He Pope Francisco announced this Sunday the creation of 21 new cardinalsamong which are three Argentines, a Colombian and a Venezuelan.
“I am happy to announce that on September 30 I will celebrate a Consistory for the creation of new cardinals”, announced the pope, after his weekly Angelus prayer from the window of the Apostolic Palace in St. Peter’s Square.
“Its provenance expresses the universality of the Church, which continues to proclaim God’s merciful love for all men on earth”added the Argentine pontiff.
The cardinals, who wear red cassocks, are the pope’s chief advisers and administrators. Those who are under 80 (18 of the next 21 new cardinals) will participate in the vote to name the successor to the 86-year-old Argentine pope.
They will be created during a Consistory (an assembly of cardinals) that will take place at the end of September. It will be the ninth for the creation of cardinals under Francis, who is in the 10th year of his papacy.
These appointments are closely watched, and are seen as an indication of the direction the Catholic Church will take and its priorities for its 1.3 billion claimed faithful around the world.
Since becoming pope, Francis has tried to promote clergy from developing countries and far from Rome, in line with his philosophy of promoting diversity and inclusion.
The list of future new cardinals announced Sunday includes clergy from regions where the Church is expanding, such as Latin America, Africa and Asia.
the next cardinals
The Argentines are Monsignor Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the powerful Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith; Ángel Sixto Rossi, Archbishop of Córdoba; and Luis Pascual Dri, a confessor at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Pompeii but who, being over 80 years old, could not participate in an eventual conclave.
The new appointments also include the archbishop of Bogotá, the Colombian Luis José Rueda Aparicio and the Venezuelan Diego Rafael Padrón Sánchez, archbishop emeritus of Cumaná. The latter, due to his age, would not have the right to vote either.
Two Spaniards also appear on the list: the new archbishop of Madrid, José Cobo Cano, and the major rector of the Salesians, Ángel Fernández Artime.
The archbishops of Juba (South Sudan), Cape Town (South Africa), Tabora (Tanzania), as well as the bishops of Penang (Malaysia) and Hong Kong will also be named cardinals.
The Italian Claudio Gugerotti, currently prefect of the Department for the Oriental Churches, is also on the list.
The last consistory took place in August 2022, when Francis created 20 cardinals.
At the end of that consistory, the pope had chosen, since the beginning of his pontificate, about 90 of the 132 cardinals with the right to vote in the conclave that will designate the next head of Catholics, that is, almost two thirds of the total.
It is a determining figure in the event of the election of the pope, since a two-thirds majority is precisely required for white smoke to rise from the Vatican.
Source: AFP
Source: Gestion
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