what do we mean by the attached word " Cardinal" in the Bishops name? does it pertains to their roles, responsibilities or authority. thanks for taking time to answer my query. god bless!!!

-- Anonymous, November 03, 2001

Answers

Well, none of us are Catholics, so you're asking the wrong people. But I'll take a stab at it: I think it is because their robes are "cardinal" red.

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

I'm no expert on Catholocism either, but it is a little more than robe color the determines a Cardinal,i.e. - the hirarchy position dictates the robe color, not vice-versa.

A Cardinal is higher up the Clergical (?) scale than a Bishop. If you made a flow chart of their hierarchy, it would be something like: Pope (Grand Puba over everything) - High Cardinals (over North America, South America, etc) - Lower Cardinals (New York Diocese, Philadelphia Diocese, etc) - Bishops (Manhattan, Bronx, Lower East side, etc) - and finally the local church Priests.

This I know is a highly simplified version of their hierarchy - but it gets the point across I think.

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

No Catholic here, but...

I would think it is because the very definition of the word 'cardinal' (at least the first definition of it when used as an adjective) is "of foremost importance". Afterall, in the Catholic world cardinals elect the new pope, don't they?

Other uses of the word include: cardinal sins (7 deadly), cardinal virtues (4), cardinal point (N, S, E, W), etc.

-- Anonymous, November 06, 2001

Cardinals are described as "princes of the church", and socially are ranked as equal in importance to temporal princes. Their standard robes are red, although they wear purple on special occasions. The word actually comes from the latin word for hinge, as they were thought to be the hinges on which the church revolved when the rank was first instituted. It's quite a young rank in the church, and has no basis in liturgy as do priests and bishops (literally, bishop means "fisherman": episcopa in Latin.)

Their primary function is to sit as cardinal electors during an interregnum (popeless period) and elect a new pontiff, although cardinal over a certain age are not eligible. At the moment I think that age is 85. This is the primary basis for their importance, as well as the fact that the new pope will be chosen from among their number. (In theory though any baptised Catholic male can be pope if the cardinals vote for him). The voting proceedure itself is very complex and there's no point going into it here. Curial cardinals are the heads of various congregations within the church, which in terms of statehood are equivalent to being ministers and these are very powerful men within the hierarchy.

In a short answer to the question, a Cardinal can be a Cardinal Bishop, or a Cardinal Archbishop, if he holds a bishopric or an archbishopric prior to his elevation. You speak of a bishop or archbishop being "created Cardinal" as opposed to being "made cardinal" by the pope. This simply means that they carry out their duties as before within their See, as pastor to their "flock", and to all intents and purposes nothing changes in their administrative duties. Technically, there are Cardinal Bishops, Cardinal Priests, and Cardinal Deacons within the College of Cardinals (that body comprised of all the cardinals from all over the world) but these are notional ranks and do not mean that one cardinal is more powerful or holy than another. Of course, some ARE more influrntial than others, by virtue of the size and importance of their dioscese or their position within the Curia. For instance men like Ratzinger, who is the head of what was once called the "Holy Inquisition" and was instrumental in the election of the current pope, or Suenens from Belgium who is a highly respected theologian and notably outspoken on many matters, or the Cardinal of a very populous or rich diocese such as New York carry more weight than the Primate of Tonga. (Used to be Cardinal Tufanu'u, not sure who it is now.)

Cardinals are usually addressed as "eminence" or "your eminence" or occasionally "my lord cardinal".

Hope this helps. Not a Catholic, by the way, just an exegete with an interest in the ridiculous way the church is run!

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2002

CORRECTION:

The Latin word episcopus is a "transliteration" of the Greek word episcopos and it does not mean fisherman; it means OVERSEER (from epi which means over or on top of and scopos which seer). The Latin word for fisherman is piscator.

-- Anonymous, January 20, 2002

CORRECTION:

The Latin word episcopus is a "transliteration" of the Greek word episcopos and it does not mean fisherman; it means OVERSEER (from epi which means over or on top of and scopos which means seer). The Latin word for fisherman is piscator.

-- Anonymous, January 20, 2002

No Catholic here......

CARDINAL comes from the Latin word CARDO which means a hinge.

-- Anonymous, January 20, 2002