Cardinal

Cardinal (pronounce kahr-dn-l)

(1) Of prime importance; chief; principal.

(2) A color in the red spectrum.

(3) In the Roman Catholic Church, a high honor; an appointment by the pope to the College of Cardinals, ranking above all but the pope.

(4) In the Church of England, the two minor canons of St Paul's Cathedral, London who held two historic titles (Senior Cardinal and Junior Cardinal), abolished on 1 February 2016.  The only women in Western history to be styled Cardinal have been Church of England minor canons.

(5) A bird, the crested grosbeak, cardinalis cardinalis, of North America, the male of which is bright red (also called cardinal grosbeak).

(6) A woman's short cloak with a hood, originally made of scarlet cloth and popularly worn in the eighteenth century.

(7) In set theory mathematics, cardinal numbers are a generalization of the natural numbers used to measure the cardinality (size) of sets. The cardinality of a finite set is a natural number: the number of elements in the set. The transfinite cardinal numbers describe the sizes of infinite sets.

(8) A fritillary butterfly, pandoriana pandora, found in meadows of southern Europe.

(9) In astrology, of or relating to the signs Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn (the four zodiacal signs marking the equinoxes and the solstices).

(10) A freshwater fish, the cardinal tetra (Paracheirodon axelrodi).

(11) A type of mulled red wine (obsolete).

Pre 1150: From the Middle English from the Old English, from the Old French cardinal, from the Latin cardinālis, the construct being cardin ((stem of cardō) hinge) + ālis (the third-declension two-termination suffix (neuter -āle) used to form adjectives of relationship from nouns or numerals).   Meaning was thus something on which other things depend.  As used by the Roman church as titles for the ecclesiastical princes who constitute the sacred college, it’s short for cardinalis ecclesiae Romanae (episcopus cardinalis, in the original Latin), meaning "principal, chief, essential".  Origin of this is uncertain but meaning (and position in the Roman hierarchy) altered much over the years.  In the tituli (parishes) of the diocese of Rome, as early as the ninth century, the term cardinal was applied to any priest permanently assigned to a church or, specifically, to the senior priest of an important church, the familiar modern understanding (a prince of the church), evolving later in the middle ages.  Related forms are the adverb cardinally, the noun cardinalship and the adjectives inter-cardinal, post-cardinal & sub-cardinal.

The cardinal points (1540s) are north, south, east, west.  The cardinal sins (pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth), dating from circa 1600, are well known and much practiced; they’re referred to also as the seven deadly sins or the capital vices.  The cardinal virtues (circa 1300), divided into the natural (justice, prudence, temperance, fortitude) and the theological (faith, hope, charity), are less known and though much admired, seldom observed.

Ms Cardinal

Cardinal George Pell (1941-2023) does his bit to promote gender DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) in the Holy See.  Cardinal Pell, Pope Benedict XVI (1927–2022; pope 2005-2013, pope emeritus 2013--2022) and Kevin Rudd (b 1957; Australian prime-minister 2007-2010 & 2013), Canberra, Australia, 2008.

It’s been suggested if Pope Francis (b 1936; pope since 2013) would like his pontificate remembered for something rather than nothing in particular, he should appoint a woman cardinal.  She would have to be from the laity; priests would never accept a cardinal-nun, except perhaps one who has taken a vow of silence and these days, they’re hard to find.  Although cardinals have most often been drawn from the priesthood, historically the title has not been limited to those holding ecclesiastical office and there have been a small number of lay-cardinals (non-ordained), the last dying in 1899.  While it’s true the 1917 Code of Canon Law permits only the ordained to be appointed, the papal theocracy is an absolute monarchy and the right pope, if so inspired, could make a woman a cardinal by issuing a motu proprio (literally “on his own impulse”, the law-making mechanism available to absolute monarchs and usually styled a "royal decree").  From the usual suspects, there would be opposition, thus it must be not only the right woman, it would need to the the right pope and a pope certainly has some room to move, the office of cardinal lies exclusively in his gift and he need consult no-one.  

If the thought of outraged theologians sounds a bit tiresome, Francis could appoint a woman and not tell anyone.  That’s because there are secret cardinals or cardinals in pectore ("in the breast" (ie in their hearts)), a medieval invention whereby a pope would appoint a cardinal but not publish his name, an act provided for in canon law as creati et reservati in pectore.  It was a mechanism created to protect the lives of those for whom wider knowledge of their elevation might have put them in harm's way.  An in pectore creation is known only to pope and appointee so, should the pope die before revealing the cardinal in pectore's identity, the person's status as cardinal expires.  The last pope known to have named cardinals in pectore was Saint John Paul II (1920–2005; pope 1978-2005) who created four, including one whose identity was never revealed.  This is the sort of cloak and dagger stuff practiced by the Vatican, the Freemasons and the Secret Society of the Les Clefs d’Or.

In July 2022, in what proved a surprisingly wide-ranging interview with the Reuters news agency, Pope Francis revealed he would be appointing two women to the Dicastery for Bishops, the committee which assists the pontiff in the selection of bishops.  It's a matter thought of some significance because the creation of bishops is a pope's personal prerogative and while under no obligation to following the advice of the dicastery, it seems unlikely he would not take advantage of the symbolism of the committee's afforcement by women by making their influence apparent.  Historically, the Dicastery for Bishops had maintained an all-male membership.

