tvc.dsj.org | September 10, 2019
IN THE CHURCH
17
New Cardinals: Pope’s Choices Stress Dialogue, Care for Poor
By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY -- After the consis-
tory to create new cardinals in early
October, Pope Francis will have chosen
more than half of the men who will
enter the Sistine Chapel to elect his
successor.
And despite what critics of Pope
Francis filled social media with Sept. 1
about him setting up the college to elect
a successor just like him, it should be re-
membered that then-Archbishop Jorge
Mario Bergoglio was created a cardinal
by St. John Paul. And he was elected
pope in 2013 in a conclave where 42
percent of the cardinal electors were
created cardinals by St. John Paul and
the remaining 58 percent of the voters
were named by Pope Benedict.
Personal opinions about the needs
of the church at any given moment and
about who would be the best person
to lead obviously are at play in a con-
clave. But the cardinals also invoke the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit and make
a very solemn oath in casting their bal-
lots: “I call as my witness Christ the
Lord, who will be my judge, that my
Pope Francis prays as he arrives for a consistory to create new cardinals in St. Peter’s
Basilica at the Vatican in this June 28, 2017, file photo. The pope announced Sept. 1 that
he will create 13 new cardinals at a Oct. 5 consistory. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
vote is given to the one who before God
I think should be elected.”
After arriving late for the midday
recitation of the Angelus prayer Sep-
tember 1 because he was stuck in an
elevator for 25 minutes, Pope Francis
announced he would create 13 new
cardinals October 5.
Ten of the prelates he chose are un-
der the age of 80 and, therefore, would
be eligible to vote in a conclave to elect
a pope. A cardinal who has turned 80
before the papacy is vacant participates
in pre-conclave meetings to discuss the
needs of the church but does not pro-
cess into the Sistine Chapel and does
not cast ballots for a new pope.
Barring any deaths or resignations,
once the new cardinals receive their
red hats in early October, the College
of Cardinals will have 128 members
eligible to vote in a conclave. Within 10
days of the consistory, four cardinals
will celebrate their 80th birthdays,
leaving 124 electors.
Of those 124, Pope Francis will have
made 66 of them cardinals, which is 53
percent of the electors. The other elec-
tors will include 16 cardinals created by
St. John Paul II and 42 made cardinals
by now-retired Pope Benedict XVI.
While a majority in the next con-
clave will have Pope Francis to thank
for their red hats and new responsi-
bilities, to be elected pope a candidate
must receive two-thirds of the votes.
Announcing the new cardinals,
Pope Francis said they illustrate “the
missionary vocation of the church that
continues to proclaim the merciful
love of God to all men and women of
the earth.”
A commitment to the poor, to car-
ing for migrants and refugees, and to
engaging in dialogue with all people
are characteristics many in the group
of 13 share.
Pope to Create 13 New Cardinals In October
By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis
announced he will create 13 new car-
dinals October 5, choosing prelates
from 13 different nations as a sign of
“the missionary vocation of the church
that continues to proclaim the merciful
love of God to all men and women of
the earth.”
The only Canadian named was
73-year-old Jesuit Father Michael Cz-
erny, undersecretary of the Section for
Migrants and Refugees at the Dicastery
for Promoting Integral Human Devel-
opment. None of the new cardinals is
from the United States.
Cardinal-designate Czerny, who
Pope Francis had earlier named as
a special secretary for the Synod of
Bishops for the Amazon, was in Guara-
rema, Brazil, when the announcement
was made. He told Catholic News
Service in a text message that he had
not known he was going to be made
a cardinal.
Announcing the names of the new
cardinals Sept. 1, the pope included 10
men who are under the age of 80 and
therefore will be eligible to vote in a
conclave to elect a new pope. Three of
the future cardinals are already over
the age of 80, and the pope said he
chose them because of their service to
the church.
“Let us pray for the new cardinals
so that, confirming their adhesion to
Christ, they will help me in my min-
istry as bishop of Rome for the good
of the entire faithful, holy people of
God,” the pope told pilgrims who had
gathered to pray the midday Angelus
with him.
In addition to Cardinal-designate
Czerny, two other members of the
group are also Vatican officials: 67-year-
old Bishop Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot,
president of the Pontifical Council for
Interreligious Dialogue; and 53-year-
old Archbishop Jose Tolentino Medo-
nca, Vatican archivist and librarian.
One of the over-80 cardinals-desig-
nate is 82-year-old Archbishop Michael
Fitzgerald, a Missionary of Africa born
in England, who had served as presi-
dent of the Pontifical Council for Inter-
religious Dialogue and later as Vatican
nuncio to Egypt.
The others, in the order they were
named by the pope, were:
• Archbishop Ignatius Suharyo
Hardjoat modjo of Ja k arta,
Indonesia, 69.
• A r c h b i s h o p Ju a n G a r c i a
Rodriguez of Havana, 71.
• Archbishop Fridolin Ambongo
Besungu of Kinshasa, Congo,
59.
• A r c h b i s h o p J e a n - C l a u d e
Hollerich of Luxembourg, 61.
• Bi shop A lva ro R a ma z z i n i
I me r i of Hue hue t e n a ngo,
Guatemala, 72.
• Archbishop Matteo Zuppi of
Bologna, Italy, 63.
• Archbishop Cristobal Lopez
Romero of Rabat, Morocco, 67.
• Retired Archbishop Sigitas
Ta m k e v i c i u s o f K a u n a s ,
Lithuana, 80.
• Retired Bishop Eugenio dal
Corso of Benguela, Angola, 80.
Pope Appoints Aide, Former Communications Prefect To New Posts
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope
Francis appointed an aide who served
as his English interpreter and the for-
mer prefect of the Vatican Dicastery
for Communication to new posts. The
Vatican announced August 31 that
the pope named Msgr. Mark Miles, a
native of Gibraltar who worked in the
Secretariat of State, as the Holy See’s
permanent observer to the Washing-
ton-based Organization of American
States, also known as OAS. According
to its website, the OAS is “a multilat-
eral regional organization focused
on human rights, electoral oversight,
social and economic development, and
security in the Western Hemisphere.”
The role of Vatican permanent observer
was previously held simultaneously by
the Vatican’s permanent observer at
the United Nations. Fluent in English,
Italian, Spanish and French, Msgr.
Miles served at Vatican embassies in
Ecuador and Hungary before working
at the Secretariat of State. He is better
known, however, as one of the pope’s
English translators at general audi-
ences, during apostolic visits and at
meetings with heads of state, including
U.S. President Donald Trump during
his visit to the Vatican in 2017. The
Vatican said Pope Francis also named
Msgr. Dario Vigano as vice chancellor
of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences
with responsibility for the academy’s
communications sector.