The Pope’s new list of Cardinals, which has come rather sooner than we thought (it had been expected by many for the feast of the Chair of Peter in February) has a rather valedictory air to it, reminding one rather of a Prime Minister’s resignation honours list. Many of the new cardinals are men who are well known to the Holy Father, or men whom he has met perhaps only on a single occasion, but who have made a great impression on him.
Pre-eminent in every sense is the only priest on the list, Father Ernest Simoni, who spent 28 years in a Communist work camp in Albania, for the crime of being a priest, and who was twice condemned to death. His personal testimony, which the Pope heard on his visit to Tirana, reduced the Holy Father to tears.