The pope was responding to questions about the place of women in the Vatican establishment; the Praedicate evangelium (an apostolic constitution reforming the Roman Curia, published and promulgated in March 2022) and which dicasteries might in future be entrusted to lay-members of the Church, especially women.  The pope responded by saying he was "...open should an opportunity arise", adding that "...two women will be going to the Congregation of Bishops, on the commission to elect bishops.  In this way, things open up a little bit.”  Too this he added that he sees "in the future" the possibility of lay people being appointed to lead certain Vatican departments such as the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, the Dicastery for Culture and Education, or the Vatican Apostolic Library.  To illustrate how things were opening up, he mentioned the appointment in 2021 of Sister Raffaella Petrini (b 1969) as deputy governor in the Vatican City Governorate, making her the first woman to hold the position and the earlier assumption by Francesca di Giovanni (b 1953) of the office of undersecretary for the multilateral sector in the Secretariat of State's Section for Relations with States and International Organizations, another first.

Other notable appointments by Pope Francis include Sister Nathalie Becquart (b 1969; a French member of the Xaviere Missionary Sisters), as co-under-secretary of the Synod of Bishops (which prepares the big meetings of bishops held every few years) and Sister Alessandra Smerilli (b 1974; of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians), as Undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.  Within the bureaucracy, there have been women in upper-level positions for some time including Barbara Jatta, the first female director of the Vatican Museums, Nataša Govekar (b 1975; Director of the Theological-Pastoral Office of the Dicastery for Communication and Cristiane Murray (b 1962; deputy director of the Holy See’s Press Office, all of whom were appointed by the current pontiff.  Critics did note that except for some "technical" positions, the jobs allocated to women tended to be either at the "deputy" and "assistant" level or in roles that were advisory rather than decision-making but all concede there has been progress and Praedicate evangelium allowing any baptized Catholic, including lay men and women, now to head most Vatican departments.

Not unexpectedly, the Reuters correspondent appears not to have brought up the matter of women being appointed to any clerical office, a matter successive popes have not merely dismissed but banned from being even discussed.  Nor was there any mention of a revival of the idea of lay cardinals, an office in abeyance since 1899 and apparently precluded by the 1917 revisions to Canon Law although, as an absolute sovereign of both Church and state, a pope could issue a motu proprio creating any baptized Catholic a lay-cardinal, man or women.  Subject only to bitchy letters of complaint (a dubia) from outraged bishops and pedantic theologians, what a pope rules actually becomes the law, a convenient arrangement for a head of state and one asserted (without some  success) by Adolf Hitler (1889-1945; head of government (1933-1945) & head of state (1934-1945) in Nazi Germany) and (with less support) by Richard Nixon (1913-1994; US president 1969-1974).

Lindsay Lohan in costume as nun with Smith & Wesson .50 Magnum revolver with 8" barrel (S&W500: SKU 163501) in promotional poster for Machete (2010).  Raised in the Roman Catholic faith, Lindsay Lohan is the ideal candidate to be the Church's first female cardinal.  Indeed, so obvious are her credentials to wear the scarlet a pope may already have appointed her Cardinal in pectore and if so, it was probably renowned Mean Girls (2004) fan Benedict who would have noted similarities between many of the movie's plot lines and the antics of the Curia.

Pell

Pell (pronounced pel)

(1) An animal skin, fur or hide.

(2) A lined cloak or its lining.

(3) A roll of parchment; a record kept on parchment.

(4) As a Sussex dialectical form, a body of water somewhere between a pond and a lake in size.

(5) An upright post, often padded and covered in hide, used to practice strikes with bladed weapons such as swords or glaives.

(6) As Pell Office, a department of the English Exchequer (abolished in 1834).

Mid 1300s: From the Middle English pel (skin, hide), a roll of parchment, from the Anglo-French pell and the Old French pel (skin, hide (which by the thirteenth century it had evolved into peau which endures in Modern French)), from the Latin pellem & pellis (skin, leather, parchment, hide), from the Proto-Italic pelnis, from the primitive Indo-European pel- (skin, hide (also to cover, wrap; skin, hide; cloth)), the source of the modern pelt and distantly related to fell and film.  It was cognate with the Welsh pell (far), from the primitive Indo-European kwel and in Welsh, the plural was pell, the equative pelled, the comparative pellach and the superlative pellaf.  In the modern age, a frequently used derivation is rheolydd pell (remote control).  Pell is a noun, verb & adjective; the noun plural is pells.  The present participle is pelling, the past participle pelled.

Before the internet made memes the preferred transport layer for just about any fragment of information, Ms Gemma Pell would probably have gone through life mostly untroubled by the cross-language phonetic coincidence in her name.  As it was she became a meme.  In French, Je m'appelle (pronounced "gem apell") means literally “I call myself” and translates as "My name is".

And that’s how the troubles started.

Pell-mell (confusedly; in an impetuous rush; with indiscriminate violence, energy, or eagerness) dates from the 1570s and was from the French pêle-mêle, from the twelfth century Old French pesle mesle, thought to be a jingling rhyme on the second element, which is from the stem of the verb mesler (to mix, to mingle".  The earliest known form in English was the phonetic borrowing from the French as “pelly melly”.  The primitive Indo-European root pel- (skin, hide) was a significant and productive pre-modern word, reflecting the importance of hides and skins in the economies of all societies, being related to fell (skin or hide of an animal), the Old English filmen (membrane, thin skin, foreskin),  pellagra (a disease characterised by skin lesions and mental confusion), pellicle (a thin skin or surface film), film (a thin layer of some substance; a pellicle; a membranous covering, causing opacity), pelt (skin of a fur-bearing animal), pillion (a pad behind the saddle of a horse for a second rider) & surplice (a thin, liturgical vestment of the Christian Church).

