It’s been a big month, and that’s mainly due to the consistory of the 18th. In that weekend, the average daily number of visitors was three times as high as normal, and that played its part in making this past month the highest scoring month with awfully close to 8,000 visitors: 7,959. That’s pretty encouraging.
The top 10, as I said above is dominated by posts about the new cardinals, but a few other topics creep in there as well.
Cardinal Eijk holding the bull of his assigned title church
Last week, I tried to predict which title churches and deaconries the new cardinals would be getting. While much was guesswork, I did succeed in making a few reasonable guesses: Sant’ Atanasio might go to Cardinal Muresan or Cardinal Alencherry; Nostra Signora di Guadalupe a Monte Mario to Cardinal Dolan or Cardinal Collins; San Gioacchino ai Prati di Castello to Cardinal Eijk; San Bernardo alle Terme to Cardinal Alencherry; San Giuseppe all’ Aurelio to Cardinal Woelki; San Gerardo Maiella to Cardinal Duka; Santissimo Redentore e Sant’ Alfonso in Via Merulana to Cardinal Dolan or Cardinal Collins; Sacro Cuore di Gesù a Castro Pretorio to Cardinal Ries. I also suggested to San Patrizio would remain vacant and that San Teodoro would go to a cardinal with some link with the Orthodox Churches.
Well, in the end I guessed right three times: Cardinal Allencherry did get San Bernardo alle Terme, Cardinal Dolan got Nostra Signora di Guadalupe a Monte Mario, Cardinal Muresan got Sant’ Atanasio.
Here is the full list of new cardinals with their title churches and deaconries
Fernando Cardinal Filoni, Cardinal-deacon of Nostra Signora di Coromoto in San Giovanni di Dio
Manuel Cardinal Monteiro de Castro, Cardinal-deacon of San Domenico di Guzman
Santos Cardinal Abril y Castellò, Cardinal-deacon of San Ponziano
Antonio Maria Cardinal Vegliò, Cardinal-deacon of San Cesareo in Palatio
Giuseppe Cardinal Bertello, Cardinal-deacon of Santi Vito, Modesto e Crescenzia
Francesco Cardinal Coccopalmerio, Cardinal-deacon of San Giuseppe del Falegnami
João Cardinal Bráz de Aviz, Cardinal-deacon of Sant’ Elena fuori Porta Prenestina
Edwin Frederick Cardinal O’Brien, Cardinal-deacon of San Sebastiano al Palatino
Domenico Cardinal Calcagno, Cardinal-deacon of Santissima Annunciazione della Beata Vergine Maria a Via Ardeatina
Giuseppe Cardinal Versaldi, Cardinal-deacon of Sacro Cuore di Gesù a Castro Pretorio
George Cardinal Alencherry, Cardinal-priest of San Bernardo alle Terme
Thomas Christopher Cardinal Collins, Cardinal-priest of San Patrizio
Dominik Cardinal Duka, Cardinal-priest of Santi Marcellino e Pietro
Willem Jacobus Cardinal Eijk, Cardinal-priest of San Callisto
Giuseppe Cardinal Betori, Cardinal-priest of San Marcello
Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan, Cardinal-priest of Nostra Signora di Guadalupe a Monte Mario
Rainer Maria Cardinal Woelki, Cardinal-priest of San Giovanni Maria Vianney
John Cardinal Tong Hon, Cardinal-priest of Regina Apostolorum
Lucian Cardinal Muresan, Cardinal-priest of Sant’ Atanasio
Julien Cardinal Ries, Cardinal-deacon of San Antonio de Padova a Circonvallazione Appia
Prosper Cardinal Grech, Cardinal-deacon of Santa Maria Goretti
Karl Josef Cardinal Becker, Cardinal-deacon of San Giuliano Martire
San Callisto
As you will have noticed when comparing this list to the one in my previous post, there are five new deaconries and one new title church on the list. The Holy Father is free to create and abolish such churches as he sees fit, of course, but it’s interesting to wonder why some titles remain vacant as new ones are created.
Cardinal Eijk’s title church is San Callisto, located in Trastevere. The church itself dates from the 17th century, although there has been a church dedicated to Saint Pope Callistus I since the 8th century. The holy pope himself reigned in the 3rd century and was martyred and buried on the site where his church now stands. As cardinal-priest of this church, Cardinal Eijk succeeds Corrado Cardinal Ursi, the former archbishop of Naples who died in 2003. The later Popes Pius VII (pope from 1800 to 1823) and Gregory XVI (1831 to 1846) also held this title church.
It is a fairly small church, as Roman churches go, with a single aisle and chapels on either side.
In essence, a cardinal will have little to do with his title church or deaconry, although some are tasked with the financial upkeep of their assigned church or deaconry. All such churches, though, will prominently feature the coat of arms of their cardinal-protector on the facade.
It was a pretty speedy ceremony that expanded the Church’s College of Cardinals to 213, with 125 of them being electors. One of them, of course, being Cardinal Wim Eijk (I’ll have to start using another tag in posts about him from now on). Upon watching the live stream of the creation of the 22 new cardinals, few things stood out, such as the visible emotion on the face of Cardinal Prosper Grech’s he came forward to receive the biretta and the lengthy conversation that Cardinal John Tong Hon started with the Holy Father. Most of all, though, it was a scene of joy, for the new cardinals of course, but also for the Church as a whole. These men accepted the invitation to carry more tasks, more responsibility on their shoulders, and they did so with joy.
For now, let’s share that joy with a few more photos of today’s main event.
Cardinal Eijk has received the ring and biretta from the Holy FatherOther cardinals congratulate Cardinal EijkThe youngest member of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Rainer WoelkiBefore the start of the consistory, Cardinals-designate Eijk, Dolan and Tong HonBefore the consistory, Cardinal-designate Monteiro de Castro chats with Cardinal Cañizares LloveraWith his trademark enthusiasm, Cardinal Dolan greets Cardinal SodanoAll doubts about his health cast aside, Cardinal BeckerCardinal George Alencherry blesses the faithful in St. Peter's SquareAn emotional Cardinal Grech
Photo credits:
[1], [2], [3], [4], [11] Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images
[5], [7], [8] AP Photo/Andrew Medichini
[6] AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito
[9], [10] Reuters/Tony Gentile
In Caelo et in Terra 