New cardinal appointments reveal papal focus

Yesterday, some of the new cardinals created by Pope Francis in his latest two consistories (November 2016 and June 2017) were given their duties in the Roman curia. More than simply an honorary title (although it sometimes is just that), a cardinal is expected to sit on various councils and congregations and so assist the Pope in running the affairs of the world Church. They are expected to be in Rome regularly to facilitate this, which, I imagine, does little to make life easier for some. Cardinal Mario Zenari, for example, serves in daily life as the Apostolic Nuncio to war-torn Syria. He has now been assigned to serve as a member of the Congregation for Oriental Churches as well.

Among the cardinals in question are Jozef Cardinal De Kesel (at left), archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, and Anders Cardinal Arborelius, bishop of Stockholm. They have been appointed as members of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, respectively.

The appointments of both cardinals are logical ones. Cardinal De Kesel has spoken out on numerous occasions on the role of the laity in the Church, and the dignity of human life. His appointment will undoubtedly herald his continued role in the debate about these topics, not least in the context of the Amoris laetitia its interpretation. Cardinal Arborelius has long since been involved with ecumenism, which is unavoidable in a country like Sweden. The Catholic Church is small but growing and has to relate to the secular society of the country and its Lutheran background.

The dicastery to gain the largest number of new members is the Dicastery for Integral Human Development. With five members (Cardinals Patrick D’Rozario (Dhaka, Bangeldesh), Maurice Piat (Port-Louis, Mauritius), John Ribat (Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea), Louis-Marie Ling Mangkhanekhoun (Vientiane, Laos) and Gregorio Rosa Chávez (auxiliary of San Salvador, El Salvador), all from Pope Francis’ favoured ‘peripheries’, it perhaps shows the importance he attaches to the dicastery which he established at the start of this year.

Photo credit: Reuters

 

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Introducing Francis’ new cardinals

So here they are, the seventeen new cardinals created by Pope Francis this morning. All but one were present in St. Peter’s Basilica to receive their red hats and title churches or deaconries. Only Cardinal Sebastian Koto Khoaria remained at home in Lesotho, undoubtedly for reasons of age. The man is 87, after all.

Carlos Cardinal Aguiar Retes, 66, Cardinal Priest of Santi Fabiano e Venanzio a Via Fiorelli, Metropolitan Archbishop of Tlalnepantla, Mexico

Renato Cardinal Corti, 80, Cardinal Priest of San Giovanni a Porta Latina, Bishop emeritus of Novara, Italy

Blase Joseph Cardinal Cupich, 67, Cardinal Priest of San Bartolomeo all’Isola, Metropolitan Archbishop of Chicago, United States of America

Patrick Cardinal D’Rozario, 73, Cardinal Priest of Nostra Signora del Santissimo Sacramento e Santi Martiri Canadesi, Metropolitan Archbishop of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Sérgio Cardinal Da Rocha, 56, Cardinal Priest of Santa Croce in Via Flaminia, Metropolitan Archbishop of Brasília, Brazil

Jozef Cardinal De Kesel, 69, Cardinal Priest of Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Metropolitan Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussel, Belgium

Kevin Joseph Cardinal Farrell, 69, Cardinal Deacon of San Giuliano Martire, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life

Anthony Soter Cardinal Fernandez, 84, Cardinal Priest of Sant´Alberto Magno, Metropolitan Archbishop emeritus of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Sebastian Koto Cardinal Khoarai, 87, Cardinal Priest of San Leonardo da Porto Maurizio, Bishop emeritus of Mohale’s Hoek, Lesotho

Dieudonné Cardinal Nzapalainga, 49, Cardinal Priest of Sant’Andrea della Valle, Metropolitan Archbishop of Bangui, Central African Republic

Carlos Cardinal Osoro Sierra, 71, Cardinal Priest of Santa Maria in Trastevere, Metropolitan Archbishop of Madrid, Easter Rite Ordinary of Spain.

Maurice Cardinal Piat, 75, Cardinal Priest of Santa Teresa al Corso d´Italia, Bishop of Port-Louis, Mauritius

Baltazar Enrique Cardinal Porras Cardozo, 71, Cardinal Priest of Santi Giovanni Evangelista e Petronio dei Bolognesi, Metropolitan Archbishop of Mérida, Venezuela

John Cardinal Ribat, 59, Cardinal Priest of San Giovanni Battista de’ Rossi, Metropolitan Archbishop of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Ernest Cardinal Simoni, 87, Cardinal Deacon of Santa Maria della Scala, Priest of Shkodrë-Pult, Albania

Joseph William Cardinal Tobin, 64. Cardinal Priest of Santa Maria delle Grazie a Via Trionfale, Metropolitan Archbishop of Newark, United States of America, Ecclesiastical Superior of Turks and Caicos Islands.

Mario Cardinal Zenari, 70, Cardinal Deacon of Santa Matria della Grazie alle Fornaci, Apostolic Nuncio to Syria