Even though we see them quite often, most Catholics know very little about cardinals. After all, they are not a big topic in catechism classes. What we do know comes mostly from the media, where cardinals are often depicted as remote and formidable figures in their scarlet robes who help lead the Church and gather together in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope.

In truth, cardinals are indispensable officials who began their long careers as humble young priests and who, by earning the confidence of the pope, are entrusted with the very future of the Catholic Church through their right to vote in papal elections.

While powerful members of the most select body in the world, cardinals recognize that their tasks on behalf of the pope and the Church are as varied as their talents: they may travel the globe on special missions, administer vital archdioceses and choose new popes. Because of their sway and their closeness to the pope, cardinals are sometimes thought to possess superior spiritual authority to bishops. This is not true, for unlike the office of bishop, the rank of cardinal was not established by Christ. Rather, it came into being out of the need of the popes for reliable advisers.

Put simply, a cardinal is a priest or a bishop who has been named by the pope to what is known as the Sacred College of Cardinals, so-called because it is a body, or college, of Church officials. Membership bestows no heightened spiritual authority, but the cardinals have as their two chief duties assisting the pope in the government of the vast worldwide Church and, above all, electing each new pontiff whom they serve. By ancient custom, they are called “princes” because of the diplomatic status their position gives them and also because in previous centuries many of the members belonged to the great noble families of Europe. Today most cardinals come from truly humble origins.

The central part played by the cardinals can be seen in the origin of their name, from the Latin word cardo, meaning a hinge or pivot, denoting that they are the key counselors, or pivots, for the whole Church. To be continued…