Background of referring to Cardinals as ‘Your Eminence’?

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PeaceBeWithYou

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I hear this phrase a lot in discussions about Cardinals. Are Cardinals superior to anyone? We’re the early Church fathers or Jesus himself called this? Where does this come from? Seems like a strange thing to call somebody. Personally I prefer Father much more.
 
‘Your Eminence’ derives from ‘eminent’. Officially, when a cleric is made a Cardinal, they are made one of the primary clergy of the diocese of Rome. There are Cardinal Bishops, Cardinal Priests, and Cardinal Deacons which denote their status and primacy among the clergy. Cardinal Bishops are Cardinals who hold important positions within the Curia at the Vatican. This rank also includes the Cardinal Patriarchs who are heads of various Eastern Rite Catholic Churches. Cardinal Priests are Archbishops and bishops of historically important dioceses and Cardinal Deacons are made Cardinals through personal decision of the Pope to be included in the College of Cardinals.

When you call a Cardinal ‘Your Eminence’ you are referring to their position as an eminent member of the Diocese of Rome and his relationship of obedience and service with the Pope, just as his priests obey and serve him in his diocese.

They are not superior. They simply have been granted a greater duty in their service to the Pope.

The general address for a normal bishop is ‘Your Excellency’. This has a different origin. ‘Your Excellency’ was a general term for government officials in the Middle Ages, much like ‘Your Lordship’. It became used for Bishops during this time as Bishops generally wielded some sort of civil authority. It is simply tradition that this term of address continued within the Church. Now it represents their spiritual authority.

God Bless,
Br. Ben
 
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It’s a courtesy title, sort of on the order of “Madame Speaker” or “Mr. President”. Unless one is in a position of having to address Cardinals personally or write to them all day long, it hardly comes up.

Usually when I refer to Cardinal Dolan I just say “Cardinal Dolan”, I don’t feel a need to say “Your Eminence Cardinal Dolan”. If I were first meeting him, I’d probably try to use his correct title and let him say whether he wanted to be called something else, as many of them in the US aren’t into the fancy titles. I believe “Cardinal Dolan” is also an appropriate form of address most of the time.

Edited to add, I think the Metropolitans in the Orthodox churches are called “Eminence” too, so it’s not just us.
 
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It’s my understanding that the term originated when cardinals were considered the be a species of prince. This would be in the days when the status of secular princes was derived from recognition by the papacy. I believe a cardinal was held to rank above all secular princes other than sovereigns and the heirs of sovereigns having the rank of crown prince. The grand master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta is considered to be a sovereign prince and has the style of Most Eminent Highness, demonstrating that ‘Eminence’ is associated with princely status. These days, of course, the Church does not invest its clergy with the trappings of secular power and the Holy Father has said that cardinals are not to be regarded as princes.
CRM_Brother said:
The general address for a normal bishop is ‘Your Excellency’.
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Interestingly, in the UK Catholic and Anglican bishops are Right Reverend and may be addressed as ‘My Lord’ (although this is now somewhat old fashioned or excessively formal) and only archbishops are Most Reverend and may be addressed ‘Your Grace’. Only the apostolic nuncio is known as ‘His Excellency’, and that is on account of his diplomatic status. I was rather puzzled when I began to read about bishops who were called ‘Excellency’, as I thought they must all be ambassadors!
 
I fail to see how the name has any basis in the Church. I suspect that Jesus, Peter or any other people that first taught Church teachings were referred to in this manner. Feels very aristocratic to me. I can’t imagine kissing people’s rings and calling them your Eminence or your Excellency.
 
‘Your Eminence’ in it’s current usage comes from the 6th century in Rome when the Latin phrase ‘Cardinalis Tuus’ was used as an address for the eminent clergy of Rome. It literally means ‘Your Eminence’ or ‘Your Chiefness’. It wasn’t until the absorption of northern Italy into the Carolingian Empire that Cardinals were invested with the civil status of a prince, civilly above the Comes (Count Palatine) but below the Emperor. It is actually the fact that the Cardinals were originally called ‘Your Eminence’ that ambassadors and high ranking princes now take the title ‘Eminence’ or ‘Eminent’.

I understand the variation amongst most English speaking countries. UK and some Commonwealth usage of ‘My Lord’ and ‘Your Grace’ derive from the historical origin of the majority of Bishops being from noble families in the Early Middle Ages due to the need for a rather substantial education and solidifying during the reign of Alfred the Great due to his heavy emphasis on reading and writing for both the Lords and Clergy. Tradition has brought this usage down to the modern day. This, however, is vernacular usage.

The American, Kenyan, Tanzanian, Ugandan and Philippine usage of ‘Excellency’ comes from the more traditional formal usage of the Latin ‘Excellentia’. By the decree by the Vatican’s Sacred Congregation on Ceremonial on December 31, 1930, the official address of a bishop is ‘Excellentia Reverendissima’ (the Most Reverend Excellency). In 1969, the Vatican made the ‘Reverendissima’ optional, returning the official formal address to ‘Excellentia’ (Excellency).
 
