Today marks not only Pope Francis’ fifth red hat day, with the ceremonies to begin at 4 pm Roman time, but also an historical change in the composition of the College of Cardinals, albeit one with, on first glance, little effect on the day to day affairs of the Church.
The College of Cardinals is divided into three ranks: the cardinal-deacons, cardinal-priests and cardinal-bishops. Of these, the cardinal-bishops are of the highest rank and also the smallest of the three groups. Traditionally, the cardinal-bishops were the bishops of the seven* suburbicarian sees, the ancient dioceses surrounding Rome. Before 1962, these cardinals were the actual bishops of the suburbicarian sees, but in that year the position became titular and the dioceses received bishops who had the time to actual manage them.
The cardinal-bishops remained the highest order of cardinals, however, and from their ranks the dean and vice-dean of the entire College were chosen. In times of a sede vacante this becomes most visible, as the dean has the duty of calling the other cardinals to Rome and organising the conclave to elect a new pope. Today, the Dean of the College of Cardinals is the cardinal-bishop of Albano and Ostia, Cardinal Angelo Sodano**.
In 1965, the order of cardinal-bishops was expanded by the addition of those patriarchs of eastern Churches in union with Rome who were made cardinals. There are three of these today: the Coptic patriarch and the current and previous Maronite patriarchs. After today’s consistory, they will be joined by the Chaldean patriarch. These eastern cardinal-bishops, while equal in rank to the others, receive no suburbicarian see and do not participate in the election of dean and vice-dean (they are also unable to be elected themselves)***.
Over the centuries, but especially in the last decades, the College of Cardinals has continuously grown in size. For example, about a century ago, the conclave that elected Pope Benedict XV consisted of 57 cardinals (a further 8 were unable to take part), while following today’s consistory, there will be 125 electors. This growth took part solely in the ranks of the cardinal-deacons and the cardinal-priests. The cardinal-bishops steadfastly remained limited to the holders of the suburbicarian sees. To remedy that, Pope Francis decided to select four cardinals to be elevated to the rank of cardinal-bishops. They keep their current title churches and duties, but it may be assumed that they are now first in line to be moved to a suburbicarian see when one falls vacant. The four new cardinal-bishops are full members of the highest section of the hierarchy in all respects, and can vote for and be elected as dean or vice-dean. Canons 350 and 352 of the Code of Canon Law limit this to the holders of the suburbicarian sees, but that limitation has been waived for the new cardinal-bishops.
For this honour, which is simultaneously an obligation, Pope Francis has selected four cardinals from three different countries, who all work in the Curia in Rome.
Pietro Cardinal Parolin, Secretary of State, 63. Perhaps the most important rising star in Francis’ papacy. A trained diplomat, the erstwhile Nuncio to Venezuela was called to Rome in 2013 to succeed Cardinal Bertone as Secretary of State. In 2014 he was made a cardinal with the title of Santi Simone e Giuda Taddeo a Torre Angela, and was added to the Council of Cardinals, the C9, that assists the pope in reforming the Curia, about a year after that group was established.
Leonardo Cardinal Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, 74. Argentinean like the pope, Cardinal Sandri is also a diplomat, having served as Nuncio to Venezuela and Mexico before joining the Secretariat of State as Substitute for General Affairs in 2000. He became Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches in 2007 and was made a cardinal in that same year. Last month, he was one of the cardinal-deacons who were promoted to cardinal-priests. He maintained is title of Santi Biagio e Carlo ai Catinari, as he does with his elevation to cardinal-bishop.
Marc Cardinal Ouellet, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, 74. Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in 2001 and 2002, the Canadian prelate returned home as archbishop of Québec, and was made a cardinal in 2003, with Santa Maria in Traspontina as his title church. Since 2010 he serves as prefect of the congregation which controls the appointing of bishops around the world.