Cardinal George Pell (1941-2023) in ecclesiastical regalia.  This was an exhibit introduced by the cardinal counsel to support the defence that the allegations against him were (as described) technically impossible (in the place and within the time alleged) because of the cut of the garments.  Within the Roman Curia (a place of Masonic-like plotting & intrigue and much low skulduggery), Cardinal Pell's nickname was “Pell Pot”, an allusion to Pol Pot (1925–1998, dictator of communist Cambodia 1976-1979) who announced the start of his regime was “Year Zero” and all existing culture and tradition must completely be destroyed and replaced. 

The origin of the surname Pell was metonymic occupational name for a dealer in furs, from the Middle English & Old French pel (skin, hide), a similar use to the Germanic forms Pelle & Pfell, the South German spellings from the Middle High German phellee & phelle (purple silk cloth).  In parallel, in England and Flanders, the surname Pell emerged as a pet form of Peter, a biblical name much admired by twelfth century Christian Crusaders and associated with the claim of St Peter, the founder of the Christian church, the name from the Ancient Greek word petrus (rock).  Because there was much commercial and population exchange between Flanders and England, Pell was also adopted as a surname in the former.  Even more so than in England, Flemish surnames were characterized by many variations in spelling and one reason for this was there were no real spelling rules in Medieval English.  Spellings were influenced by official court languages (Latin & French) and there was little consistency, changes happening between the efforts of one scribe and the next.  Names were recorded as they sounded so even the differences in pronunciation between one official or priest and another could induce differences and it wasn’t uncommon for people to have had their names registered in several different forms throughout their lives, something which makes difficult the work of genealogical researchers in the modern era.  Even within English, the variations were legion but there was a linguistic uniqueness among Flemish settlers in England, who spoke a language closely related to Dutch, meaning the pronunciation passed through another unfamiliar filter and anglicization was common, whole syllables sometimes deleted.  Pell has been spelled Pell, Pelle, Pel, Pels, Pells, Pelles & Pelf.

Cardinal Pell with Benedict XVI (1927–2022; pope 2005-2013, pope emeritus 2013-2022) and former Dr Kevin Rudd (b 1957; Australian prime-minister 2007-2010 & 2013).

In England, dating from the mid-fourteenth century, the Exchequer’s Pell Office was a department in which the receipts and payments were entered upon two rolls of parchment, the one called the introitta, which was the record of monies received, and the other the exitus, or the record of monies issued (ie credit & debit).  The office gained its name from the ledger entries being made in ink upon rolls called pells, from the Latin pellis (skin, leather, parchment, hide) which, while not exactly the blockchain of their day, represented a considerable advance in accuracy and reliability than the distributed and haphazard methods of the past and functionally similar institutions were established in Scotland and Ireland.  In the sixteenth century the pells (the parchment rolls) were replaced by books but the office retained its name until its abolition in 1834.  The lists of the name of holders of the office of Clerks of the Pells in the Exchequer read like something of a tale of English political corruption and nepotism.

Cardinal Pell makes a point.

The death at 81 of Australian Cardinal George Pell was announced by the Holy See on Tuesday 10 January 2023; he died after complications following “routine hip surgery”.  Created a cardinal in 2003, he was appointed the Vatican’s inaugural Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy (2014-2019 (effectively the treasurer or finance minister)), having earlier served as Archbishop of Melbourne and later Sydney.  Although a player of real significance in the culture wars and later among the factions of the Vatican’s labyrinthine bureaucracy, the cardinal came to international attention when in 2018 he was convicted in the Supreme Court of Victoria on five charges of child sexual abuse, perpetrated against two boys of thirteen in a Cathedral a quarter-century earlier.  Sentenced to prison, the cardinal was the most senior Church figure ever jailed for such offences.  The conviction was upheld in a majority judgement (2-1) of the Victorian court of appeal but was in 2020 quashed in a unanimous (7-0) ruling by the High Court of Australia (HCA).  The cardinal served 13 months in prison.

Cardinal Pell accompanying to court laicised (defrocked) Roman Catholic priest and convicted child sex offender Gerald Ridsdale (1934-2025). Ridsdale died in prison while serving a 36 year sentence, technically still a priest because, as a matter of canon law, an ordination cannot be annulled.  Thus, while barred from undertaking most clerical rituals and functions, Ridsdale, convicted of some 70 sex-offences (including rape) against children could still have been called upon to perform the last rites for someone thought close to death "if no other priest was available".  

