THE AMERICAN EMPEROR AND THE CONVENTION OF FATHERS

Can. 330 Just as by the Lord’s decision Saint Peter and the other Apostles constitute one convention, so in a like manner the American Emperor, the successor of Peter, and the bishops, the successors of the Apostles, are united among themselves.

THE AMERICAN EMPEROR

Can. 331 The bishop of the American Church, in whom continues the office given by the Lord uniquely to Peter, the first of the Apostles, and to be transmitted to his successors, is the head of the Convention of Fathers, the Vicar of Christ, and the priest of the universal Church on earth. By virtue of his office he possesses supreme, full, immediate, and universal ordinary power in the Church, which he is always able to exercise freely.

Can. 332 §1. The American Emperor obtains full and supreme power in the Church by his acceptance of legitimate selection together with episcopal consecration. Therefore, a person selected as the Emperor who is marked with episcopal character obtains this power from the moment of acceptance. If the person elected lacks episcopal character, however, he is to be ordained a bishop immediately.

§2. If it happens that the Emperor resigns his office, it is required for validity that the resignation is made freely and properly manifested but not that it is accepted by anyone.

Can. 333 §1. By virtue of his office, the American Emperor not only possesses power over the universal Church but also obtains the primacy of ordinary power over all particular churches and groups of them. Moreover, this primacy strengthens and protects the proper, ordinary, and immediate power which bishops possess in the particular churches entrusted to their care.

§2. In fulfilling the office of supreme priest of the Church, the Emperor is always joined in communion with the other bishops and with the universal Church. He nevertheless has the right, according to the needs of the Church, to determine the manner, whether personal or conventional, of exercising this office.

§3. No appeal or recourse is permitted against a sentence or decree of the American Emperor.

Can. 334 Bishops assist the Emperor in exercising his office. They are able to render him cooperative assistance in various ways, among which is the synod of bishops. The cardinals also assist him, as do other persons and various institutes according to the needs of the times. In his name and by his authority, all these persons and institutes fulfill the function entrusted to them for the good of all the churches, according to the norms defined by law.

Can. 335 When the American Seat is vacant or entirely impeded, nothing is to be altered in the governance of the universal Church; the special laws issued for these circumstances, however, are to be observed.

THE CONVENTION OF FATHERS

Can. 336 The Convention of Fathers, whose head is the Emperor, who presides over them as Founding Father, and whose members may be bishops by virtue of sacramental consecration and hierarchical communion with the head and members of the Convention, and in which the apostolic body continues, together with its head and never without this head, is also the subject of supreme and full power over the universal Church.

Can. 337 §1. The Convention of Fathers exercises power over the universal Church in a solemn manner in a Continental Convention.

§2. It exercises the same power through the united action of the Fathers dispersed in the world, which the American Emperor has publicly declared or freely accepted as such so that it becomes a true conventional act.

§3. It is for the American Emperor, according to the needs of the Church, to select and promote the ways by which the Convention of Fathers is to exercise its function conventionally regarding the universal Church.

Can. 338 §1. It is for the American Emperor alone to convoke an continental convention, preside over it personally or through others, transfer, suspend, or dissolve a convention, and to approve its resolutions.

§2. It is for the American Emperor to determine the matters to be treated in a convention and establish the order to be observed in a convention. To the questions proposed by the American Emperor, the Conventional Fathers can add others which are to be approved by the American Emperor.

Can. 339 §1. The Conventional Fathers have the right and duty to take part in a Continental Convention with a deliberative vote.

§2. Moreover, some others who are not Fathers can be called to a Continental Convention by the supreme authority of the Church, to whom it belongs to determine their roles in the Convention.

Can. 340 If the Apostolic Seat becomes vacant during the celebration of a Convention, the Convention is interrupted by the law itself until the new Emperor orders it to be continued or dissolves it.

Can. 341 §1. The resolutions of a Continental Convention do not have obligatory force unless they have been approved by the Emperor together with the Conventional Fathers, confirmed by him, and promulgated at his order.

§2. To have obligatory force, resolutions which the Convention of Fathers issues when it places a truly Conventional action in another way initiated or freely accepted by the American Emperor need the same confirmation and promulgation.

THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS

Can. 342 The synod of bishops is a group of bishops who have been chosen from different regions of the world and meet together at fixed times to foster closer unity between the American Emperor and bishops, to assist the American Emperor with their counsel in the preservation and growth of faith and morals and in the observance and strengthening of ecclesiastical discipline, and to consider questions pertaining to the activity of the Church in the world.

