deceased Pope; but it is bound to reserve them to the future Pope.' There is an explicit prohibition against this body assuming to dispose of any of the properties of the Church, or any of the moneys belonging to the Apostolical Chamber or to the Datary's office, even for the discharge of debts contracted before the late Pope's death; its power over the coffers of the exchequer extending merely to the maintenance of the functionaries constituting the Papal establishment, and the payment of what may be required for the 'defence of the lands and places of the Church.' It is only on the occurrence of what may be deemed 'a grave peril' by at least two-thirds of the Cardinals assembled, that the Sacred College can be dispensed from a literal observance of these limitations upon its prerogatives, and proceed to adopt such resolutions and measures as may seem to it demanded by circumstances.[1] The faculty contained in this provision is of moment, and not to be overlooked. The more one studies the re-
- ↑ These prescriptions are repeated almost word for word in the Bull Apostolatus Officium issued in 1732 by Clement XII., the latest Papal statute on the subject of Conclaves.
