Editing Cardinal (Catholic Church) (section)

==Numbers==

In 1586, [[Pope Sixtus V]] limited the number of cardinals to 70:<ref>{{cite news |access-date=25 October 2017 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1958/11/18/83425668.pdf |first=Arnaldo |last=Cortesi |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=18 November 2017 |title=Two Americans among 23 New Cardinals}}</ref> six cardinal bishops, 50 cardinal priests, and 14 cardinal deacons. The number of seventy was in reference to the [[Sanhedrin]] and to the [[seventy disciples]]. [[Pope John XXIII]] exceeded that limit citing the need to staff church offices.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1958/12/16/83430914.pdf |work=[[The New York Times]]| access-date=25 October 2017 |date=16 December 1958 |title=Pope Elevates 33 to Cardinalate; Deplores China Church Schism |first=Arnoldo |last=Cortesi}}</ref> In November 1970, in {{lang|la|[[Ingravescentem aetatem]]}}, [[Pope Paul VI]] established that electors would be under the age of 80 years. When it took effect on 1 January 1971, it deprived 25 cardinals of the right to participate in a conclave.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hoffman |first1=Paul |title=Voting for Popes Is Barred to Cardinals Over 80 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/11/24/archives/voting-for-popes-is-barred-to-cardinals-over-80-prelates-over-80.html |access-date=30 October 2017 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=24 November 1970 |archive-date=26 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826090048/https://www.nytimes.com/1970/11/24/archives/voting-for-popes-is-barred-to-cardinals-over-80-prelates-over-80.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In October 1975 in {{lang|la|[[Romano Pontifici eligendo]]}}, he set the maximum number of electors at 120, while establishing no limit on the overall size of the college.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Iv8pAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA101 |page=101 |title=Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church |first=Thomas J. |last=Reese |date=1998 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=9780674418028}}</ref>

Popes can [[Dispensation (Catholic Church)|set aside]] church laws<ref>[http://newcesite.com/2008/02/08/81136/ Are There Any Limitations on the Power of the Pope?] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714172232/http://newcesite.com/2008/02/08/81136/ |date=14 July 2011}}.</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Mickens |first1=Robert |title=Letter from Rome The Next Stage of Francis's Mission |url=https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/letter-rome-121 |access-date=9 July 2017 |work=Commonwealth Magazine |date=24 April 2017 |archive-date=7 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107005954/https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/letter-rome-121 |url-status=live }}</ref> and they have regularly brought the number of cardinals under the age of 80 to more than 120, reaching as high as 140 with [[Cardinals created by Francis#7 December 2024|Pope Francis' consistory]] of December 2024.<ref>[https://www.dw.com/en/pope-francis-creates-21-new-cardinals/a-70990148 Pope Francis creates 21 new cardinals]</ref> No more than 120 electors participated in a [[Papal conclave|conclave]] until the conclave following the death of Pope Francis, in which 133 cardinals participated.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Campisi, Gussie |first=Tiziana, Kielce |date=1 May 2025 |title=Upcoming conclave will be first with more than 120 Cardinal electors |url=https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-05/this-is-first-conclave-held-with-number-exceeding-120-electors.html |access-date=2 May 2025 |work=Vatican News}}</ref>

Pope Paul VI also increased the number of cardinal bishops by assigning that rank, in 1965, to patriarchs of the [[Eastern Catholic Churches]] when named cardinals.<ref>{{cite news |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1965/02/23/97186241.pdf |access-date=26 October 2017 |date=23 February 1965 |title=Pontiff Installs 27 New Cardinals |archive-date=7 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231207054018/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1965/02/23/97186241.html?pdf_redirect=true&site=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=11 February 1965 |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/motu_proprio/documents/hf_p-vi_motu-proprio_19650211_ad-purpuratorum_lt.html |author=Pope Paul VI |title=Ad purpuratorum Patrum |publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana |access-date=3 December 2017 |archive-date=5 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130405065059/http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/motu_proprio/documents/hf_p-vi_motu-proprio_19650211_ad-purpuratorum_lt.html |url-status=live }}]</ref> In 2018, Pope Francis expanded the cardinal bishops of Roman title, because this had not been done despite recent decades' expansion in the two lower orders of cardinals, besides having all six such cardinals being over the age limit for a conclave.