Fernando Cardinal Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, 72. Like two of his three classmates a diplomat, having served as Nuncio in Jordan, Iraq and the Philippines. Like Cardinal Sandri, he also served as Substitute for General Affairs in the Secretariat of State, from 2007 to 2011. In that latter year he became Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, and was made a cardinal in 2012. He holds the title of Nostra Signora do Coromoto in San Giovanni di Dio.
In paractice these changes mean that Cardinals Parolin, Sandri, Ouellet and Filoni are among the most significant collaborators of the pope, and when the time for a conclave comes, it will be Cardinal Parolin who will oversee the proceedings: he will take on those duties that Cardinal Sodano is unable to because of his age.
With these elevations and the creation of fourteen new cardinals today, the makeup of the entire College of Cardinals is listed below. In bold are those cardinals under the age of 80, who can vote in a conclave. Their duties and offices are summarised here. In many cases, especially for cardinals working in the curia, they have or had several functions. I have chosen to list only their most prominent or best-known roles.
Cardinal-Bishops
- Angelo Cardinal Sodano: Dean of the College of Cardinals, Secretary of State emeritus
- Giovanni Battista Cardinal Re: Vice-Dean of the College of Cardinals, Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Bishops
- Roger Cardinal Etchegaray: President emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
- Francis Cardinal Arinze: Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
- Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone: Secretary of State emeritus
- José Cardinal Saraiva Martins: Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints
- Pietro Cardinal Parolin: Secretary of State
- Leonardo Cardinal Sandri: Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches
- Marc Cardinal Ouellet: Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops
- Fernando Cardinal Filoni: Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples
- Nasrallah Pierre Cardinal Sfeir: Patriarch emeritus of Antioch (Maronite Rite)
- Antonios Cardinal Naguib: Patriarch emeritus of Alexandria (Coptic Rite)
- Béchara Pierre Cardinal Raï: Patriarch of Antioch (Maronite Rite)
- Louis Raphaël I Cardinal Sako: Patriarch of Babylon (Chaldean Rite)
Cardinal-Priests
- Michael Michai Cardinal Kitbunchu: Archbishop emeritus of Bangkok
- Alexandre Cardinal do Nascimento: Archbishop emeritus of Luanda
- Godfried Cardinal Danneels: Archbishop emeritus of Mechelen-Brussel
- Thomas Stafford Cardinal Williams: Archbishop emeritus of Wellington
- Henryk Roman Cardinal Gulbinowicz: Archbishop emeritus of Wroclaw
- Jozef Cardinal Tomko: Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples
- Paul Cardinal Poupard: President emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Culture, President emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue
- Friedrich Cardinal Wetter: Archbishop emeritus of München und Freising
- Adrianus Johannes Cardinal Simonis: Archbishop emeritus of Utrecht
- Eduardo Cardinal Martínez Somalo: Prefect emeritus of the Consecration for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
- Achille Cardinal Silvestrini: Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches
- José Freire Cardinal Falcão: Archbishop emeritus of Brasília
- Alexandre José María Cardinal dos Santos: Archbishop emeritus of Maputo
- Christian Wiyghan Cardinal Tumi: Archbishop emeritus of Douala
- Edward Idris Cardinal Cassidy: President emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
- Nicolás de Jesús Cardinal López Rodríguez: Archbishop emeritus of Santo Domingo
- Roger Michael Cardinal Mahony: Archbishop emeritus of Los Angeles
