ROME (AP) — Pope Francis on Saturday put in 21 new cardinals, a lot of whom are key figures in his reform agenda: A Dominican preacher who acted because the non secular father for Francis’ current gathering of bishops, a Neapolitan “avenue priest” like himself, and a Peruvian bishop who has strongly backed his crackdown on abuse.
Francis’ tenth consistory to create new princes of the church can be the most important infusion of voting-age cardinals in his 11-year hold forth, additional cementing his imprint on the group of males who will at some point elect his successor. With Saturday’s additions, Francis may have created 110 of the 140 cardinals beneath 80, thus eligible to vote in a conclave.
Francis appeared on the ceremony within the St. Peter’s Basilica with a big bruise on his chin, however presided over the ritual with out obvious issues.
A Vatican spokesman mentioned later Saturday that the bruise was attributable to a contusion Friday morning, when Francis hit his nightstand along with his chin. The pontiff, who turns 88 later this month, appeared barely fatigued on Saturday however carried on as regular with the scheduled ceremony.
Francis has suffered a number of well being issues lately and now makes use of a wheelchair as a consequence of knee and again ache. In 2017, whereas on a visit to Colombia, Francis sported a black eye after he hit his head on a assist bar when his popemobile stopped abruptly.
His consistory brings the variety of voting-age cardinals effectively over the 120-man restrict set by St. John Paul II. But 13 current cardinals will flip 80 subsequent yr, bringing the numbers again down.
This consistory is notable too as a result of the 21 males being elevated aren’t the identical ones Francis named Oct. 6 when he introduced an uncommon December consistory.
One of Francis’ authentic picks, Indonesian Bishop Paskalis Bruno Syukur, the bishop of Bogor, requested to not be made a cardinal “due to his need to develop extra in his life as a priest,” the Vatican mentioned. Francis rapidly substituted him with the Naples archbishop, Domenico Battaglia, recognized for his pastoral work within the slums and tough components of Naples.
Which nation will get essentially the most new cardinals?
Battaglia is certainly one of 5 Italians getting the pink hat, preserving the once-dominant Italian presence within the College of Cardinals sturdy. Turin is getting a cardinal in its archbishop, Roberto Repole, as is Rome: Baldassare Reina, who on the identical day Francis introduced he was changing into a cardinal additionally discovered that Francis had promoted him to be his high administrator for the diocese of Rome.
Francis, who’s technically bishop of Rome, has been conducting a years-long reorganization of the Rome diocese and its pontifical universities. Reina – who can be grand chancellor of the pre-eminent Pontifical Lateran University – will probably be anticipated to execute the reform.
Another Italian is the oldest cardinal: Angelo Acerbi, a 99-year-old retired Vatican diplomat. He is the one one among the many 21 new cardinals to be older than 80 and thus ineligible to vote in a conclave. Francis’ picks on Saturday additionally embrace the youngest cardinal: the 44-year-old head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Melbourne, Australia, Mykola Bychok.
“I feel that there’s a particular signal which was made by the Pope to appoint me because the youngest cardinal on this planet,” Bychok mentioned. “Ukraine has been preventing for 3 years, formally and possibly unofficially from 2014, after the occupation of the Crimean Peninsula and two areas, Donetsk and Lugansk. … Maybe my weak voice will assist to cease this battle not solely in Ukraine, however as effectively in different international locations all over the world.”
Yet one other Italian is certainly one of two Vatican monks who do jobs within the Holy See that don’t often carry the pink hat: Fabio Baggio is undersecretary within the Vatican growth workplace. Francis additionally determined to make a cardinal out of George Jacob Koovakad, the priest who organizes the pope’s overseas travels.
Other picks have high-profile roles in Francis’ reforms.
The archbishop of Lima, Peru, Carlos Gustavo Castillo Mattasoglio, made headlines just lately due to a rare essay he penned for El Pais newspaper by which he referred to as for the suppression of an influential Peruvian Catholic motion, the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, which additionally has a presence within the U.S.
Castillo referred to as the group a “failed experiment” of the church in Latin America, certainly one of a number of conservative, right-wing actions that cropped up within the Nineteen Seventies and Eighties as a counterweight to the extra left-leaning liberation theology.
“My speculation is that the Sodalitium obeys a political venture,” Castillo wrote. “It is the resurrection of fascism in Latin America, artfully utilizing the church via sectarian strategies.”
Francis has just lately expelled the Sodalitium’s founder and a number of high members following a Vatican investigation.
What are the geographic breakdowns?
Castillo is certainly one of 5 new Latin American cardinals named by historical past’s first Latin American pope. They embrace the archbishop of Santiago del Estero, Argentina, Vicente Bokalic Iglic; the archbishop of Porto Alegre, Brazil, Jaime Spengler; the archbishop of Santiago, Chile, Fernando Natalio Chomali Garib and the archbishop of Guayaquil, Ecuador, Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera.
Francis has lengthy sought to broaden the geographic range of the College of Cardinals to point out the universality of the church, significantly the place it’s rising. Asia obtained two new cardinals: Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, the archbishop of Tokyo; and Pablo Virgilio Sinogco David, the bishop of Kalookan, Philippines. Africa additionally obtained two new cardinals: the archbishop of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Ignace Bessi Dogbo, and the bishop of Algiers, Algeria, Jean-Paul Vesco.
“There hasn’t been an African pope, but it surely’s a risk within the church,” Dogbo mentioned in an interview on the eve of his set up. “And I feel that this eventuality — which isn’t essentially a requirement — if this eventuality had been to come up, the common church must be able to take it on.”
Francis additionally tapped the archbishop of Tehran, Iran, Dominique Joseph Mathieu, the bishop of Belgrade, Serbia, Ladislav Nemet, whereas the lone North American cardinal named is the archbishop of Toronto, Frank Leo.
The Lithuanian-born cardinal-elect, Rolandas Makrickas, has a particular job on this hold forth: As the archpriest of the St. Mary Major basilica, he hosts Francis each time the pope returns from a overseas journey, because the pope likes to wish earlier than an icon of the Madonna within the church. Additionally, Makrickas oversaw a current monetary reform of the basilica and would have been concerned in figuring out the longer term ultimate resting place for Francis, because the Argentine pope has mentioned he will probably be buried there.
The pope’s preacher
Perhaps essentially the most acquainted new cardinal to anybody who has been following Francis’ reform agenda is the Dominican Timothy Radcliff, the non secular father of the just-concluded synod, or gathering of bishops. The years-long course of aimed to make the church extra inclusive and attentive to the wants of rank-and-file Catholics, particularly ladies.
A British theologian, the white-robed Radcliffe usually offered clarifying, if not humorous interventions through the weeks-long debate and retreats. At one level he set off a mini-firestorm by suggesting that exterior monetary pressures influenced African bishops to reject Francis’ permission to permit blessings for homosexual {couples}. He later mentioned he simply meant that the African Catholic Church is beneath strain from different well-financed faiths.
As the synod was winding down, he provided some beneficial perspective.
“Often we are able to don’t know as to how God’s windfall is at work in our lives. We do what we consider to be proper and the remainder is within the fingers of the Lord,” he advised the gathering. “This is only one synod. There will probably be others. We wouldn’t have to do all the pieces, simply attempt to take the subsequent step.”
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Associated Press author Giada Zampano in Rome contributed to this report.
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