As a general principle, actions in law against a person die with them but what remained afoot was a civil suit, launched by the father of a choirboy who prosecutors alleged Cardinal Pell abused.  The action was able to proceeding because it was lodged against both the late cardinal and the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne, something now possible because the old arrangement, under which the Catholic Church could not be sued (because at law it had no more status than the local bridge club), has been reformed.  It was of great interest because while the HCA quashed Pell’s criminal conviction because the Crown had not proven he was guilty (of that with which he was charged on the in the place and at the time alleged) “beyond reasonable doubt”, in civil proceedings, the standard to establish guilt is the less onerous “on the balance of probabilities”.  It was thus a matter analogous with the civil trial of football star OJ Simpson (1947-2024) which followed his acquittal on murder charges; in the civil trial, the court found against Simpson and awarded the plaintiffs US$33.5 million for his victims' wrongful deaths.  In Australia, the plaintiff sought unspecified damages for the mental injury he alleged he suffered after learning of the allegations against Pell, specifically compensation for "nervous shock" he endured as a result of losing his son and learning about the allegations a year later.  The term “nervous shock” is a creature of law with its own history of precedents and tests and describes a recognised mental disorder, injury or illness caused by the actions or omissions of another party and is not always entirely aligned with the term as used in medicine or psychiatry.  Because it’s now possible to sue the Catholic Church as an entity, in his statement of claim, the plaintiff argued the church was liable as it breached its duty of care.  That would have represented progress for many alleging they were victims of clerical child abuse because it seemed to allow a church to be pursued on the grounds of vicarious liability.

Cardinal Pell with former Archbishop of Melbourne Sir Frank Little (1925–2008), found by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse to have led a culture of secrecy in the Melbourne archdiocese designed to hide complaints against priests and protect the church's reputation from scandal and financial liability.

Given the extraordinary volume of child abuse cases involving Roman Catholic clergy, the case was watched with interest, not least because of the findings of the earlier Royal Commission into Institutional Child Abuse (which ran for several years), interviewed thousands and found Pell had known of child sexual abuse by priests in Australia as early as the 1970s but failed to take action.  Pell rejected the commission’s findings, insisting they were "not supported by evidence".  That interplay of findings and other histories meant the case assumed greater significance because of the argument the church should be liable for the wrongdoings of its priests and bishops under the doctrine of vicarious liability.  There are defences to that but given recent developments there was hope it migh be applicable but but in 2025 the HCA ruled priests and such are not employees of the church, despite the appearance and perception by just about everyone except the Roman Curia and the judges of the HCA.  What this means is the legal avenue of vicarious liability effectively is closed because except in a narrow range of circumstances,  a church can't be held liable for the conduct of its (non-employed) clerics.  

Cardinal Pell and Tony Abbott, in church, discussing something.

Still, in death the late cardinal had his loyal defenders.  Tony Abbott (b 1957; Australian prime-minister 2013-2015), a lay-Catholic who in his youth trained for several years for the priesthood (a background which would later, among his parliamentary colleagues on both sides of the aisle, gained for him the moniker “the mad monk”) eulogized Pell as a “saint for our times” and “an inspiration for the ages”, damning the charges he’d faced as “a modern form of crucifixion”.  Time will tell if some pope might take up Mr Abbott’s hint and begin the process to create another Saint George (all would probably agree just now might be “too soon”) but the flourish “modern form of crucifixion” displayed a flair with words Mr Abbott but seldom managed during his years in office.

Zucchetto

Zucchetto (pronounced zoo-ket-oh or tsook-ket-taw (Italian)

A small, round skullcap worn by Roman Catholic ecclesiastics, a priest's being black, a bishop's violet, a cardinal's red, and the pope's white; a calotte; the style is worn also by Syriac (or Malankara Orthodox) and some Anglican clergy.

1850–1855: From the Italian zucchetto, a variant of zucchetta, diminutive of zucca (gourd, squash, pumpkin) from the Late Latin cucutia (gourd), probably from the Classical Latin cucurbita.  Depending on the country or order, a zucchetto may also be referred to as a pilus, pilos, pileus, pileolo, subbiretum, submitrale, soli deo, berrettino, calotte or calotta.  Although unattested, it may be related to the primitive Indo-European tjukka (gourd) and the alternative spelling was zuchetto which most dictionaries seem now to list as non-standard.  The Italian noun zucchetta was (1) a tromboncini (a kind of squash), (2) an ecclesiastic skullcap or (2) a military helmet worn in the 16th century.  The relationship between the small vegetable and the head-covering is the shape, the construct being zucca (gourd, squash, pumpkin) + -etto.  The etto- suffix was used to forms nouns from nouns, denoting a diminutive.  It was from the Late Latin -ittum, accusative singular of –ittus, and was the alterative suffix used to form melioratives, diminutives, and hypocoristics and existed variously in English & French as -et, in Italian as Italian -etto and in Portuguese & Spanish as -ito.  With an animate noun, -etto references as male, the coordinate female suffix being -etta, which is also used with inanimate nouns ending in -a.  It should not be confused with the homophonous suffix -eto.  Zucchetto is a noun; the noun plural is zucchettos.

The first head covering recognizably zucchettoesque was the Greek pilos which evolved also into the modern beret which was in its early forms a larger, irregularly-shaped zucchetto.  A classic medieval adaptation to the climate, it covered a monk’s tonsure (that part of the head from which the hair was shaved, a practice not formally abandoned in the Roman Catholic Church until 1972) thus providing, depending on the season, either insulation or protection from the sun.  It is similar in appearance to the Jewish kippah and this presumably was intentional although the theological basis of two differs.

Ecclesiastical fashion statement: Cardinal George Pell (1941-2023) wearing zucchetto with matching choir cape.