- Camillo Cardinal Ruini: Vicar General emeritus for the Vicariate of Rome, Archpriest emeritus of S. John Lateran
- Henri Cardinal Schwery: Bishop emeritus of Sion
- Jaime Lucas Cardinal Ortega y Alamino: Archbishop emeritus of Havana
- Julius Riyadi Cardinal Darmaatmadja: Archbishop emeritus of Jakarta
- Emmanuel Cardinal Wamala: Archbishop emeritus of Kampala
- Adam Joseph Cardinal Maida: Archbishop emeritus of Detroit
- Vinko Cardinal Puljic: Archbihsop of Vrhbosna
- Juan Cardinal Sandoval Íñiguez: Archbihsop emeritus of Guadalajara
- Jorge Arturo Cardinal Medina Estévez: Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
- James Francis Cardinal Stafford: Archbishop emeritus of Denver
- Salvatore Cardinal De Giorgi: Archbishop emeritus of Palermo
- Serafim Fernandes Cardinal de Araújo: Archbishop emeritus of Belo Horizonte
- Antonio María Cardinal Rouco Varela: Archbishop emeritus of Madrid
- Polycarp Cardinal Pengo: Archbishop of Dar-es-Salaam
- Christoph Cardinal Schönborn: Archbishop of Vienna
- Norberto Cardinal Rivera Carrera: Archbishop emeritus of Mexico
- Marian Cardinal Jaworski: Archbishop emeritus of Lviv
- Janis Cardinal Pujats: Archbishop emeritus of Riga
- Agostino Cardinal Cacciavillan: President emeritus of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See
- Sergio Cardinal Sebastiani: President emeritus of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See
- Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski: Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education
- Crescenzio Cardinal Sepe: Archbishop of Naples
- Walter Cardinal Kasper: President emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
- Geraldo Majella Cardinal Agnelo: Archbishop emeritus of São Salvador de Bahia
- Pedro Cardinal Rubiano Sáenz: Archbishop emeritus of Bogotá
- Theodore Edgar Cardinal McCarrick: Archbishop emeritus of Washington
- Audrys Juozas Cardinal Backis: Archbishop emeritus of Vilnius
- Francisco Javier Cardinal Errázuriz Ossa: Archbishop emeritus of Santiago de Chile
- Wilfrid Fox Cardinal Napier: Archbishop of Durban
- Óscar Andrés Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga: Archbishop of Tegucigalpa and Coordinator of the Council of Cardinals
- Juan Luis Cardinal Cipriani Thorne: Archbishop of Lima
- Francisco Cardinal Álvarez Martínez: Archbishop emeritus of Toledo
- Cláudio Cardinal Hummes: Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Clergy
- Severino Cardinal Poletto: Archbishop emeritus of Torino
- Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran: President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church
- Julián Cardinal Herranz Casado: President emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts
- Javier Cardinal Lozano Barragán: President emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers
- Angelo Cardinal Scola: Archbishop emeritus of Milan
- Anthony Olubunmi Cardinal Okogie: Archbishop emeritus of Lagos
- Gabriel Cardinal Zubier Wako: Archbishop emeritus of Khartoum
- Carlos Cardinal Amigo Vallejo: Archbihsop emeritus of Sevilla
- Justin Francis Cardinal Rigali: Archbishop emeritus of Philadelphia
- Eusébio Oscar Cardinal Scheid: Archbishop emeritus of Rio de Janeiro
- Ennio Cardinal Antonelli: President emeritus of the Pontifical Council for the Family
- Peter Kodwo Appiah Cardinal Turkson: Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development
- Telesphore Placidus Cardinal Toppo: Archbishop emeritus of Ranchi
- George Cardinal Pell: Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy
- Josip Cardinal Bozanic: Archbishop of Zagreb
- Jean-Baptise Cardinal Pham Minh Man: Archbishop emeritus of Ho Chi Minh City
- Philipp Christian Igance Marie Cardinal Barbarin: Archbishop of Lyon
