Pope Francis installed 21 new cardinals on Saturday, many of whom are key figures in his reform agenda: a Dominican pastor who acted as the spiritual father for Francis’ recent meeting of bishops, a Neapolitan “street priest” like himself, and a Peruvian bishop. who has strongly supported his crackdown on abuse.
Francis’s 10th consistory to create new princes of the church is also the largest influx of voting-age cardinals in his 11-year pontificate, further extending his mark on the group of men who will one day choose his successor strengthened. With Saturday’s additions, Francis will have created 110 of the 140 cardinals under 80, thus eligible to vote in a conclave.
Francis appeared at the ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica with a significant bruise on his chin, but conducted the ritual without any apparent problems.
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A Vatican spokesman said later Saturday that the bruise was caused by a contusion on Friday morning when Francis hit his chin on his bedside table. The pope, who turns 88 later this month, appeared somewhat tired on Saturday but continued with the planned ceremony.
Francis has had several health problems in recent years and now uses a wheelchair due to knee and back pain. In 2017, during a trip to Colombia, Francis suffered a black eye after hitting his head on a support beam when his popemobile stopped suddenly.
An extensive church council
His church council brings the number eligible cardinals well above the limit of 120 men set by John Paul II. But next year, thirteen existing cardinals will turn 80, causing the number to drop again.
This church council is also notable because the 21 men being elevated are not the same ones Francis mentioned on Oct. 6 when he announced an unusual church council in December.
One of Francis’ original choices, Indonesian Bishop Paskalis Bruno Syukur, the bishop of Bogor, asked not to become a cardinal “because of his desire to grow more in his life as a priest,” the Vatican said. Francis quickly replaced him with the Archbishop of Naples, Domenico Battaglia, known for his pastoral work in the slums and rough parts of Naples.
Battaglia is one of five Italians to receive the red hat, ensuring the once dominant Italian presence in the College of Cardinals remains strong. Turin gets a cardinal in its archbishop, Roberto Repole, just like Rome: Baldassare Reina, who on the same day Francis announced he would become a cardinal, also learned that Francis had promoted him to his top administrator for the diocese of Rome.
Francis, who is technically bishop of Rome, has been reorganizing the diocese of Rome and its pontifical universities for years. Reina – who is also grand chancellor of the leading Pontifical Lateran University – is expected to implement the reform.
Another Italian is the oldest cardinal: Angelo Acerbi, a 99-year-old retired Vatican diplomat. He is the only one of the 21 new cardinals who is over 80 and therefore not eligible to vote in a conclave. Francis’ pick on Saturday also includes the youngest cardinal: the 44-year-old head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Melbourne, Australia, Mykola Bychok.
“I think a special sign was made by the Pope to nominate me as the youngest cardinal in the world,” Bychok said. “Ukraine has been fighting for three years, officially and perhaps unofficially from 2014, after occupying the Crimean peninsula and two regions, Donetsk and Luhansk. …Maybe my weak voice will help stop this war, not only in Ukraine but also in Ukraine. other countries around the world.”
Yet another Italian is one of two Vatican priests who hold jobs at the Holy See that don’t normally wear the red hat: Fabio Baggio is an undersecretary at the Vatican’s development office. Francis also decided to make George Jacob Koovakad, the priest who organizes the pope’s foreign trips, a cardinal.
High-profile roles in Francis’ reforms are being singled out
Other choices play a prominent role in Francis’ reforms.
The Archbishop of Lima, Peru, Carlos Gustavo Castillo Mattasoglio, recently made headlines for an extraordinary essay he wrote for the newspaper El Pais, in which he called for the suppression of an influential Peruvian Catholic movement, the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, which also attended is. in the US
Castillo called the group a “failed experiment” by the church in Latin America, one of many conservative, right-wing movements that emerged in the 1970s and 1980s to counterbalance more left-wing liberation theology.
“My hypothesis is that the Sodalitium follows a political project,” Castillo wrote. “It is the resurrection of fascism in Latin America, artfully using the church through sectarian methods.”
Francis recently deported the founder of the Sodalitium and several top members after an investigation by the Vatican.
Castillo is one of them five new Latin American cardinals named by the first Latin American pope in history. Among them are 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 long sought to broaden the region’s geographic diversity College of Cardinals to show the universality of the church, especially where it is growing. Asia gained two new cardinals: Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, the Archbishop of Tokyo; and Pablo Virgilio Sinogco David, the Bishop of Kalookan, Philippines. Africa also received two new cardinals: the Archbishop of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Ignace Bessi Dogbo, and the Bishop of Algiers, Algeria, Jean-Paul Vesco.
“There has not been an African pope yet, but it is a possibility in the church,” Dogbo said in an interview on the eve of his installation. “And I think that this opportunity – which is not necessarily a requirement – if this opportunity were to arise, the universal church should be prepared to take it on.”
Francis also addressed the Archbishop of Tehran, Iran, Dominique Joseph Mathieu, the Bishop of Belgrade, Serbia, Ladislav Nemet, while the only North American cardinal mentioned is the Archbishop of Toronto, Frank Leo.
A more inclusive church
Lithuanian-born Cardinal-elect Rolandas Makrickas has a special role in this pontificate: as Archpriest of St. Mary Major Basilica, he receives Francis every time the Pope returns from a trip abroad, as the Pope likes to pray before an icon of the Madonna in the church. In addition, Makrickas oversaw a recent financial reform of the basilica and is believed to have been involved in identifying the future final resting place for Francis, as the Argentine pope has said he will be buried there.
Perhaps the most familiar new cardinal to anyone who has followed Francis’ reform agenda is Dominican Timothy Radcliff, the spiritual father of the just-concluded synod, or meeting of bishops. The years-long process was aimed at… church more inclusive and responsive to the needs of ordinary Catholics, especially women.
The white-robed Radcliffe, a British theologian, often provided illuminating, if not humorous, interventions during the weeks of debates and retreats. At one point, he sparked a mini firestorm by suggesting that external financial pressures led African bishops to reject Francis’ permission to allow blessings for gay couples. He later said he only meant that the African Catholic Church is under pressure from other well-funded religions.
As the synod drew to a close, he offered valuable perspective.
“Often we have no idea how God’s providence is at work in our lives. We do what we think is right and the rest is in the hands of the Lord,” he told the gathering. “This is just one synod. There will be more. We don’t have to do everything, just try to take the next step.”