In the Roman church, the color of the zucchetto can be used to determine the office held but the distinctions are not absolute.  Obviously, a pope wears a white but that right extends also to those in orders where white vestments are worn.  Cardinals wear scarlet, archbishops, bishops and other notables amaranth and the more junior ranks black.  Apparently informally, some monks wear the brown of their traditional habits.  By historic convention, a prelate removes his zucchetti when in the presence of a more senior appointee and all doff the things when the pope is in the room.  Observers of such things have noted the modern way is that except during the most formal occasions, this etiquette seems either to be waived or ignored.

Paul VI (1897-1978; pope 1963-1978) places a cardinal's biretta over the zucchetto worn by Archbishop of Munich and Freising (1977–1982) Joseph Ratzinger (1927-2022; Pope Benedict XVI 2005-2013, pope emeritus 2013-2022), Vatican City, 1977.

This ceremony marked the archbishop's creation as a cardinal.  To the regret of some, the cardinal's galero (the old wide-brimmed hat) was by the 1970s rarely seen and even at most formal ecclesiastical ceremonies the biretta (a square cap with three or four ridges atop) was worn.  A consequence of Saint John Paul II's (1920–2005; pope 1978-2005) long pontificate of more than a quarter century was that by the 2005 conclave at which Cardinal Ratzinger was elevated from grand inquisitor to the papacy, he and one other (also appointed by Paul VI) were the only two of the 115 cardinals electors with any experience of a conclave, both having voted in the two conducted in 1978.

The zucchetto is worn throughout most of the Mass, removed at the commencement of the Preface and replaced at the conclusion of Communion when the Blessed Sacrament is put away,  Zucchettos are never worn at any occasion where the Blessed Sacrament is exposed and are always removed at the end of the last secret prayer, replaced after the ablutions.  Thoughtfully, there’s usually provided also a funghellino (literally “little mushroom”), a kind of hat-stand fashioned usually from brass or wood on which a zucchetto is placed when not worn.

Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Pell in the Vatican.

The zucchetto has also entered the long list of the Catholic Church’s list of cargo cult items.  In a tradition which is said to have be started by Pius XII (1876-1958; pope 1939-1958), cardinals & bishops, if presented with a new zucchetto, may kiss theirs and give it to the generous faithful soul.  Some prefer to take the gift, place it briefly on their heads and hand it back with a blessing.  Recent popes have also adopted the practice, presumably thinking it a good photo opportunity but the system could be open to abuse.  Should a zucchetto which has adorned the head of a priest (or even a cardinal or pope!) fall into the hands of a voodoo priest, they could use it to make a voodoo doll.

Concordat

Concordat (pronounced kon-kawr-dat)

(1) An agreement or compact, especially an official one Agreement between things; mutual fitness; harmony.

(2) A formal agreement between two parties, especially between a church and a state.

(3) In Roman Catholic canon law, a pact, treaty or agreement between the Holy See and a secular government regarding the regulation of church matters.  In early use it was sometimes a personal agreement between pope and sovereign.

1610–1620: From the the sixteenth century French conciordat, replacing concordate from the Medieval Latin concordātum (something agreed), a noun use of the Latin concordatum, neuter of concordātus, past participle of concordāre (to be in agreement; to be of one mind), from concors (genitive concordis) (of one mind)  from concors (genitive concordis) (of one mind).  The original definition in Roman Catholic canon law was "an agreement between Church and state on a mutual matter".  Concordat is a noun, the noun plural is concordats and concordatory is an adjective.  Concord dates from 1250-1300, from the Middle English and Old French concorde from the Latin concordia, (harmonious), genitive concordis (of the same mind, literally “hearts together”).  Concordat is a noun and concordant an adjective; the noun plural is concordats.

The Duce, Benito Mussolini (1883–1945; Prime Minister of Italy 1922-1943, right) and Cardinal Pietro Gasparri (1852–1934; Cardinal Secretary of State 1914-1930, left) signing the Lateran Concordat in 1929.

The concordat, a formal agreement between the Holy See and a sovereign state, dates from a time when the relationship between the Church and sovereign entities was different than what now exists.  Indeed, the dynamics of the relationships have changed much over the centuries but, at any given moment, concordats have always been practical application of Church-state relations and, like all politics, were an expression of the art of the possible, a concordat not necessarily what a pope wanted, but certainly the best he could at the time manage, the best known tending to be the controversial, notably (1) the treaty of 1801 with Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821; leader of the French Republic 1799-1804 & Emperor of the French from 1804-1814 & 1815), (2) the Lateran Accord agreed in 1929 with Mussolini which created the modern city-state of the Vatican and which was the final step in Italian unification and (3) The Reich Concordat of 1933, the accommodation with Hitler’s Germany which was supposed to resolve the issue of relations which had been unsettled since Otto von Bismarck's (1815-1989; Chancellor of the German Empire 1871-1890) time but which Berlin repeatedly violated.

La Signature du Concordat aux Tuileries 15 juillet 1801 (The Signing of the Concordat at the Tuileries, 15 July 1801) (1803-1804) by François Pascal Simon Gérard (1770–1837) (titled as Baron Gérard in 1809); the original hangs in the Musée National des Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, Versailles.  