- Péter Cardinal Erdö: Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest
- William Joseph Cardinal Levada: Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
- Franc Cardinal Rode: Prefect emeritus of the Consecration for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
- Agostino Cardinal Vallini: Pontifical Legate for the Basilicas of St. Francis and St. Mary of the Angels in Assisi
- Jorge Liberato Cardinal Urosa Savino: Archbishop of Caracas
- Gaudencio Borbon Cardinal Rosales: Archbishop emeritus of Manila
- Jean-Pierre Bernard Cardinal Ricard: Archbishop of Bordeaux
- Antonio Cardinal Cañizares Llovera: Archbishop of Valencia
- Nicholas Cardinal Cheong Jin-suk: Archbishop emeritus of Seoul
- Seán Patrick Cardinal O’Malley: Archbishop of Boston
- Stanislaw Cardinal DziwiszArchbishop emeritus of Kraków
- Joseph Cardinal Zen Ze-kiun: Bishop emeritus of Hong Kong
- Albert Cardinal Vanhoye: Secretary emeritus of the Pontifical Biblical Commission
- Giovanni Cardinal Lajolo: President emeritus of the Governorate of the Vatican City State and President emeritus of the Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State
- Paul Josef Cardinal Cordes: President emeritus of the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum”
- Angelo Cardinal Comastri: Archpriest of St. Peter and Vicar General for the Vatican City State
- Stanislaw Cardinal Rylko: Archpries of St. Mary Major
- Raffaele Cardinal Farina: Librarian emeritus of the Vatican Apostolic Library and Archivist emeritus of the Vatican Secret Archives
- Seán Baptist Cardinal Brady: Archbishop emeritus of Armagh
- Lluís Cardinal Martinez Sistach: Archbishop emeritus of Barcelona
- André Armand Cardinal Vingt-Trois: Archbishop emeritus of Paris
- Angelo Cardinal Bagnasco: Archbishop of Genova
- Théodore-Adrien Cardinal Sarr: Archbishop emeritus of Dakar
- Oswald Cardinal Gracias: Archbishop of Bombay
- Francisco Cardinal Robles Ortega: Archbishop of Guadalajara
- Daniel Nicholas Cardinal DiNardo: Archbishop of Galveston-Houston
- Odilo Pedro Cardinal Scherer: Archbishop of São Paulo
- John Cardinal Njue: Archbishop of Nairobi
- Estanislao Esteban Cardinal Karlic: Archbishop emeritus of Paraná
- Raúl Eduardo Cardinal Vela Chiriboga: Archbishop emeritus of Quito
- Laurent Cardinal Monsengwo Pasinya: Archbishop of Kinshasa
- Paolo Cardinal Romeo: Archbishop emeritus of Palermo
- Donald William Cardinal Wuerl: Archbishop of Washington
- Raymundo Damasceno Cardinal Assis: Archbishop emeritus of Aparecida
- Kazimierz Cardinal Nycz: Archbishop of Warszawa
- Albert Malcolm Ranjith Cardinal Patabendige Don: Archbishop of Colombo
- Reinhard Cardinal Marx: Archbishop of München und Freising
- José Manuel Cardinal Estepa Llaurens: Military Ordinary emeritus of Spain
- George Cardinal Alencherry: Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly (Syro-Malabar Rite)
- Thomas Christopher Cardinal Collins: Archbishop of Toronto
- Dominik Cardinal Duka: Archbishop of Prague
- Willem Jacobus Cardinal Eijk: Archbishop of Utrecht
- Giuseppe Cardinal Betori: Archbishop of Firenze
- Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan: Archbishop of New York
- Rainer Maria Cardinal Woelki: Archbishop of Köln
- John Cardinal Tong Hon: Bishop emeritus of Hong Kong
- Lucian Cardinal Muresan: Major Archbishop of Fagaras si Alba Iulia (Romanian Rite)
- Baselios Cleemis Cardinal Thottunkal: Major Archbishop of Trivandrum (Syro-Malankar Rite)
- John Olorunfemi Cardinal Onaiyekan: Archbishop of Abuja
- Jesús Rubén Cardinal Salazar Gómez: Archbishop of Bogotá
- Luis Antonio Gokim Cardinal Tagle: Archbishop of Manila
- Vincent Gerard Cardinal Nichols: Archbishop of Westminster
- Leopoldo José Cardinal Brenes Solórzano: Archbishop of Managua
- Gérald Cyprien Cardinal Lacroix: Archbishop of Québec
