If, as is generally expected, an Italian is elected, one possible consequence will be a demand for alteration of the composition of the Sacred College with a more balanced proportion of various nationalities.
At present, Italy with 40,000,000 Catholics, has 35 Cardinals; the United States, with 20,000,000 Catholics, has three Cardinals; and France, with 40,000,000 Catholics, has six Cardinals, Brazil has 40,000,000 Catholics but only one Cardinal, while the British Empire has 13,000,000 Catholics and three Cardinals.
As the Holy See must also deal with the world affairs of the Church, the question of administration of Vatican funds enters into the controversy on the composition of the Sacred College—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.