Consistory

His father was a Segura, his mother a Saenz, so they called him (by old Spanish custom) Pedro Segura y Saenz. Little did his parents guess, as they stood beside the font at his baptism some 49 years ago, that their swarthy infant would one day be a great one of the Church. The diocese of Burgos, Spain, saw his birth. Burgos saw him consecrated as its Archbishop. But only a secret consistory of his peers in the Vatican last week saw Pope Pius XI confer on Burgos' Archbishop the red hat of the cardinalate, making him the titular priest of Rome's Santa Maria in Trastevere.

Created and proclaimed a Cardinal in December 1927, two years had Cardinal Saenz been hatless. According to Spanish tradition, His Most Catholic Majesty King Alfonso XIII should have conferred the hat, in loco Papae. Instead, Cardinal Saenz had it from the hands of the Holy Father himself.

The College of Cardinals now stands: Italian, 27; non-Italian, 31. The College should total 70; there are 12 vacancies.

Not since the present Pope entered the Vatican has the College of Cardinals had its full quota. To fill the vacancies would be: 1) expensive, since Cardinal allowances (except for U. S. Cardinals) are paid by the Pope; 2) embarrassing, for there are many more candidates than places; 3) perhaps impolitic, for already the non-Italian Cardinals outnumber the

Italian. Under former Popes, consistories were held twice yearly. But Pius XI is independent of such tradition. Said Vatican rumor: the next consistory will be called on the 50th anniversary of His Holiness' priesthood, next month.