ROME – Pope Francis on Sunday announced a consistory in December for the creation of 21 new cardinals from all over the world, representing yet again the pope’s love of the peripheries and his inclination to reward key allies.
Speaking during his Oct. 6 Angelus address, the pope announced that “on December 8, a consistory will be held for the creation of new cardinals.” Dec. 8 is the feast of the Immaculate Conception on the church’s calendar and a public holiday in Rome, widely seen as the beginning of the Christmas season.
Francis emphasized the universality of his picks in announcing them during his traditional noontime Angelus address.
“Their provenance expresses the universality of the church, which continues to announce the merciful love of God to all men on earth,” he said.
The new cardinal-designates showcase the pope’s love of the global peripheries, featuring appointees from Peru, Ecuador, Iran, Japan, Ivory Coast, Algeria, Serbia and more.
Aside from a handful of Italians, only two of the new cardinals – Dominican preacher Timothy Radcliffe, former master general of the Dominican order, and Archbishop Francis Leo of Toronto – come from the West, signalling Francis’s ongoing push to shift the leadership of the Catholic Church away from being primarily Western and towards a more global outlook.
Radcliffe is currently leading the spiritual retreats for the pope’s Oct. 2-27 Synod of Bishops on Synodality.
Francis’s new cardinal appointees also represent another instance of him handing a red hat to individuals who have been key allies in his papacy, including Radcliffe; Father Fabio Baggio, Under Secretary of the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development; and Monsignor George Koovakad of India, who is in charge of organizing papal trips.
Also on the list is Archbishop Carlos Castillo of Lima, who has had the challenging task of navigating fallout from the scandals surrounding the Peru-based <em><u>Sodalitium Christianae Vitae</u></em> (SCV), which is currently under Vatican investigation.
The full list of cardinal designates includes:
There are currently 236 cardinals, of whom 122 are under 80 and are therefore eligible to vote in the next conclave.
Two of those cardinals will age out by the end of the year: Venezuelan Cardinal Balthazar Porras Cardoz, former archbishop of Caracas, will turn 80 this month, and Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay and a member of Pope Francis’s Council of Cardinals advising him on matters of governance and reform, will hit the milestone in December.
With the exception of 2021, Pope Francis has held a consistory every year of his 11-year papacy. This year’s consistory will be his 10th.
<em>Photo: Vatican Media</em>
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