made rules for the election of popes and

13662-477: The lower orders a majority over the bishops. It adopted an anti-papal attitude, proclaimed the superiority of the Council over the Pope, and prescribed an oath to be taken by each new Pope. On 18 December Martin's successor, Pope Eugene IV , tried to dissolve it and open a new council on Italian soil at Bologna, but he was overruled. The council was held in the Cathedral of Basel, where benches were placed for

13800-555: The name of God is one of the Ten Commandments , which is viewed not only as an avoidance of the improper use of the name of God, but also a commandment to exalt it, through both pious deeds and praise. This is reflected in the first petition in the Lord's Prayer addressed to God the Father : "Hallowed be thy Name". In the theology of the Early Church Fathers , the name of God was seen as representative of

13938-399: The nature of God and began to produce systematic lists of his attributes. These varied in detail, but traditionally the attributes fell into two groups: those based on negation (that God is impassible) and those positively based on eminence (that God is infinitely good). Ian Ramsey suggested that there are three groups, and that some attributes, such as simplicity and perfection , have

14076-406: The number of cardinal electors to its full complement of 120. All of Paul's successors have at times exceeded the 120 maximum (except for Pope John Paul I , who did not hold any consistory during his very short pontificate). Pope John Paul II reiterated the 120 maximum in 1996, yet his appointments to the college resulted in more than 120 cardinal electors on 4 of his nine consistories , reaching

14214-500: The number of cardinals several times to 88 in January 1961 and Pope Paul VI continued this expansion, reaching 134 at his third consistory in April 1969. The total size of the college lost its significance when Paul VI decided to allow only cardinals under the age of 80 to vote in a conclave from 1971 onward. Then, in 1975, Paul set the maximum number of those under 80, the cardinal electors, at 120. His next consistory in 1976 brought

14352-537: The one hand and the fathers of Basel on the other. The council wished to fix the meeting-place at a place remote from the influence of the pope, and they persisted in suggesting Basel, Avignon or Savoy . On the other hand, the Byzantines wanted a coastal location in Italy for their ease of access by ship. As a result of negotiations with the East, Emperor John VIII Palaiologos accepted Pope Eugene IV 's offer. By

14490-542: The original seven ordained in Acts 6, followed by the cardinal-priests, and finally, the cardinal-bishops. The college played an integral part in various reforms within the Church as well, as early as the pontificate of Pope Leo IX (1050). In the 12th century, the Third Lateran Council declared that only Cardinals could assume the papacy, a requirement that has since lapsed. In 1130, under Innocent II , all

14628-458: The papacy. They took decisions on the disciplinary measures that regulated the elections , on the celebration of divine service and on the periodical holding of diocesan synods and provincial councils, which were usual topics in Catholic councils. They also made decrees aimed at some of the assumed rights by which the popes had extended their power and improved their finances at the expense of

14766-624: The pope in the middle with the Latins on one side and Greeks on the other, but the Greeks protested. It was decided to have the altar with the open Bible in the center of the one end of the chamber, and the two high ranking delegations facing each other on the sides of the altar, while the rest of the delegations were below further in chamber. The Byzantine Emperor's throne was opposite that of the Holy Roman Emperor (who never attended), while

14904-428: The prelates in it, and the influence of the superior clergy had less weight because instead of being separated into " nations ", as at Constance, the fathers divided themselves according to their tastes or aptitudes into four large committees or "deputations" ( deputationes ). One was concerned with questions of faith ( fidei ), another with negotiations for peace ( pacis ), the third with reform ( reformatorii ), and

15042-695: The present, has not been implemented by the Orthodox Churches. The Council soon became even more international. The signature of this agreement for the union of the Latins and the Byzantines encouraged Pope Eugenius to announce the good news to the Coptic Christians, and invite them to send a delegation to Florence. He wrote a letter on 7 July 1439, and to deliver it, sent Alberto da Sarteano as an apostolic delegate. On 26 August 1441, Sarteano returned with four Ethiopians from Emperor Zara Yaqob and Copts. A contemporary observer described

15180-603: The previous month. The Byzantine Patriarchs were unable to assert that ratification by the Eastern Church could be achieved without a clear agreement of the whole Church. Upon their return, the Eastern bishops found their attempts toward agreement with the West broadly rejected by the monks, the populace, and by civil authorities (with the notable exception of the Emperors of the East who remained committed to union until

15318-586: The rules governing the rank of cardinal bishop to open that rank to anyone of the pope's choosing, granting such cardinals the same privileges as those assigned suburbicarian sees. Pope Francis adjusted the rules regarding the Dean in December 2019, so they now serve for a term of five years which can be renewed by the Pope. No change was made regarding the Vice-Dean. The resignation or removal of members has been