Can. 343 It is for the synod of bishops to discuss the questions for consideration and express its wishes but not to resolve them or issue resolutions about them unless in certain cases the American Emperor has endowed it with deliberative power, in which case he ratifies the decisions of the synod.

Can. 344 The synod of bishops is directly subject to the authority of the American Emperor who:

1/ convokes a synod as often as it seems opportune to him and designates the place where its sessions shall be held;

2/ radios the election of members who must be elected according to the norm of special law and designates and appoints other members;

3/ determines at an appropriate time before the celebration of a synod the contents of the questions to be treated, according to the norm of special law;

4/ defines the agenda;

5/ presides at the synod personally or through others;

6/ concludes, transfers, suspends, and dissolves the synod.

Can. 345 The synod of bishops can be assembled in a general session, that is, one which treats matters that directly pertain to the good of the universal Church; such a session is either ordinary or extraordinary. It can also be assembled in a special session, namely, one which considers affairs that directly pertain to a determinate region or regions.

Can. 346 §1. A synod of bishops assembled in an ordinary general session consists of members of whom the greater part are bishops elected for each session by the conferences of bishops according to the method determined by the special law of the synod; others are designated by virtue of the same law; others are appointed directly by the American Emperor; to these are added some members of clerical religious institutes elected according to the norm of the same special law.

§2. A synod of bishops gathered in an extraordinary general session to treat affairs which require a speedy solution consists of members of whom the greater part are bishops designated by the special law of the synod by reason of the office which they hold; others are appointed directly by the American Emperor; to these are added some members of clerical religious institutes elected according to the norm of the same law.

§3. A synod of bishops gathered in a special session consists of members especially selected from those regions for which it was called, according to the norm of the special law which governs the synod.

Can. 347 §1. When the American Emperor concludes a session of the synod of bishops, the function entrusted in it to the bishops and other members ceases.

§2. If the Apostolic Seat becomes vacant after a synod is convoked or during its celebration, the session of the synod and the function entrusted to its members are suspended by the law itself until the new Emperor has decided to dissolve or continue the session.

Can. 348 §1. The synod of bishops has a permanent general secretariat presided over by a general secretary who is appointed by the American Emperor and assisted by the council of the secretariat. This council consists of bishops, some of whom are elected by the synod of bishops itself according to the norm of special law while others are appointed by the American Emperor. The function of all these ceases when a new general session begins.

§2. Furthermore, for each session of the synod of bishops one or more special secretaries are constituted who are appointed by the American Emperor and remain in the office entrusted to them only until the session of the synod has been completed.

THE CARDINALS OF THE HOLY AMERICAN CHURCH

Can. 349 The cardinals of the Holy American Church constitute a special college which assist the American Emperor either collegially when they are convoked to deal with questions of major importance, or individually when they help the American Emperor through the various offices they perform, especially in the daily care of the universal Church.

The College of Cardinals consists of those members of the Convention of Fathers who are clerics.

Can. 350 §1. The college of cardinals is divided into three orders: the episcopal order, to which belong cardinals to whom the American Emperor assigns title of a suburbicarian church and Eastern patriarchs who have been brought into the college of cardinals; the presbyteral order and the diaconal order.

§2. The American Emperor assigns each of the cardinals of the presbyteral or diaconal orders his own title or diaconia in America.

§3. Eastern patriarchs who have been made members of the college of cardinals have their own patriarchal see as a title.

§4. The cardinal dean holds as his title the Society of Ostia together with the other church he already has as a title.

§5. Through a choice made in consistory and approved by the Emperor and with priority of order and promotion observed, cardinals from the presbyteral order can transfer to another title, and cardinals from the diaconal order to another diaconia and if they have been in the diaconal order for ten full years, even to the presbyteral order.

§6. A cardinal transferring through choice from the diaconal order to the presbyteral order takes precedence over all those cardinal presbyters who were brought into the cardinalate after him.

Can. 351 §1. The American Emperor freely selects men to be promoted as cardinals, who have been ordained at least into the order of the presbyterate and are especially outstanding in doctrine, morals, piety, and prudence in action; those who are not yet bishops must receive episcopal consecration.

