Princes or servants?

In late February, TV news junkies witnessed a parade of males adorned in red gowns set off by lace overlay and red capes. Mardi Gras in New Orleans? Carnival in Rio?

Good guesses, but no. This spectacle--the elevation of 44 more men to the Sacred College of Cardinals in Vatican City--rivals the pomp of British monarchy and the circumstance of aristocracy. Little wonder members of the College of Cardinals are known as "princes of the church," even though the etymology of the word cardinal, from the Latin cardo, denotes a beam used to fortify a structure. Actually, it was the 1815 Congress of Vienna that extended to cardinals of the church rank and privileges equal to princes of royal birth.

The College of Cardinals had its origins within the Roman local priesthood and included those who pastored the major churches in Rome. Their work, originally liturgical, gradually became administrative. Eventually the cardinals became the exclusive electors of the pope in 1179 when Pope Alexander III issued the document Licit de Vitancla. Currently it's the College of Cardinals minus any member over 80 years of age that elects popes. Ageism?

Pope John Paul II has summoned the entire College of Cardinals to Vatican City for a May 21-24 meeting. The 44 new cardinals, together with the 139 veteran princes of the church, will make up the largest gathering of cardinals in church history. Will this long red line, replete with sartorial ruffles and ecclesial flourishes, once again mirror royal households?

I'm afraid the world little noted nor long remembered some of the pope's thoughts during February's consistory, which pinpointed what the appointment of cardinals is all about. John Thavis of Catholic News Service reported the pope's comment that "the church was not celebrating earthly power but a sense of service and humility." But this sentiment was well-disguised by the princely raiments of the cardinals, the gold ring, and red biretta each received from the pope.

It would seem that service and humility are not well-represented these days by crimson dress and gold rings, not to mention coats of arms and the title Eminence. I would have welcomed it if Pope John Paul II--himself a competent thespian of days gone by--would have exercised his dramatic instincts so that the ceremonial aspects of the College of Cardinals better mirrored his wonderful words.

Might the May 2001 extraordinary consistory, in its demeanor and drama, be an opportunity to dramatically reflect the February papal words of wisdom stressing service and humility? TV news junkies, tune in to find out.

One word of advice, however: Keep your remote control handy. You may need to tone down the sea of regal red tones in front of the See of Peter should this last vestige of aristocracy once again appear unaltered at the altar.

PETER GILMOUR ([e-mail]) teaches at the Institute of Pastoral Studies of Loyola University Chicago.