Pope Francis seems at his studio window for the normal midday blessing of trustworthy and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Sq. at The Vatican, Oct. 6. AP-Yonhap
Pope Francis named 21 new cardinals Sunday, considerably rising the dimensions of the School of Cardinals and additional cementing his mark on the group of prelates who will sooner or later elect his successor.
Amongst these named by historical past’s first Latin American pope have been the heads of a number of main dioceses and archdioceses in South America. They embrace the heads of the Catholic Church in Santiago del Estero, Argentina; Porto Alegre, Brazil; Santiago, Chile; Guayaquil, Ecuador; and Lima, Peru.
The brand new cardinals will get their pink hats at a ceremony, generally known as a consistory, Dec. 8, an essential feast day by itself that formally kicks off the Christmas season in Rome.
Even earlier than Sunday’s announcement, Francis had already named the overwhelming majority of the voting-age cardinals who will sooner or later vote in a conclave to decide on his successor. In keeping with Vatican statistics, earlier than Sunday, 92 of the cardinals below 80 — and thus eligible to vote in a conclave — had been named by Francis, in contrast with 24 named by Pope Benedict XVI and 6 by St. John Paul II.
Added to their ranks on Sunday have been two Vatican officers who maintain positions that don’t often carry with them a cardinal’s rank: the official in command of the migrants part of the Vatican growth workplace, the Rev. Fabio Baggio, and the official who organizes the pope’s overseas travels, the Rev. George Jacob Koovakad.
In a nod to the present synod underway on the Vatican this month debating the way forward for the church, Francis additionally tapped the Rev. Timothy Radcliffe, a British theologian who is among the non secular advisers for the assembly. (AP)