At least those violations weren’t wholly unexpected.  Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (1876–1958; Pope Pius XII 1939-1958) had been Apostolic Nuncio (ambassador; 1926-1929) to Berlin and was Cardinal Secretary of State (foreign minister; 1930–1939) when the Reich Concordat was signed and he was under no illusion.  When it was said to him that the Nazis were unlikely to honor the terms, he replied with a smile that was true but that they would probably not violate all its articles “at the same time”.  The sardonic realism would serve the cardinal well in the years ahead when often he would required to choose the lesser of many competing evils.  Some though, for a while, retained hope if not faith.  As late as 1937, Archbishop Conrad Gröber (1872–1948; Archbishop of Freiburg 1932-1948) thought the Reich Concordat proof that “…two powers, totalitarian in their character, can find agreement, if their domains are separate”.  Adolf Hitler (1889-1945; German head of government 1933-1945 & head of state 1934-1945), another cynic though then still a realist, viewed the concordat much as Hermann Göring (1893-1946) would in his trial at Nuremberg describe all the treaties executed by the Nazis: “so much toilet paper”.  Actually an admirer of the Roman Catholic Church which had survived two-thousand years of European rough and tumble, he was resigned to a co-existence but one on his terms, noting the day would come when there would be a reckoning with “those black crows”.

Two of the twentieth century's great survivors, German vice chancellor Franz von Papen (1879-1969) (second from left) and the Holy See's secretary of state Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (the future Pope Pius XII) (head of the table) meet in the Vatican on 20 July 1933 to sign the Reischskonkordat which some six weeks later was ratified by the Nazi-dominated Reichstag (the German parliament).  The cardinal calculated the Church would gain from the arrangement but had few illusions about the Nazis.  Later, when being driven through Rome where he saw two men fighting in the street, he remarked to his companion "I imagine they've probably just signed a concordat".

That’s not to say there haven’t always been theorists who wandered a bit beyond the possible.  After the Reformation, there were those in the Church who held that the Church sits above the state in all things (the “regalist” position), while others (maintaining the “curialist” position) held that although the Church is superior to the state, the Church may grant certain privileges to the state through agreements such as concordats.  In the modern age, the accepted understanding of concordats is that the Church and the various sovereign states are both legal entities able to enter into bilateral agreements.  Concordats are thus no different than other treaties & agreements in that being executed under international law, they are enforceable according to legal principles.  Church and state may in some ways not be co-equal but canon law does recognise the two exist in distinct spheres and is explicit in respecting the bilateral agreements that the Holy See has entered into with other nation-states.  The Code of Canon Law states unambiguously that concordats override any contrary norms in canon law: “The canons of the Code neither abrogate nor derogate from the agreements entered into by the Apostolic See with nations or other political societies. These agreements therefore continue in force exactly as at present, notwithstanding contrary prescripts of this Code.”  This is an unexceptional statement familiar in many constitutional arrangements where two legal systems interact, the need being to define, where conflict may exist, which has precedence and is no more than an application of a legal maxim known to both canon and secular law: pacta sunt servanda (agreements must be honored).  Concordats can both protect and clarify the rights of the Church by precisely defining relationship between the Church and a state, expressed by the Second Vatican Council’s (Vatican II 1962-1965) pastoral constitution on the Church in the modern world, Gaudium et spes (Joay and Hope) in the statement:

“The Church herself makes use of temporal things insofar as her own mission requires it.  She, for her part, does not place her trust in the privileges offered by civil authority.  She will even give up the exercise of certain rights which have been legitimately acquired, if it becomes clear that their use will cast doubt on the sincerity of her witness or that new ways of life demand new methods.”

In other words, “if you can’t beat them, join them”, or, at least, enter into peaceful co-existence with them, a position in the modern age possible, if not uncontroversial with sovereign and sub-national entities notionally with Catholic majority populations (eg Bavaria 1966, Austria 1969, Italy 1985) but also with countries where Christians exist only as tiny minorities (eg Tunisia 1964, Morocco 1985, Israel 1993).  Nor does a concordat need to be a complete codification, the agreement between the Holy See and Tel Aviv noting that in certain matters, agreement had not been reached and discussions need to continue.  Such “framework” or “stepping-stone” agreements have been in the diplomatic toolkit for centuries but they’re a statement of professed intent and in the decades since there’s been little apparent progress in many of the unresolved matters important to the Holy See regarding physical property in the Holy Land and the “working document” was never ratified by the Israeli parliament (the Knesset).  At least partially filling this diplomatic lacuna was something which has thus far proved a coda to the Holy See’s official recognition in 2012 of the State of Palestine.  In 2015, The Vatican concluded a concordat with “the State of Palestine” (sic), supporting a two-state solution to the conflict between Palestine and Israel “on the basis of the 1967 borders”.  According to Rome, the provisions in the agreement concern technical (ie financial & legal) aspects of the legal status of Catholic facilities and personnel on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.  That may be as boringly procedural as it sounds but what’s aroused interest is that the Vatican has refused to publish the text or comment on the details, thus arousing suspicion that the treaty between with the Palestinians might, at least in part, contradict the earlier concordat with Israel.  From Washington to Tel Aviv, many are interested in the small print.

Rome 1929: The Duce reads the Lateran Concordat's small print.

Interestingly, Vatican II struck the term concordat from canon law, apparently in a nod to the Council's declaration on religious liberty, Dignitatis humanae (Of the Dignity of the Human Person) which mused on the evolution of a “…different model of relations between the Vatican and various states [which] is still evolving.”  Whatever might have been intended to be the implications of that, it reappeared with the Polish Concordat of 1993 and seems to be here to stay.