15456-576: The rump Council formally closed. The Council had meanwhile successfully negotiated reunification with several Eastern Churches , reaching agreements on such matters as the Western insertion of the phrase " Filioque " to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed , the definition and number of the sacraments, and the doctrine of Purgatory . Another key issue was papal primacy, which involved the universal and supreme jurisdiction of

15594-407: The secret design of safeguarding the principle of sovereignty . The fathers, filled with suspicion, would allow only the legates of the pope to preside over them on condition of their recognizing the superiority of the council. The legates submitted the humiliating formality but in their own names, it was asserted only after the fact, thus reserving the final judgment of the Holy See . Furthermore,

15732-421: The senior cardinal deacon had the privilege of requesting such an appointment ( jus optionis ) when a vacancy occurred. In 1962 he established that all cardinals should be bishops, ending the identification of the order of cardinal deacon with cardinals who were not bishops. He consecrated the twelve non-bishop members of the college himself. In February 1965, Pope Paul VI decided that an Eastern Rite Patriarch who

15870-521: The serious abuses for which they had criticized the court of Rome. The Council clarified the Latin dogma of papal primacy : "We likewise define that the holy Apostolic See, and the Roman Pontiff, hold the primacy throughout the entire world; and that the Roman Pontiff himself is the successor of blessed Peter, the chief of the Apostles, and the true vicar of Christ, and that he is the head of

16008-440: The size and quality of the college to his legates to the Council of Trent , and some French attendees advocated a limit of 24, that council did not prescribe a limit to the size of the college. By the papacy of Sixtus V (1585–1590), the number was set at seventy on 3 December 1586, divided among fourteen cardinal-deacons, fifty cardinal-priests, and six cardinal-bishops. Popes respected that limit until Pope John XXIII increased

16146-622: The size of the college had dropped to 16; however, Pope Innocent VI declared the capitulation invalid the following year. By the end of the 14th century, the practice of having solely Italian cardinals had ceased. Between the 14th and 17th centuries, there was much struggle for the college between the cardinals and the reigning popes. Although some popes increased the number of cardinals in order to guarantee allies, Pope Benedict XII often refused to do so and created six new cardinals on only one occasion, in 1338. The Council of Basel (1431–1437, later transferred to Ferrara and then Florence) limited

16284-493: The size of the college to 24, as did the capitulation of the 1464 papal conclave . The capitulations of the 1484 ( Pope Innocent VIII ) and 1513 ( Pope Leo X ) conclaves contained the same restriction. The capitulation of the 1492 papal conclave also contained a restriction on the creation of new cardinals. The Fifth Council of the Lateran (1512–1517), despite its detailed regulation of the lives of cardinals, did not consider

16422-400: The size of the college. In 1517 Pope Leo X added another thirty-one cardinals, bringing the total to sixty-five so that he could have a supportive majority in the College of Cardinals. Paul IV brought the total to seventy. His immediate successor, Pope Pius IV (1559–1565), raised the limit to seventy-six. Although Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor sought a limit of 26 and complained about

16560-462: The small number of fathers who had responded to the summons of Martin V. That opinion and his desire to preside over the council in person, induced him to recall the fathers from Germany, as his poor health made it difficult for him to go. He commanded the council to disperse, and appointed Bologna as their meeting place in eighteen months' time, with the intention of making the session of the council coincide with some conferences with representatives of

16698-485: The state's legislative body , the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State , be cardinals. Under the terms of Pope Paul VI 's 1970 motu proprio Ingravescentem aetatem , cardinals who reached the age of 80 before a conclave opened had no vote in papal elections. Pope John Paul II 's Universi Dominici gregis of 22 February 1996 modified that rule slightly, so that cardinals who have reached

16836-403: The superiority of the council as defined at Constance and at Basel. The struggle for East–West union at Ferrara and Florence, while promising, never bore fruit. While progress toward union in the East continued to be made in the following decades, all hopes for a proximate reconciliation were dashed with the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Perhaps the council's most important historical legacy

16974-419: The terms in a very general sense rather than referring to any special designation of God. However, general references to the name of God may branch to other special forms which express his multifaceted attributes. The Old Testament reveals YHWH (often vocalized with vowels as "Yahweh" or "Jehovah") as the personal name of God, along with certain titles including El Elyon and El Shaddai . When reading

17112-458: The throne, Byzantine emperor Justinian II put an image of Christ on the obverse side of his gold coins, resulting in a rift which ended the use of Byzantine coin types in the Islamic world. However, the increase in religious imagery did not include depictions of God the Father. For instance, while the eighty second canon of the Council of Trullo in 692 did not specifically condemn images of

17250-442: The titles of Legatus a latere (Cardinal Legate) and Missus Specialis (Special Missions). During the pontificate of Stephen V (816–17), the three classes of the college that are present today began to form. Stephen decreed that all cardinal-bishops were bound to sing Mass on rotation at the high altar at St. Peter's Basilica , one per Sunday. The first class to form was that of the cardinal-deacons, direct theological descendants of