- Jean-Pierre Cardinal Kutwa: Archbishop of Abidjan
- Orani João Cardinal Tempesta: Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro
- Gualtiero Cardinal Bassetti: Archbishop of Perugia-Città della Pieve
- Mario Aurelio Cardinal Poli: Archbishop of Buenos Aires
- Andrew Cardinal Yeom Soo-jung: Archbishop of Seoul
- Ricardo Cardinal Ezzati Andrello: Archbishop of Santiago de Chile
- Philippe Nakellentuba Cardinal Ouédraogo: Archbishop of Ouagadougou
- Orlando Beltran Cardinal Quevedo: Archbishop of Cotabato
- Chibly Cardinal Langlois: Bishop of Les Cayes
- Fernando Cardinal Sebastián Aguilar: Archbishop emeritus of Pamplona y Tudela
- Kelvin Edward Cardinal Felix: Archbishop emeritus of Castries
- Manuel José Cardinal Macário do Nascimento Clemente: Patriarch of Lissabon
- Berhaneyesus Demerew Cardinal Souraphiel: Metropolitan of Addis Abeba (Ethiopic Rite)
- John Atcherley Cardinal Dew: Archbishop of Wellington
- Edoardo Cardinal Menichelli: Archbishop emeritus of Ancona-Osimo
- Pierre Cardinal Nguyen Van Nhon: Archbishop of Hanoi
- Alberto Cardinal Suárez Inda: Archbishop emeritus of Morelia
- Charles Maung Cardinal Bo: Archbishop of Yangon
- Francis Xavier Kriengsak Cardinal Kovithavanij: Archbishop of Bangkok
- Francesco Cardinal Montenegro: Archbishop of Agrigento
- Daniel Fernando Cardinal Sturla Berhouet: Archbishop of Montevideo
- Ricardo Cardinal Blázquez Pérez: Archbishop of Valladolid
- José Luis Cardinal Lacunza Maestrojuán: Bishop of David
- Arlindo Cardinal Gomes Furtado: Bishop of Santiago de Cabo Verde
- Soane Patita Cardinal Mafi: Bishop of Tonga
- José de Jesús Cardinal Pimiento Rodriguez: Archbishop emeritus of Manizales
- Luis Héctor Cardinal Villalba: Archbishop emeritus of Tucumán
- Júlio Duarte Cardinal Langa: Bishop emeritus of Xai-Xai
- Dieudonné Cardinal Nzapalainga: Archbishop of Bangui
- Carlos Cardinal Osoro Sierra: Archbishop of Madrid
- Sérgio Cardinal da Rocha: Archbishop of Brasília
- Blase Joseph Cardinal Cupich: Archbishop of Chicago
- Patrick Cardinal D’Rozario: Archbishop of Dhaka
- Baltazar Enrique Cardinal Porras Cardozo: Archbishop of Mérida
- Jozef Cardinal De Kesel: Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussel
- Maurice Cardinal Piat: Bishop of Port-Louis
- Carlos Cardinal Aguiar Retes: Archbishop of Mexico
- John Cardinal Ribat: Archbishop of Port Moresby
- Joseph William Cardinal Tobin: Archbishop of Newark
- Anthony Soter Cardinal Fernandez: Archbishop emeritus of Kuala Lumpur
- Renato Cardinal Corti: Bishop emeritus of Novara
- Sebastian Koto Cardinal Khoarai: Bishop emeritus of Mohale’s Hoek
- Jean Cardinal Zerbo: Archbishop of Bamako
- Juan José Cardinal Omella Omella: Archbishop of Barcelona
- Anders Cardinal Arborelius: Bishop of Stockholm
- Lousi-Marie Cardinal Ling Mangkhanekhoun: Vicar Apostolic of Vientiane
- Gregorio Cardinal Rosa Chávez: Auxiliary Bishop of San Salvador
- Joseph Cardinal Coutts: Archbishop of Karachi
- António Augusto Cardinal dos Santos Marto: Bishop of Leiria-Fátima
- Pedro Ricardo Cardinal Barreto Jimeno: Archbishop of Huancayo
- Désiré Cardinal Tsarahazana: Archbishop of Toamasina
- Giuseppe Cardinal Petrocchi: Archbishop of L’Aquila
- Thomas Aquino Manyo Cardinal Maeda: Archbishop of Osaka
- Sergio Cardinal Obeso Rivera: Archbishop emeritus of Jalapa
- Toribio Cardinal Ticona Porco: Prelate emeritus of Corocoro
Cardinal-Deacons
- Renato Cardinal Martino: President emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and President emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People
- Angelo Cardinal Amato: Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints
- Robert Cardinal Sarah: Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
- Francesco Cardinal Monterisi: Archpriest emeritus of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls
- Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke: Patron of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta
- Kurt Cardinal Koch: President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
- Paolo Cardinal Sardi: Patron emeritus of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta
- Mauro Cardinal Piacenza: Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary
- Gianfranco Cardinal Ravasi: President of the Pontifical Council for Culture
- Elio Cardinal Sgreccia: President emeritus of the Pontifical Academy for Life
- Walter Cardinal Brandmüller: President emeritus of the Pontifical Committee of Historical Sciences
- Manuel Cardinal Monteiro de Castro: Major Penitentiary emeritus of the Apostolic Penitentiary
- Santos Cardinal Abril y Castelló: Archpriest emeritus of St. Mary Major
- Antonio Maria Cardinal Vegliò: President emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People
- Giuseppe Cardinal Bertello: President of the Governorate of the Vatican City State and President of the Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State
- Francesco Cardinal Coccopalmerio: President emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts
- João Cardinal Bráz de Aviz: Prefect of the Consecration for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life
- Edwin Frederick Cardinal O’Brien: Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepuclhre of Jerusalem
- Domenico Cardinal Calcagno: President emeritus of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See
- Giuseppe Cardinal Versaldi: Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education
- Prosper Cardinal Grech: Priest of the Archdiocese of Malta
- James Michael Cardinal Harvey: Archpriest of St. Paul-Outside-the-Walls
- Lorenzo Cardinal Baldisseri: Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops
- Gerhard Ludwig Cardinal Müller: Prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
- Beniamino Cardinal Stella: Prefect of the Congregation for Clergy
- Dominique Francois Joseph Cardinal Mamberti: Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura
- Luigi Cardinal De Magistris: Major Pro-Penitentiary emeritus
- Karl-Josef Cardinal Rauber: Apostolic Nuncio emeritus to Belgium and Luxembourg
- Mario Cardinal Zenari: Apostolic Nuncio to Syria
- Kevin Joseph Cardinal Farrell: Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life
- Ernest Cardinal Simoni: Priest of the Diocese of Shkodrë-Pult
- Luis Francisco Cardinal Ladaria Ferrer: Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
- Angelo Cardinal De Donatis: Archpriest of St. John Lateran and Vicar General for the Vicariate of Rome
- Giovanni Angelo Cardinal Becciu: Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints
- Konrad Cardinal Krajewski: Almoner of His Holiness
- Aquilino Cardinal Bocos Merino: Superior General emeritus of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
*Over time, there have been some mergers and splits among these seven sees, but today they are: Albano, Frascati, Ostia, Palestrina, Porto-Santa Rufina, Sabina-Poggio Mirteto and Velletri-Segni.
*The title of Ostia is given to the Dean in addition to his own titular diocese. It has no bishop of its own and it is governed by the vicar-general for the Vicariate of Rome, currently Archbishop Angelo De Donatis, who himself will be made a cardinal today.
***This may be one of the reasons for today’s changes. If a conclave were to be held now, its proceedings would be overseen by Maronite Patriarch Béchara Cardinal Raï, himself not a Roman prelate. This would be so because the dean, at 90, is too old to participate in a conclave and his duties would then automatically fall to the senior cardinal-bishop who is also an elector. Cardinal Raï is the sole elector among the cardinal-bishops today.
