The cardinalate is an institution in the Church with a long history of changes and developments in the course of time as it evolved from an early era to become what it is today.

Today, all cardinals are bishops, although among them there are three orders or grades: cardinal bishops, cardinal priests and cardinal deacons. These grades, which may seem puzzling, can be understood when we go back to their historical origins.

The present law of the Church states: "Those to be promoted Cardinals are men freely selected by the Roman Pontiff, who are at least in the order of priesthood.; those who are not already bishops must receive episcopal consecration" (Can .351,sec.1).

In the past, laymen too were appointed as cardinals. The last layman to be a cardinal was Giacomo Antonelli (1806-1876) who served as Papal Secretary of State under Pope Pius IX (1846-1878). The present law of the Church permits only a person who is at least a priest to be appointed to the cardinalate. But, as we have seen, a priest has to be ordained bishop when nominated a cardinal, so that today all cardinals are bishops. How then do you have among them cardinal 'priests' and cardinal 'deacons'?

In the history of the Church, the first to be named cardinals were priests. The word cardinal comes from the Latin 'cardo' which means a 'hinge'. Originally the term cardinal was used to designate a priest who held a fixed and permanent appointment to a Church in Rome. He was a 'hinge' in the sense that, like a hinge that links a door to the doorpost, he became a link between the Church and the people.

In the 4th century, priests permanently appointed to the Roman parish Churches were called 'cardinal priests'. They were to function also as counsellors to the Pope and assist him in the administration of the Church. They were all priests, not bishops. Subsequently, the deacons of the 14 regions into which Rome was divided who had charge of works of charity, like the original deacons (Acts 6:1-6), were also given the title of cardinal. They were therefore 'cardinal deacons'.

It was still later that bishops came to be called cardinals. The bishops of six dioceses in the suburban districts of Rome became associated with the Pope in Church government. Thus bishops were the last to be given the title of cardinal.

We see that historically there have been priests, deacons and bishops as cardinals. The division into these grades has remained to this day. Though now all cardinals are bishops, the grading remains. It is representative of the ancient presbyterium of the Church in Rome. Today, when a cardinal is appointed, the Pope assigns him the title of a Church in Rome according to grade. To the episcopal grade "belong those cardinals to whom the Roman Pontiff assigns the title of a suburbicarian Church. Cardinal priests and Cardinal deacons are each assigned a title or deaconry in Rome by the Roman Pontiff. (Canon 350, secs 1 & 2).

In the early Church, bishops, including the Bishop of Rome, were elected by the clergy and the people. A change in this procedure took place in the 11th century. A council held at Rome in 1059 under Pope Nicholas II (1059-1061) decreed that: "Popes should be elected on the judgement of the 6 cardinal bishops of Rome and the assent of the Roman priests and the cardinal deacons of Rome". Thus, the election of the Pope was virtually in the hands of the cardinals. In 1139, the Second Ecumenical Council of the Lateran ruled that cardinals alone were to elect the Pope. This has been the practice ever since.

In the 12th century, the number of cardinal deacons was raised from 14 to 18, so that with the 6 cardinal bishops and the 28 cardinal priests, the number of cardinals was 52. In the 16th century, Pope Leo X (1513-1521) raised the numbers to 65. Towards the end of the same century, Pope Sixtus V (1585-1590), by the constitution ' Postquam vetus' of 1586, made the number of cardinals 70. This figure remained unchanged for nearly four centuries until in our time Pope John XXIII raised it to 75 and later increased it still further. When his successor, Paul VI, created 27 new cardinals in 1965, the number went up to 103.

Apart from being electors of the Pope, the cardinals are his chief counsellors and they assist him in administration of the Church, especially those who head the various departments of the Curia (the administrative machinery of the Church). The duties and functions of cardinals are summed up in Canon 349: "The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church constitute a special College, whose prerogative it is to elect the Roman Pontiff in accordance with the norms of a special law. The Cardinals are also available to the roman Pontiff, either acting collegially, when they are summoned together to deal with questions of major importance, or acting individually, that is, in the offices which they hold in assisting the Roman Pontiff especially in the daily care of the universal Church."