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CRM_Brother said:
UK and some Commonwealth usage of ‘My Lord’ and ‘Your Grace’ derive from the historical origin of the majority of Bishops being from noble families in the Early Middle Ages due to the need for a rather substantial education and solidifying during the reign of Alfred the Great due to his heavy emphasis on reading and writing for both the Lords and Clergy. Tradition has brought this usage down to the modern day. This, however, is vernacular usage.
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Very informative, thank you! Certainly it is vernacular for Catholic bishops. I think for Anglican bishops it is on a more official footing. The UK, of course, maintains an official order of precedence. The archbishop of Canterbury ranks before all gentlemen of England save some senior members of the royal family and the archbishop of York ranks immediately after the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. Bishops rank below viscounts and above barons. Hence Anglican bishops share rank with peers of the realm. Interestingly, ‘Grace’ was formerly the style of the monarch in Scotland and is still the style of the Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, who is regarded as occupying the place of the monarch for the duration of the Assembly.
 
In New Testament times, Christians were regularly addressed as “holy ones,” i.e., “saints.” (See for example, 2 Corinthians 1:1; Ephesians 1:1; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:1.)
 
Yes, Holy ones and Saints have a biblical basis. I fail to see how these address the Eminence and Excellency names. Do they not mean different things? Seems to me there is no Christian basis for these phrases and they were simply adopted from other institutions. They are synonymous with royalty and not servants of God in my opinion.
 
Those titles don’t really matter so it doesn’t need to be in Scripture.
 
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PeaceBeWithYou said:
I fail to see how the name has any basis in the Church. I suspect that Jesus, Peter or any other people that first taught Church teachings were referred to in this manner. Feels very aristocratic to me. I can’t imagine kissing people’s rings and calling them your Eminence or your Excellency.
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It has basis in the fact that it has become a traditional practice within the Church. It’s a sign of recognition and respect for one’s spiritual authority. I think the reason people are put off by this comes mostly from the modern notion of eschewing authority and formality (this is especially true in the US). People usually cite the Bible or what they think Jesus would expect, but I do believe that it comes from our modern attitude of casualness and informality more than anything else.

Of course, you’re certainly not required to kiss the bishop’s ring. Very few bishops would expect that of you. I do, however, refer to my bishop as “Your Excellency.” It would be weird to call him just “X” or “Fr. X.” I suppose “Bishop X” would work too. Even priests have a formal title: Reverend, Your Reverence, etc.
 
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The titles are ridiculous in my opinion but of course they matter to many people.
 
I’m honestly not getting why this is such a big deal. It’s a form of address and largely historic. It doesn’t suggest that we think the person who is Cardinal is somehow better than everybody else, rather it’s an honorary expression of respect for the office the man holds, at this point. Keep in mind that the Vatican and Cardinals were largely an Italian institution for centuries. It makes sense that they behave in a way that fit with the culture and expected customs/ etiquette of Italy.

Obviously if you’re reading this from 21st-century USA and you think of a Pope as a guy who’s supposed to be humbly riding around on a bus and washing the feet of prisoners, it’s going to seem weird to you (that is, if you give this “titles” thing any sort of thought at all, which I don’t myself because it’s frankly not that important). But one thing to keep in mind is that in the past when people had these lofty titles, it was also a sign that they had great responsibility. They were supposed to be looking after the lower level people in their care.
 
Meh, just asking the question is all. I go to Mass regularly and love the Church. I hope to join the Church someday (I am not even baptized yet). Just find the terms very strange and was curious about their origin. It’s clear the names in no way have any Biblical origin and were simply appropriated from other sources.
 
The Catholic church is full of stuff that has no “Biblical origin” and comes from tradition.
I’m a bit curious why you would expect every practice to have a Biblical origin in the Catholic church?
Seems like a Protestant way of looking at things.
 
Every practice? I clearly never said anything of the sort. I’m talking about two titles here. Nice try I guess.
 
Londoner said:
Interestingly, in the UK Catholic and Anglican bishops are Right Reverend and may be addressed as ‘My Lord’ (although this is now somewhat old fashioned or excessively formal) and only archbishops are Most Reverend and may be addressed ‘Your Grace’. Only the apostolic nuncio is known as ‘His Excellency’, and that is on account of his diplomatic status. I was rather puzzled when I began to read about bishops who were called ‘Excellency’, as I thought they must all be ambassadors!
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In English-speaking Canada, we use a hybrid system. Bishops are addressed as “Your Excellency” but archbishop as “Your Grace”. Here in Vancouver, “Your Grace / His Grace” is very much alive and well for the Archbishop…I’ve used it myself.
 
PeaceBeWithYou said:
Meh, just asking the question is all. I go to Mass regularly and love the Church. I hope to join the Church someday (I am not even baptized yet). Just find the terms very strange and was curious about their origin. It’s clear the names in no way have any Biblical origin and were simply appropriated from other sources.
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First of all, I’m glad you love the Church and I hope you come into full communion! I’m a convert myself, so I know what that feels like!

Regarding titles: again, it’s an interesting development within the Church. Using these kind of titles is not an essential part of being being Catholic, so try not to dwell on it too much. I don’t know if you come from a Protestant background, but they could see the fact that these titles are not in the Bible as a reason not to have them. Remember, Catholics are not a “people of the book.” It’s scripturecand tradition working in unity. Sometimes, the Church does adapt things from the culture around it (for better or worse), and that’s okay.
 
I appreciate the thoughtful reply. I simply asked a question about the titles, which is far from dwelling on them. I have virtually zero background in Christianity but over the course of the past year and a half I have studied different faiths and read the entire Bible. The beauty of the Catholic faith to me are all the direct lines from the Bible to the Church. I don’t think a workable religion could be based solely on the Bible though. The latter part of your reply is very helpful. I firmly believe the Holy Spirit has led to me the Church and that asking questions is a healthy part of growing my faith. God bless you.
 
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Thanks! I’m happy I could help. God bless you too. Good luck on your journey!
 
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