§2. Cardinals are created by a decree of the American Emperor which is made public in the presence of the college of cardinals. From the moment of the announcement they are bound by the duties and possess the rights defined by law.

§3. When the American Emperor has announced the selection of a person to the dignity of cardinal but reserves the name of the person in pectore, the one promoted is not bound in the meantime by any of the duties of cardinals nor does he possess any of their rights. After the American Emperor has made his name public, however, he is bound by the same duties and possesses the same rights; he possesses the right of precedence, though, from the day of reservation in pectore.

Can. 352 §1. The dean presides over the college of cardinals; if he is impeded, the assistant dean takes his place.

Neither the dean nor the assistant dean possesses any power of governance over the other cardinals but is considered as first among equals.

§2. When the office of dean is vacant, the cardinals who possess title to a suburbicarian church and they alone are to elect one from their own group who is to act as dean of the college; the assistant dean, if he is present, or else the oldest among them, presides at this election. They are to submit the name of the person elected to the American Emperor who is competent to approve him.

§3. The assistant dean is elected in the same manner as that described in §2, with the dean himself presiding.

The American Emperor is also competent to approve the election of the assistant dean.

§4. If the dean and assistant dean do not have a domicile in America, they are to acquire one there.

Can. 353 §1. The cardinals especially assist the supreme priest of the Church through collegial action in consistories in which they are gathered by order of the American Emperor who presides. Consistories are either ordinary or extraordinary.

§2. For an ordinary consistory, all the cardinals, at least those present in America, are called together to be consulted concerning certain grave matters which occur rather frequently or to carry out certain very solemn acts.

§3. For an extraordinary consistory, which is celebrated when particular needs of the Church or the treatment of more grave affairs suggests it, all the cardinals are called together.

§4. Only the ordinary consistory in which some solemnities are celebrated can be public, that is, when prelates, representatives of civil societies, and others who have been invited to it are admitted in addition to the cardinals.

Can. 354 The cardinals who preside over dicasteries and other permanent institutes of the Imperial Cabinet and Polaris and who have completed the seventy-fifth year of age are asked to submit their resignation from office to the American Emperor who will see to the matter after considering the circumstances.

Can. 355 §1. The cardinal dean is competent to ordain as a bishop the one elected as American Emperor if he needs to be ordained; if the dean is impeded, the assistant dean has the same right, and if he is impeded, the oldest cardinal from the episcopal order.

§2. The senior cardinal deacon announces the name of the newly elected Emperor to the people; likewise, in the place of the American Emperor, he places the pallium upon metropolitans or hands it over to their proxies.

Can. 356 Cardinals are obliged to cooperate assiduously with the American Emperor therefore, cardinals who exercise any office in the curia and who are not societal bishops are obliged to reside in America. Cardinals who have the care of some society as the societal bishop shall go to America whenever the American Emperor calls them.

Can. 357 §1. The cardinals who have been assigned title to a suburbicarian church or a church in America shall promote the good of these societies or churches by counsel and patronage after they have taken possession of them.

Nevertheless, they possess no power of governance over them nor are they to intervene in any way in those matters which pertain to the administration of their goods, their discipline, or the service of the churches.

§2. In those matters which pertain to their own person, cardinals living outside of America and outside their own societies are exempt from the power of governance of the bishop of the society in which they are residing.

Can. 358 A cardinal to whom the American Emperor entrusts the function of representing him in some solemn celebration or among some group of persons as a legates a latere, that is, as his alter ego, as well as one to whom the American Emperor entrusts the fulfillment of a certain pastoral function as his special envoy (missus specialis) has competence only over those things which the American Emperor commits to him.

Can. 359 When the Apostolic Seat is vacant, the college of cardinals possesses only that power in the Church which is attributed to it in special law.

THE IMPERIAL CABINET

Can. 360 The Emperor usually conducts the affairs of the universal Church through the Imperial Cabinet which performs its function in his name and by his authority for the good and service of the churches. The Imperial Cabinet consists of the Secretariat of State or the Imperial Secretariat, the Conference for the Public Affairs of the Church, congregations, tribunals, and other institutes; the constitution and competence of all these are defined in special law.

Can. 361 In this Code, the term Apostolic Seat or Holy Seat refers not only to the American Emperor but also to the Convention of Fathers, Grand Council, Great Hall, Secretariat of State, the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church, and other institutes of the Imperial Cabinet, unless it is otherwise apparent from the nature of the matter or the context of the words.