Sacred College
- noun
:
Colegio Sagrado
- Members of the Sacred College meet regularly to advise the Pope on important church matters.
Examples
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The Cardinals of the Sacred College have assumed trusteeship... ...over the church until a new pope is elected.
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The Sacred College is responsible for electing the new Pope when the position becomes vacant.
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The Sacred College consists of cardinals from around the world who guide the Catholic Church.
Synonyms
3
7.1
A group of Catholic cardinals who elect and advise the pope
A group of senior Catholic church leaders who elect and advise the pope
A group of senior Roman Catholic leaders who advise and choose the pope
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components 'sacred' (holy) and 'college' (a collective body or institution) would cue a B1 learner to a religious institution or group, so part of the meaning is inferable. However, the specific referent — the collective body of cardinals responsible for advising and electing the Pope — is specialized institutional terminology not predictable from the constituents alone, so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Sacred College comes from the image of a holy group: sacred means holy and college means a body of people. In the church, the name was used for the cardinals who meet to 'choose' and 'advise' the Pope, so today Sacred College means the body of cardinals who elect and advise the Pope.