The term concordat can be used of any arrangement by which parties achieve some sort of entente cordiale and it’s sometimes only in retrospect (which can take decades) their true from can be understood variously as a reconciliation (Paris Hilton & Lindsay Lohan), marriage of convenience (Turkey’s (now the Republic of Türkiye) membership of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Alliance) or a cynical expediency (the Ribbentrop-Molotov (Nazi-Soviet) Pact (1939)).

Eminence

Eminence (pronounced em-uh-nuhns)

(1) A position of superiority; high station, rank, or repute.

(2) The quality or state of being eminent; Prominence in a particular order or accumulation; esteem.

(3) In topography, a high place or part; a hill or elevation; height.

(4) As a color, a dark or deep shade of purple.

(5) In anatomy, a protuberance.

(6) In the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church, a title used to address or refer to a cardinal (in the form “eminence”, “your eminence”, “his eminence” or “their eminences”).

(7) As “gray eminence” (the usual spelling of éminence grise), a “power behind the throne”.

1375–1425: From the late Middle English eminence (projection, protuberance (and by the early fifteenth century a “high or exalted position”)), from the Anglo-French, from the Old French eminence, from the Latin ēminēntia (prominence, protuberance; eminence, excellence; a standing out, a distinctive feature, most conspicuous part), the construct being equivalent to ēmin- (base of ēminēre (to stand out) + -entia (-ence) (the noun suffix), from eminentem (nominative eminens) (standing out, projecting (and figuratively “prominent, distinctive”)), from an assimilated form of the construct ex- (out) + -minere (related to mons (hill), from the primitive Indo-European root men- (to project).  The adjective eminent dates from the early fifteenth century and was used in the sense of “standing or rising above other places; exceeding other things in quality or degree” and was from the thirteenth century Old French éminent (prominent) or directly from the Latin eminentem.  From the 1610s, it came be used of those “distinguished in character or attainments”.  The noun pre-eminence (also as pre-eminence) was known as early as the twelfth century and then meant “surpassing eminence; superiority, distinction; precedence, a place of rank or distinction”.  It was from the Late Latin praeeminentia (distinction, superiority), from the Classical Latin praeeminentem (nominative praeeminens), the present participle of praeeminere (transcend, excel (literally “project forward, rise above”)) the construct being prae (before) + eminere (stand out, project).  The alternative for eminency is listed usually as archaic or obsolete.  Synonyms include conspicuousness, distinction, prominence, renown, celebrity, note & fame in the context of status and elevation or prominence when applied to topography.  Eminence & eminency are nouns, eminently is an adverb and eminent is an adjective (and a non-standard noun); the noun plural is eminences or eminencies.

The use in anatomy is to describe certain protuberances including (1) hypothenar eminence (plural hypothenar eminences) (the ulnar side of the human hand; the edge of the hand between the pinky and the outer side of the wrist, (2) ileocecal eminence (plural ileocecal eminences) (the ileocecal valve), (3) median eminence (plural median eminences) (part of the inferior boundary for the hypothalamus in the human brain and (4) frontal eminence (plural frontal eminences) (either of two rounded elevations on the frontal bone of the skull (known also as the “tuber frontale”).

Extract from xona.com's color list.

As a name for a deep or dark shade of purple, name eminence has been in regular use since the nineteenth century and there have always been variations in the shades so described; on the color charts of different manufacturers, this continues.  In digital use however, eminence as a shade of purple has been (more or less) standardized since 2001 when xona.com promulgated their influential color list.  Although “eminence” is the form of address for a cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church, it’s presumable this has no relationship with the color eminence because cardinals wear red and it’s the monsignors who don a purple which does look like the shade typically described as eminence.  As far as is known, the name “monsignor” has never been applied to any shade.  Monsignor is one of the honorary titles Popes for centuries granted to priests within their Papal Court and there were many degrees of these, conferred usually on priests worked closely with the Holy Father in Rome.  Over time, the use of monsignor was expanded and could be granted to priests beyond Rome on the recommendation of a bishop.  Recently, Pope Francis (b 1936; pope since 2013) has restricted this, returning to the older ways and this will have please some bishops, not all of whom were anxious to see too much purple in their diocese.  The monsignor’s purple (which most would probably call a magenta) was connected to the tradition in the Roman empire to vest new dignitaries with a purple toga and in medieval heraldry the color symbolized justice, regal majesty and sovereignty although not so much should be made of this in the context of the Vatican’s choices in ecclesiastical fashion: Originally, it was never envisaged monsignors would wander far from the Holy See.

Pope Francis passes the coffin (casket) at the funeral of Cardinal George Pell (1941-2023), St Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican, January 2023.  Within the Roman Curia (a place of Masonic-like plotting & intrigue and much low skulduggery), Cardinal Pell's nickname was “Pell Pot”, an allusion to Pol Pot (1925–1998, dictator of communist Cambodia 1976-1979) who announced the start of his regime was “Year Zero” and all existing culture and tradition must completely be destroyed and replaced.  

