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But with the November 28 consistory during the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis created 13 new cardinals.
Cardinals José F. Advincula of Capiz, Philippines, and Cornelius Sim, Vicar Apostolic of Brunei, did not attend the consistory due to COVID-19 travel restrictions; however, they are officially cardinals and will receive their birettas and rings at a later date, the Vatican said.
In his homily at the prayer service, Pope Francis told the new cardinals that “the scarlet of a cardinal’s robe, which is the color of blood, can, for a worldly spirit, become the color of a ‘ ‘secular’ eminence, the traditional title of respect for a cardinal.
If that happens, he said, “You will no longer be a close pastor to your people. You will consider yourself only as ‘His Eminence’. If you feel that, you are out of the way.”
For cardinals, the Pope said, red should symbolize unconditional following of Jesus, who willingly gave his life on the cross to save humanity.
The Gospel reading at the service, Mark 10: 32-45, included the account of James and John asking Jesus for special honors. “Grant that in your glory we can sit one on your right and the other on your left,” they said. But Jesus reproaches them.
“We too, pope and cardinals, must always see ourselves reflected in this word of truth,” said Pope Francis. “It is a sharp sword, short, it is painful, but it also heals, liberates and converts us.”
According to canon law, cardinals are created when their names are made public “in the presence of the College of Cardinals.” While many Rome-based cardinals attended the consistory, more members of the college were “present” online.
The pandemic also meant that the gathering was unusually small; Each cardinal was accompanied by a priest-secretary and could invite a handful of guests, so there were only about 100 people in the congregation at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica.
Also missing were “courtesy visits,” a reception that lasted several hours in the early afternoon when the general public was invited to the Vatican to greet the new cardinals.
In addition to some Rome-based cardinals, the consistory congregation included the pastors or rectors of the 13 churches in Rome with which the new cardinals were associated. Cardinals are given a “titular” church in Rome, formally making them members of the diocesan clergy of Rome, which is what the early cardinals of the church were.
In fact, the formula for the creation of cardinals, recited in Latin by Pope Francis, says: “It mainly concerns the Church of Rome, but it also affects the entire ecclesial community: we will call some of our brothers to enter the Church. College of Cardinals, so that they may be united to the Chair of Peter by a closer link with our apostolic ministry “.
The titular church of Cardinal Gregory is the Parish of the Immaculate Conception on ancient Via Flaminia in the Grottarossa neighborhood of northern Rome. The church was built in 1935 and became a titular church for the cardinals in 1985.
Cardinal Tomasi’s titular church is the Basilica of Saint Nicholas in Prison, a 12th-century church with a 16th-century facade built on the site of a previous church that was built on the ruins of an ancient temple.
Mexican Cardinal Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel, retired bishop of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Mexico, told Vatican News on November 27 that the new cardinals are called to reconfirm their commitment to make Christ the center of their lives and to “collaborate with him. Pope in his ministry as bishop of Rome, so we are assigned a parish in this city, as a sign of communion between that community and who presides over this local church, which is the Pope.
Maltese Cardinal Mario Grech, general secretary of the Synod of Bishops, was the first to be mentioned by the Pope on October 25 when he announced that he was creating new cardinals. As such, it fell to Cardinal Grech to address the Pope on behalf of the new cardinals.
“Convened in a consistory at such a grave time for all humanity because of the pandemic, we want to return our thoughts to all our brothers and sisters who endure difficulties,” said the cardinal. He prayed that people would react to the pandemic as an “opportunity to rethink our lifestyles, our relationships, the organization of our societies, and especially the meaning of our lives.”
Cardinal Grech also led the others in reciting the Creed and the oath of fidelity and obedience to Christ and his Church and to Pope Francis and his successors.
The new cardinals came from eight countries: Italy, Malta, the United States, Brunei, the Philippines, Mexico, Rwanda and Chile.
Cardinal Gregory, like the other new cardinals coming from outside Europe, was screened for COVID-19 before flying to Rome and again upon arrival. Even after testing negative, he and the others had to remain in quarantine for 10 days and were tested again immediately before the session. Cardinal Gregory stayed at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where Pope Francis lives, and his meals were left outside his door.
In an interview with Catholic News Service, the cardinal said he hopes Pope Francis will find him “understanding, encouraging and trustworthy” in his role as cardinal, but his primary ministry remains that of Archbishop of Washington.
Of course, he said, he regrets that “my two sisters are not here, and the large number of people I know and love from Chicago and Belleville (Illinois) and Atlanta and Washington” who were watching the live broadcast.
One of Cardinal Tomasi’s guests was the pastor of his childhood parish, San Rocco, in Casoni di Mussolente, a city of fewer than 8,000 inhabitants in northern Italy. In the last 80 years, the cardinal told CNS, the parish has produced more than 100 priests and nuns, “and now also a cardinal. I hope it helps to continue the flourishing of vocations in the parish.”
With the consistory, the College of Cardinals now has 229 members, 128 of whom are under 80 years old and eligible to enter a conclave to elect a new pope. Pope Francis has given the red hat to 57% of the voters.
With Cardinals Gregory and Tomasi, who was born in Italy but is a US citizen, the number of US cardinals increased to 16; nine of them are cardinal electors.
The Cardinals entered the college on November 28:
- Grech, 63 years old.
- Marcello Semeraro, Italian Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, 72.
- Antoine Kambanda from Kigali, Rwanda, 62.
- Gregory, 72 years old.
- Advincula, 68.
- Celestino Aos Braco from Santiago, Chile, 75.
- Sim, 69.
- Paolo Lojudice from Siena, Italy, 56.
- Mauro Gambetti, custodian of the Sacred Convent of Assisi in Assisi, 55.
- Arizmendi, 80 years old.
- Tomasi, 80 years old.
- Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the papal house, 86.
- Enrico Feroci, 80, former director of Caritas in Rome.
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