Postquam Verus - The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church Constitution of Sixtus V, as of December 3rd, 1586 Pope Sixtus V in 1586 bound the entire Church Dogmatically. He proclaimed (by the authority of the Holy Spirit) that, due to a precedent found in Scripture, there must never exist any more than 70 men in the Office of Cardinal at a given time - for any reason whatsoever. Should any Pope disobey his decree, and in disobeying it enable there to be MORE than the lawful number of Men in the Office of Cardinal. Sixtus V proclaimed that that superfluity WERE without Office, and their election would be "null, bankrupt and void" The Church WAS called to obedience due to the infallible nature of the text. as it is with ANY infallibly proclaimed document. It is (and has been since the hour it was written in 1586) Dogmatically binding on the Church. More than 70 Cardinals in the College is unlawful! Nobody NOT EVEN THE POPE may change one jot or iota of the Sacred Magisterium handed down by previous Popes and the Magisterial Church. The true RC Church remains bound by the 1586 Proclamation right now/ THIS DAY! Read what Pope Sixtus proclaimed in his text.. "[we,] wishing to follow the command of the Lord made unto Moses, about the 70 men to-be-gathered from amongst the elders of Israel, whom he had known to be the people’s old men, and teachers, so that they might bear with him the burden of the people, and so that he himself would not be weighed down alone, and upon whom, having been led to the door of the Tabernacle, the Spirit rested, with the Lord speaking: about the Council of our brother preachers, we perpetually establish, and ordain, that, into the hereafter, with anumbered all the Episcopal, Sacerdotal, and Diaconal Cardinals of whatsoever order, who now are, and who will be created in the future, that all together, shall, at no time ever exceed the number of 70, and such number shall not be increased for any pretext, occasion, or cause, even most urgent. That if it will have happened, that one (or more [than one]), by us, or by the Roman pontiff existing at that time in the future, either to be chosen or to be pronounced as a cardinal, we decree that an election, creation, and pronouncement of this type to be going to be null, bankrupt, and void, Every Pope from the date of this Magisterial Document abided by it. Only when John XXIII became Pope did he massively increase the number of Cardinals from the 38 that were in Office at the time of the death of Pope Pius XII to the 88 that took part in the Conclave that elected Paul VI. The Siri Thesis aside, Evidence within the Constitution, declares that 18 of the Cardinals who participated IN Paul VI's Election were unlawful!
I got a riddle for you. Suppose the pope obeys the rule, and there are seventy cardinals. Seven recently died, and seven new were just elected. Leading to the number of seventy cardinals. Now what to do if the seven that recently died were resurrected from the dead? This would lead to a situation with seventy seven cardinals. The real question is: Would the Holy Spirit prevent the seven from being resurrected, because now there are already seventy?
If you’re talking about a situation like Lazarus, where they come back to life only to die again, I would think that the seven new guys would be invalidated. If you’re talking about the resurrection of the body at the Final Judgment, as we profess in the Apostles’ Creed, I would think that the College of Cardinals, along with the rest of the Church Militant, would pass out of existence. Riddles are fun.
@mystic Hi! I should imagine the seven new Cardinals would, by the Resurrection of the others, become invalid - but would probably be TOP PRIORITY to receive a red hat when a vacancy in the College came to pass. Clearly God valued the service of the Resurrected ones SO MUCH that He decided to give them back to their sheep! What also would happen if a dead Pope were to suddenly rejoin the land of the living? Pope Pius X for instance. It would be a clear message to the Church that Our Lord had decided that that was that, and a Holier Pope was required. If also, the Queen were to reappear again - Her authority would be re-established and the King would have to step down until her life was ended.
I think John XXIII and successive Popes, especially Bergoglio are in serious error for having gone past the number of Cardinals decreed by Pope Sixtus V. Seventy cardinals total is totally legitimate, and no more are necessary. Ridiculous to name Cardinals to remote outposts like Bergoglio has done. The most obvious thing in an expanded college is that the more cardinals there are, the longer it will take to reach a majority for a new Pope. I hope Bergoglio is not around to call/create another batch of his Cardinals. The one good thing is that almost a dozen liberal Bergoglio cardinals, and some bad picks done by Benedict XVI will turn 80 in a year and won't be able to vote. Hopefully Bergoglio will be gone . But I've noticed ( maybe it's just a coincidence), that the more many people(including me), wish for Bergoglio to be gone, the longer he seems to last.
Hi Kenjiro, thanks for your comment. Yes! what is also not generally known, is that during the period of Our Lord's OLD Covenant , when the High Priest (who became the RC Pope) was governing over Jerusalem, each High Priest was ALSO assisted by a Council of other Priests, the Sanhedrin- again 70 helpers (who along with the High Priest) made up the Council. So this restriction of only 70 helpers is firmly rooted in Scripture, - is quite legitimate and finds it origins long, long ago, more recently at the time of the Old Temple (and the Old Covenant) and the original concept of their being only 70 - dates back to Moses. Also, before they start claiming there is no need for Priestly Celibacy. THAT requirement goes back long before the foundations of the RC Church, OR indeed the Temple in Jerusalem. It originates in a command given by God, through Moses. The Lord asked that the Children of God be bought to Mount Sinai to stand in His Presence. He specified that prior to them standing in His Presence they must be celibate for 3 days. Exodus 19:15 Then he said to the people, “Prepare yourselves for the third day. Abstain from sexual relations.” So, that celibacy law, no doubt applies to not only RC Priests, but also the whole Church, the People of God., Communicants should not be going to Mass and standing in the Presence of God without having been celibate for 3 days. RC Priests HAVE to be celibate, because they are continually in the Presence of the Lord. They minister before the Lord every single day. Whereas, The Priests of the Old Covenant in Jerusalem did NOT!, The Levitical Priests were allowed to have wives, because due to the fact that there were thousands of Priests in Jerusalem at that period of Old Covenant History, the time that each Priest spent Ministering before the Lord in the Temple was rare! When they DID get called to their period of Ministry, (There was a Rota arrangement according to Scripture) These Priests, when their time for a few weeks Ministry was upon them, lived apart from their wives and lived in lodgings in the Temple for the duration of their Ministry. (As Zachariah, is clearly doing when the Archangel Gabriel visits him in the Temple as he is standing in the Presence of the Lord. It is clear that he returned home to St Elizabeth after his period of Ministry is ended. So, Priestly Celibacy IS a lawful requirement, and the entire RC Church need to take Exodus 19:15 seriously also!
I should imagine the seven new Cardinals would, by the Resurrection of the others, become invalid - but would probably be TOP PRIORITY to receive a red hat when a vacancy in the College came to pass. Clearly God valued the service of the Resurrected ones SO MUCH that He decided to give them back to their sheep! 
It would be a clear message to the Church that Our Lord had decided that that was that, and a Holier Pope was required.