Until the sixteenth century bishops wore green and this use persists on the traditional coat of arms that each bishop chooses when elected.  In the 1500s, the switch was made to “amaranth red,” named after the amaranth flower although, despite the name, the actual hue is more like fuchsia but, being similar to a purple, church historians maintain there’s some symbolic value linking with the bishop being charged to govern his local diocese.  Technically, the Holy See describes the color worn by cardinals as “scarlet” and their eminences are described as “princes” of the church although part of the mystique of the place is that the red symbolizes the blood they’re all supposed to be prepared to spill to defend the pope.  When the Pope places the biretta (the hat with 3 or 4 stiffened corners worn as part of liturgical dress) on top of the cardinal’s head, he says, “(This is) scarlet as a sign of the dignity of the cardinalate, signifying your readiness to act with courage, even to the shedding of your blood, for the increase of the Christian faith, for the peace and tranquility of the people of God and for the freedom and growth of Holy Roman Church.”  As a title of honor within the church, eminence was in use as early as the 1650s although apparently since the 1720s, the honorific has been exclusive to cardinals.

Cardinal Richelieu (1636), oil on canvas by Philippe de Champaigne (1602–1674) (left) and Engraving of Francois Leclerc du Tremblay (circa 1630) by an unknown artist.

The term gray eminence was from the French éminence grise, plural eminences grises or eminence grises (literally “grey eminence” and the French spelling is sometimes used in the English-speaking world).  It was applied originally to François Leclerc du Tremblay (1577–1638), also known as Père Joseph, a French Capuchin friar who was the confidant and agent of Cardinal Richelieu (1585–1642), the chief minister of France under Louis XIII (1601–1643; King of France 1610-1643).  The term refers to du Tremblay’s influence over the Cardinal (who bore the honorific of Eminence), and the colour of his habit (he wore gray).  Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) sub-titled his biography of Leclerc (L'Éminence Grise (1941)): A Study in Religion and Politics.  Huxley discussed the nature of both religion & politics, his purpose being to explore the relationship between the two and his work was a kind of warning to those of faith who are led astray by proximity to power.

Use of the term éminence grise suggests a shadowy, backroom operator who avoids publicity, operating in secret if possible yet exercising great influence over decisions, even to the point of being “the power behind the throne”.  In this a gray eminence differs from a king-maker or a svengali is that those designations are applied typically to those who operate in the public view, even flaunting their power and authority.  Probably the closest synonym of the gray eminence is a “puppetmaster” because of the implication of remaining hidden, and although never seen, the strings they pull are if one looks closely enough.  The svengali was named for the hypnotist character Svengali in George du Maurier’s (1834–1896) novel Trilby (1894).  Svengali seduced, dominated and manipulated Trilby who was a young, half-Irish girl, transforming her into a great singer but in doing so he made her utterly dependent on him and this ruthlessly he exploited.

The brown eminence

Adolf Hitler (1889-1945; German head of government 1933-1945 & head of state 1934-1945) followed by his "brown eminence", Martin Bormann (1900–1945).

Bormann attached himself to the Nazi Party in the 1920s and proved diligent and industrious, rewarded in 1933 by being appointed chief of staff in the office of Rudolf Hess (1894–1987; Nazi Deputy Führer 1933-1941) where he first built his power base.  After Hess bizarrely flew to Scotland in 1941, Hitler abolished the post of Deputy Führer, assigning his offices to Bormann and styling him Head of the Parteikanzlei (Party Chancellery), a position of extraordinary influence, strengthened further when in 1943 he was appointed Personal Secretary to the Führer, a title he exploited to allow him to act as a kind of viceroy, exercising power in Hitler’s name.  Known within the party as the der brauner Schatten (the brown shadow) which was translated usually as “Brown Eminence” (an allusion to an éminence grise), he maintained his authority by controlling access to Hitler to whom his efficiency and dutifulness proved invaluable.  The "brown" refers to the Nazi's brown uniforms, a color adopted not by choice but because when the cash-strapped party in the 1920s needed uniforms for their Sturmabteilung (The SA, literally "Storm Division" or Storm Troopers and known as the "brownshirts"), what were available cheaply and in bulk was the stock of brown army clothing intended for use in the tropical territories the Germans would have occupied had they won World War I (1914-1918).  Bormann committed suicide while trying to make his escape from Berlin in 1945 although this wasn't confirmed until 1973.

Lindsay Lohan's inner eminence on film.

Lindsay Lohan (2011) by Richard Phillips & Taylor Steele.

Screened in conjunction with the 54^th international exhibition of the Venice Biennale (June 2011), Lindsay Lohan was a short film the director said represented a “new kind of portraiture.”  Filmed in Malibu, California, the piece was included in the Commercial Break series, presented by Venice’s Garage Center for Contemporary Culture and although the promotional notes indicated it would include footage of the ankle monitor she helped make famous, the device doesn't appear in the final cut.

At the festival, co-director Richard Phillips (b 1962) was interviewed by V Magazine and explained: “Lindsay has an incredible emotional and physical presence on screen.  “[She] holds an existential vulnerability, while harnessing the power of the transcendental — the moment in transition. She is able to connect with us past all of our memory and projection, expressing our own inner eminence.”

Directed by: Richard Phillips & Taylor Steele
Director of Photography: Todd Heater
Creative Director: Dominic Sidhu
Art Director: Kyra Griffin
Editor: Haines Hall
Color mastering: Pascal Dangin for Boxmotion
Music: Tamaryn & Rex John Shelverton
Costume Designer: Ellen Mirojnick