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To the 13 cardinals created during the ceremony in San Pedro, held in accordance with anti-Covid norms, Francis invited that “the purple-red of the cardinal’s habit, the color of blood, does not become a sign of worldly distinction” .
Adriana Masotti – Vatican City
Seventh ordinary public consistory of Pope Francis, the first characterized by severe precautionary measures due to the pandemic. One hundred people in the Vatican Basilica and two of the new cardinals absent due to impossibility of reaching Rome: the Filipino José Fuerte Advincula, archbishop of Capiz, and Cornelius Sim, apostolic vicar of Brunei, who will also be created cardinals.
A ceremony with masks
Of the thirteen new cardinals created by the Pope, 9 are electors and 4 are non-electors because they are over eighty. At the ceremony, presided over by Francisco at the altar of the Chair, this time there was no embrace of peace between the cardinals, while the rites for the imposition of the hat, the delivery of the ring and the transfer of the title were carried out. according to the usual rite. Many cardinals of the Sacred College followed the celebration connected through the web, while courtesy visits were canceled for the new purple ones.
In the Gospel the indication of the way for the new cardinals
After the greeting addressed to the Pope, at the beginning of the celebration, on behalf of all the new cardinals of Monsignor Mario Grech, Francis, general secretary of the Synod of Bishops, took the floor. The reading chosen for this Consistory was a passage taken from the Gospel of Mark: the Master is with the disciples and for the third time he announces his forthcoming death and resurrection. They go to Jerusalem and it is along the road that the dialogue between Jesus and the 12 takes place. Jesus has just finished speaking when James and John approach him. They want to ask you for a favor that seems decidedly out of place: make sure you can sit next to the Risen Jesus, one on your right and one on your left. “It is not up to me to grant it; it is for those for whom it has been prepared, ”the Lord’s reply. (Listen to the report with the voice of the Pope)
The path of the Church
The path “is the environment in which the path of the Church always unfolds,” Pope Francis said in his homily. “Jerusalem is always ahead of us. The Cross and the Resurrection belong to our history ”. And notice:
This Word of the Gospel has often accompanied Consistories in the creation of new Cardinals. It is not just a “background”, it is an “indication of the way” for us who, today, are on a path together with Jesus, who is advancing on the path in front of us. He is the strength and meaning of our life and our ministry.
Jesus understands the fear of his own and does not abandon them
Today, Francis continued, it is up to those who want to follow Jesus to measure themselves with this Word. Then the disciples had felt dismay and fear at the words of Jesus, thinking about what awaited them in Jerusalem. Jesus understands them:
The Lord knows the state of mind of those who follow him, and that does not leave him indifferent. Jesus never abandons his friends; never neglect them. Even when he seems to go his straight path, he always does it for us. Everything he does, he does for us, for our salvation. And, in the specific case of the Twelve, he does it to prepare them for the test.
The way of Jesus is only one
Jesus wants to “always be with him on his way.” And his way is that of passion, death and resurrection. It is, said the Pope, “the way of the Servant of the Lord. Jesus identifies himself with this path ”. In fact, it says ‘I am the way’. Francisco emphasizes: “This way, not another.” In this context, Francisco pointed out, the “turn” takes place, that is, the manifestation of the desire of the two brothers. ‘Grant us to sit, in your glory, one on your right and one on your left’:
This is another way. It is not the way of Jesus, it is another. It is the way of those who, perhaps without realizing it, “use” the Lord to promote themselves; of those who, as Saint Paul says, seek their own interests and not those of Christ.
Always be alert
If Jesus does not get angry with James and John, the other disciples will be scandalized by his request, but he accuses them saying that they are therefore “out of place.” And it is a temptation, observed the Pope, that can happen to anyone:
Dear brothers and sisters, we all love Jesus, we all want to follow him, but we must always be vigilant to stay on his path. Because with the feet, with the body we can be with him, but our heart can be far away and divert us. Let’s think of so many types of corruption in priestly life. Thus, for example, the purple-red of the cardinal’s habit, which is the color of blood, can become, for the worldly spirit, that of an eminent distinction. And you will no longer be the shepherd with the people. You will feel that you are only the eminence. When you hear that, you will be lost.
A word always necessary for the Church
The Pope highlighted the “stark contrast between Jesus and the disciples.” Him on the road, them out. “Two irreconcilable roads.” For his disciples at risk of confusion and for all, Francis continued, he will live the passion and then he will rise again. “It will finally put them on their way.” The history of this dialogue that we find in the Gospel, not only in Mark, “is a Word that saves, necessary for the Church of all times,” said Pope Francis, who concluded:
Although the Twelve make a bad impression on you, this text has entered the Canon because it shows the truth about Jesus and about us. It is a healthy Word for us today too. We too, Pope and Cardinals, must always reflect on this Word of truth. It is a sharp sword, it cuts us, it is painful, but at the same time it heals us, frees us, converts us. Conversion is precisely this: from going astray, to going the way of God. May the Holy Spirit give us, today and always, this grace.
Prayer to Mary
At the end of the homily a long silence and then the presentation to each new cardinal, in front of the Pope, with the insignia of cardinals. The recitation of the Our Father and the blessing concluded the ceremony. While Francis was going to pay homage to the icon of the Virgin, next to the altar, the final hymn of the Salve Regina seemed to express the will of the cardinals and all those present to entrust the promises of fidelity and service to the Church to the Mother of God. solemnly done today.
