Assistant at the Pontifical Throne

Bishops-Assistant at the Pontifical Throne are those prelates who belong to the Papal Chapel (Capella Pontifica), and hold toward the {ln:Pope} much the same relation as cathedral canons do to their bishop. At solemn functions these Assistants, adorned with cope and mitre, surround the throne of the {ln:Pope} , while other bishops are not privileged to be in his immediate vicinity. To this College of Assistants belong ex officio and those archbishops and bishops to whom the {ln:Pope} has granted the privilege by brief. The Throne Assistants rank immediately after the Cardinals. They are privileged to celebrate Mass in private oratories and to dispose of a certain sum from their episcopal benefices in favour of clerics or their own relations, or to lay it aside for their own obsequies. These Throne-Assistants are always created Counts of the Apostolic Palace, and they belong to the Pontifical Family.