17388-444: The town of Basel and selected to preside over it the cardinal Julian Cesarini , a well-respected prelate . Martin himself, however, died before the opening of the synod. The Council was seated on 14 December 1431, at a period when the conciliar movement was strong and the authority of the papacy weak. The Council at Basel opened with only a few bishops and abbots attending, but it grew rapidly and to make its numbers greater gave

17526-473: The traditional Jewish teachings of the time. The theology of the attributes and nature of God has been discussed since the earliest days of Christianity, with Irenaeus writing in the 2nd century: "His greatness lacks nothing, but contains all things". In the 8th century, John of Damascus listed eighteen attributes which remain widely accepted. As time passed, Christian theologians developed systematic lists of these attributes, some based on statements in

17664-520: The union, Mark of Ephesus , who became the leader of opposition back in Byzantium; the Serbian patriarch did not even attend the council. The Russian Orthodox Church , upon learning of the union, angrily rejected it and ousted any prelate who was even remotely sympathetic to it, declaring itself autocephalous (i.e., autonomous). Despite the religious union, Western military assistance to Byzantium

17802-405: The use of a human figure is the belief that God created the soul of Man in the image of his own (thus allowing humanity to transcend the other animals). It appears that when early artists designed to represent God the Father, fear and awe restrained them from a usage of the whole human figure. Typically only a small part would be used as the image, usually the hand, or sometimes the face, but rarely

17940-535: The words contained in this book all can reach salvation, so, due to the action which these images exercise by their colors, all wise and simple alike, can derive profit from them. Images of God the Father were not directly addressed in Constantinople in 869. A list of permitted icons was enumerated at this Council, but symbols of God the Father were not among them. However, the general acceptance of icons and holy images began to create an atmosphere in which God

18078-474: The world, yet acknowledge his involvement in the world, are transcendence and immanence . Transcendence means that God is eternal and infinite, not controlled by the created world and beyond human events. Immanence means that God is involved in the world, and Christian teachings have long acknowledged his attention to human affairs. However, unlike pantheistic religions, in Christianity, God's being

18216-443: Was a member of the delegation sent to Constantinople with the pope's approval to bring back the Byzantine emperor and his representatives to the Council of Florence of 1439. At the time of the council's conclusion in 1439, Cusa was thirty-eight years old and thus, compared to the other clergy at the council, a fairly young man though one of the more accomplished in terms of the body of his complete works. From Italy, France and Germany,

18354-446: Was paid to the person, not the image. The Council also reserved the right of bishops, and in cases of new artistic novelties, the Pope, to suppress images deemed non-canonical or heretical. Council of Florence The Council entered a second phase after Emperor Sigismund 's death in 1437. Pope Eugene IV translated the Council to Ferrara on 8 January 1438, where it became the Council of Ferrara and succeeded in drawing some of

18492-614: Was part of a larger power struggle, which became known as the Investiture Controversy , as the Church and the Emperor each attempted to gain more control over the appointment of bishops, and in doing so wield more influence in the lands and governments they were appointed to. Reserving to the cardinals the election of the pope represented a significant shift in the balance of power in the Early Medieval world. From

18630-581: Was signed by Pope Eugene and by the Byzantine Emperor John VIII Palaiologos . All but one of the bishops were present. Some Greek bishops, perhaps feeling political pressure from the Byzantine Emperor, reluctantly accepted the decrees of the Council. Other Eastern bishops did so by sincere conviction, such as Isidore of Kiev , who subsequently suffered greatly for it. Only one Eastern Bishop refused to accept

18768-484: Was to be appointed pope, and the Holy Roman Emperor in particular had the special power to appoint him. This was significant as the aims and views of the Holy Roman Emperor and the Church did not always coincide. Churchmen involved in what has become known as the Gregorian Reform took advantage of the new king's lack of power and in 1059 reserved the election of the pope to the clergy of the Church in Rome. This

18906-559: Was ultimately insufficient, and the fall of Constantinople occurred in May 1453. The Council declared the Basel group heretics and excommunicated them, and affirmed the superiority of the Pope over the Councils in the bull Etsi non dubitemus of 20 April 1441. The democratic character of the assembly at Basel was a result of both its composition and its organization. Doctors of theology , masters and representatives of chapters, monks and clerks of inferior orders constantly outnumbered

19044-664: Was usually shown in some form of frame of clouds in the top of the picture space, where the Hand of God had formerly appeared; the Baptism of Christ on the famous baptismal font in Liège of Rainer of Huy is an example from 1118 (a Hand of God is used in another scene). Gradually the amount of the human symbol shown can increase to a half-length figure, then a full-length, usually enthroned, as in Giotto 's fresco of c. 1305 in Padua . In

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