Photo credit: [2] Alessia GIULIANI/CPP/CIRIC, [4] CNS/Paul Haring, [5] AP Photo/Andrew Medichini
Yesterday the Holy See published the list of participants in the upcoming Synod of Bishops on the family. Of course, there are the usual suspects: the heads of the Roman Curia departments, the standing members of the Synod and the presidents of the world’s bishops’ conferences, with the latter being default participants in an Extraordinary General Synod, which this one is. Pope Francis has had a personal touch in the selection of several participants; noteable among those are Cardinal Kasper, to all appearances a theologian much appreciated by the Holy Father, but also the vast majority of cardinals he created in his first consistory of last February.
From a local point of view it is interesting to see that no less than four participants come from Belgium, while there is only a single one from the Netherlands and a mere two from Germany. Belgium sends Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard,which was expected as he is the president of the Belgian bishops’ conference, but also his predecessor, Cardinal Godfried Danneels (pictured), as well as Father George Henri Ruyssen of the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. Additionaly, Metropolitan Athenagoras, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in Belgium, attends as a “fraternal delegate”.
This leaves five cardinals who will be given a title church. One of these, being a curial prelate,will be made a cardinal-deacon. He is Archbishop James Harvey, currently the prefect of the Papal Household, but after his creation he will become archpriest of the papal basilica of St. Paul-Ouside-the-Walls. There are five vacant cardinal deaconries, which could be given to him. The one with the longest pedigree is the ancient Santa Maria in Cosmedin (pictured at right), vacant since 1967. Also possible are two deaconries which only recently became vacant: Sant’Anselmo all’Aventino, last held by Cardinal Baldelli until his death in September; and San Pio V a Villa Carpegna, vacant since the passing of Cardinal Sánchez in March.
Archbishop Baselios Cleemis (Isaac) Thottunkal (53), Major Archbishop of Trivandrum of the Syro-Malankarese Church. Pictured at right.
A week from today, on 14 September, Pope Benedict XVI will depart on what is, in some ways, one of the most risky apostolic journeys of his papacy. He will be returning to the Middle East for the fourth time – after Turkey (2006), Jordan, Israel and Palestine (2009) and Cyprus (2010) – and this time the ever-looming spectre of local tensions is very concrete in the form of the civil war raging in next-door Syria. And with Lebanon’s recent history firmly tied up with that of Syria, the papal journey has been in limbo until recently.
The upcoming papal visit will be a three-day affair, with major events careful spaced over the available time. On 14 September, the Holy Father will obviously be welcomed in Beirut, and he will sign the Post-Synodal Exhortation of the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops (which he himself kicked off during his visit to Cyprus two years ago). On 15 September, Pope Benedict will meet with representatives of the government, diplomats, religious leaders (always interesting in a country with a strong Muslim presence) and the world of culture. He’ll also meet with young people, another staple of papal visits abroad, at the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerké. The last day, 16 September, will see a public Mass and the presentation of the Post-Synodal Exhortation, as well as the recitation of the Angelus and the departure ceremony.
It seems that 2011 is shaping up to be the year in which the eastern churches united to Rome are picking new major archbishops and patriarchs (which, I assume, sounds like bad news for those men who are still in good health or relatively young), for, after the Maronite Church elected Bechara Pierre Raï as their patriarch in March and the Ukrainian Church picked Sviatoslav Shevchuk as major archbishop very shortly after that, it is now the Syro-Malabarese Church of southern India to get a new chief shepherd.
Across the world the one Catholic Church is present in various cultures and societies in different ways. Especially in the Middle East we find various Churches which are styled Catholic. Examples are the Armenian Catholic Church, the Coptic Catholic Church and the topic of this blog post, the Maronite Church. These are not separate churches, but churches in ‘full communion’ with Rome. This means what I wrote in my first sentences: rather than different churches assembled under the banner of Rome, they are embodiments of the one Catholic Church in various countries.
In Caelo et in Terra 