Dean of the College of Cardinals
The Dean of the College of Cardinals is the president of the College of Cardinals, in the Catholic Church. He is always a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, with the rank and precedence of a sovereign prince and the style of "His Eminence"; according to section 4 of Canon 350 (from the Latin Code of Canon Law 1983), the Cardinal Dean has "the title of the diocese of Ostia, together with that of any other church to which he already has a title". The Cardinal Dean is always of the episcopal order prior to his election as Dean, and continues to hold the title of his former suburbicarian diocese as well as being titular Bishop of Ostia. This has been the case since 1914, by decree of St. Pius X—previous deans since 1150 had given up their prior suburbicarian see for the joint titles of Ostia and Velletri.
Canon 352 is very clear that while the Dean presides over the College of Cardinals (and the sub-Dean in his absence or inability), neither he nor the sub-Dean has any power of governance over the other cardinals. The Dean and sub-Dean are elected by and from among the six cardinal bishops, subject to the approval of the Roman Pontiff (i.e., the Pope).
It is the Dean's responsibility to convene the conclave to elect a new Pope when the previous one dies or resigns. According to Canon 355, if the newly-elected Supreme Pontiff is not already a bishop, it is the right of the Dean to ordain him as such. If the Dean is unable, then the right falls to the sub-Dean, and then to the senior cardinal of the episcopal order.
The Dean is not necessarily the longest-serving member of the whole College (who might never become a Cardinal Bishop). Instead, he is elected by the other Cardinal Bishops. There is no mandatory retirement age for the position.
Deans of the Sacred College since the Council of Trent
Each name is followed by years of birth and death, then comma-separated years of cardinalate and deanship. Two recent deans have chosen to retire before dying.
- Rodolfo Pio de Carpi (1500-1564) (1536, 1562)
- Francesco Pisani (1494-1570) (1517, 1564)
- Giovanni Girolamo Morone (1509-1580) (1542, 1570)
- Alessandro Farnese, juniore (1520-1589) (1534, 1580)
- Giovanni Antonio Serbelloni (1519-1591) (1560, 1589)
- Alfonso Gesualdo (died 1603) (1561, 1591)
- Tolomeo Gallio (1526-1607) (1565, 1603)
- Domenico Pinelli (1541-1611) (1585, 1607)
- Francois de Joyeuse (1562-1615) (1583, 1611)
- Antonio Maria Galli (1553-1620) (1586, 1615)
- Antonio Maria Sauli (1541-1623) (1587, 1620)
- Francesco Maria Bourbon del Monte (1549-1626) (1588, 1623)
- Ottavio Bandini (1558-1629) (1596, 1626)
- Giovanni Battista Deti (1576-1630) (1599, 1629)
- Domenico Ginnasi (1550-1639) (1604, 1630)
- Carlo Emmanuele Pio de Savoia,seniore (1585-1641) (1604, 1639)
- Marcello Lante della Rovere (1561-1652) (1606, 1641)
- Giulio Roma (1584-1652) (1621, 1652) served less than 5 months
- Carlo de Medici (1595-1666) (1615, 1652)
- Francesco Barberini,seniore (1597-1679) (1623, 1666)
- Cesare Facchinetti (1680-1683) (1643, 1680)
- Niccolo Albergati-Ludovisi (1608-1687) (1645, 1683)
- Alderano Cibo (1613-1700) (1645, 1687)
- Emmanuel-Theodose de la Tour d'Auvergne de Bouillon (1643-1715) (1669, 1700)
- Nicola Acciaiouli (1630-1719) (1669, 1715)
- Fulvio Astalli (1655-1721) (1686, 1719)
- Sebastiano Antonio Tanara (1650-1724) (1695, 1721)
- Francesco del Giudice (1647-1725) (1690, 1724)
- Fabrizio Paolucci (1651-1726) (1697, 1725)
- Francesco Barberini, juniore (1662-1738) (1690, 1726)
- Pietro Ottoboni (1667-1740) (1689, 1738)
- Tommaso Ruffo (1663-1753) (1706, 1740)
- Pietro Luigi Carafa (1677-1755) (1728, 1753)
- Rainiero d'Elci (1670-1761) (1737, 1756)
- Giuseppe Spinelli (1694-1763) (1735, 1761)
- Carlo Alberto Guidoboni Cavalchini (1683-1774) (1743, 1763)
- Fabrizio Serbelloni (1695-1775) (1753, 1774)
- Giovanni Francesco Albani (1720-1803) (1747, 1775) longest deanship
- Henry Benedict Maria Clement Stuart (1725-1807) (1747, 1803) longest total cardinalate
- Leonardo Antonelli (1730-1811) (1775, 1807)
- Alessandro Mattei (1744-1820) (1779, 1814) vacancy caused by his exile by Napoleon
- Giulio Maria della Somaglia (1744-1830) (1795, 1820)
- Bartolomeo Pacca (1756-1844) (1801, 1830)
- Lodovico Micara (1775-1847) (1824, 1844)
- Vincenzo Macchi (1770-1860) (1826, 1847)
- Mario Mattei (1792-1870) (1832, 1860)
- Costantino Patrizi Naro (1798-1876) (1834, 1870)
- Luigi Amat de San Filippo e Sorso (1796-1878) (1837, 1877)
- Camillo de Pietro (1806-1884) (1853, 1878)
- Carlo Sacconi (1808-1889) (1861, 1884)
- Raffaello Monaco de Valletta (1827-1896) (1868, 1889)
- Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano (1828-1913) (1873, 1896)
- Serafino Vannutelli (1834-1915) (1887, 1913)
- Vincenzo Vannutelli (1836-1930) (1889, 1915)
- Gennaro Granito Pignatelli de Belmonte (1851-1948) (1911, 1930)
- Francesco Marchetti-Selvaggiani (1871-1951) (1930, 1948)
- Eugene Gabriel Gervais Laurent Tisserant (1884-1972) (1936, 1951)
- Amleto Giovanni Cicognani (1883-1973) (1958, 1972)
- Luigi Traglia (1895-1977) (1960, 1974)
- Carlo Confalonieri (1893-1986) (1958, 1977)
- Agnelo Rossi (1913-1995) (1965, 1986, retired 1993)
- Bernardin Gantin(born 1922) (1977, 1993, retired 2002)
- Joseph Ratzinger (born 1927) (1977, 2002)
Not sure how many of these men deserve their own articles...apologies for not linking to any that may already exist.->
Referenced By
Bernardin Cardinal Gantin | Camerlengo | Cardinal (Catholicism) | Cardinal (religion) | Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church | Catholic Cardinal | Conclave | Patriarch of Rome | Pope | Popes | The Holy Father | The Pope
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