Pope Francis created 20 new cardinals for the Catholic Church during a liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday.
“Jesus calls us by name; he looks us in the eyes and he asks: Can I count on you? said Pope Francis in a homily addressed to the College of Cardinals and its new members Aug. 27.
“The Lord, he said, wants to give us his own apostolic courage, his zeal for the salvation of every human being, without exception. He wants to share with us his magnanimity, his unlimited and unconditional love, because his heart is on fire with the mercy of the Father.
The Pope’s reflection followed a reading of the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12, verses 49-50: “At that time Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I have come to set fire to the earth, and as I wish it were already in flames. ! There is a baptism that I must be baptized with, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!’ »
“The words of Jesus, in the very middle of the Gospel of Luke, pierce us like an arrow,” Francis said.
“The Lord calls us once again to follow him on the path of his mission,” he said. “A fiery mission – like that of Elijah – not only for what he came to accomplish but also for the way he accomplished it. And for us who, in the Church, have been chosen from among the people for a particular ministry of service, it is as if Jesus were handing us a lighted torch and saying to us: “Take this; as the Father sent me, so I send you now.’”
The pope ended his homily by mentioning that a cardinal-elect, Richard Kuuia Baawobr of Wa (Ghana), was not present. Francis asked for prayers for the African Prelate, explaining that Baawobr had fallen ill.
At the start of the consistory, Pope Francis delivered the opening prayer of the ceremony in Latin.
During the ceremony, the new cardinals made a profession of faith by reciting the Credo. They then took an oath of fidelity and obedience to the Pope and his successors.
Each cardinal then approached Pope Francis, kneeling before him to receive the red biretta, the cardinal’s ring and a document naming the titular church assigned to him.
Pope Francis embraced each new cardinal saying: “Pax Domini sit semper tecum,which in Latin means “The peace of the Lord be with you always”. Each cardinal replied: “Amen”.
The new cardinals also exchanged a sign of peace with a number of members of the College of Cardinals, representative of the entire college.
While placing the red biretta on the head of each cardinal, the pope recited these words: “To the glory of Almighty God and to the honor of the Apostolic See, receive the scarlet biretta as a sign of the dignity of the cardinalate, signifying your readiness to act with courage, even to the shedding of your blood, for the growth of the Christian faith, for the peace and tranquility of the people of God and for the freedom and growth of the Holy Roman Church .
Presenting the ring to each new cardinal, Francis said, “Receive this ring from the hand of Peter and know that with the love of the Prince of the Apostles your love for the Church is strengthened.”
In his homily, the Pope said: “The Lord wants to give us his own apostolic courage, his zeal for the salvation of every human being, without exception. He wants to share with us his magnanimity, his unlimited and unconditional love, because his heart is on fire with the mercy of the Father.
He also recalled another type of fire, that of charcoal. “This fire, he says, burns in a particular way in the prayer of adoration, when we stand in silence before the Eucharist and bask in the humble, discreet and hidden presence of the Lord. Like this charcoal fire, its presence becomes warmth and nourishment for our daily lives.
“A cardinal loves the Church, always with that same spiritual fire, whether it is about big questions or daily problems, with the powerful of this world or those ordinary people who are great in the eyes of God”, a- he declared.
The pope named three men as examples for cardinals to follow: Saint Charles de Foucauld, Cardinal Agostino Casaroli and Cardinal Van Thuân.
The consistory to create cardinals also included a greeting and thanks to Pope Francis, expressed by Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect of the dicastery of liturgy, on behalf of all new cardinals.
“All of us, coming from different parts of the world, with our different personal histories and life situations, minister in the vineyard of the Lord. As diocesan and religious priests, we serve the preaching of the Gospel in different ways and in different cultures, but always united in one faith and one Church,” said Cardinal Roche.
“Now, by showing us your confidence, you call us to this new service, in even closer collaboration with your ministry, in the broad horizon of the universal Church,” he continued. “God knows the dust of which we are all made, and we know well that without it we are capable of failing.”
Cardinal Roche quoted Saint Gregory the Great, who once wrote to a bishop: “We are all weak, but he who ignores his own weakness is the weakest of all.
“However, we draw our strength from you, Holy Father, he said, in your witness, your spirit of service and your call to the whole Church to follow the Lord with greater fidelity; live the joy of the Gospel with discernment, courage and, above all, with an openness of heart that manifests itself in welcoming everyone, especially those who suffer the injustice of poverty that marginalizes, the suffering of pain who seeks a meaningful response, the violence of wars that turn brothers into enemies. We share with you the desire and the commitment to communion in the Church.
At the end of the consistory to create cardinals, Pope Francis called a consistory for the cardinals to give their approval to the canonizations of Blesseds Artemide Zatti and Giovanni Battista Scalabrini.
The new cardinals are:
— Cardinal Arthur Roche, 72, Prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and former Bishop of Leeds, England;
— Lazarus You Heung-sik, 70, Prefect of the Dicastery for Clergy and former Bishop of Daejeon, South Korea;
— Jean-Marc Noël Aveline, 63, Archbishop of Marseille, first French diocesan bishop to obtain this honor under the pontificate of Pope Francis;
— Peter Ebere Okpaleke, 59, Bishop of Ekwulobia in the central region of Nigeria, created bishop in 2012 by Benedict XVI;
—Leonardo Ulrich Steiner, 77, archbishop of Manaus, in the Amazon region of Brazil, a Franciscan who played a leading role in the Amazon synod and as vice-president of the recently created Amazon Episcopal Conference;
— Filipe Neri António Sebastião do Rosário Ferrão, 69, Archbishop of Goa (India), appointed bishop by Saint John Paul II in 1993;
—Robert McElroy, 68, Bishop of San Diego, Calif., whose diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, led by the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop José Gomez;
— Virgilio do Carmo Da Silva, 68, Salesian, since 2019 Archbishop of Dili, East Timor;
— Oscar Cantoni, 71, Bishop of Como, Italy, appointed in January 2005 by Saint John Paul II, suffragan of Milan;
— Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, 77, Archbishop, President of the Governorate of Vatican City State and of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State; the Spaniard is the first legionary of Christ to become a cardinal;
— Anthony Poola, 60, Archbishop of Hyderabad, India, bishop since 2008 and first dalit to become a cardinal;
— Paulo Cezar Costa, 54, Archbishop of Brasilia, Brazil, fourth archbishop of the Brazilian capital to become a cardinal;
— Richard Kuuia Baawobr, 62, Bishop of Wa, Ghana, former Superior General of the White Fathers and Bishop since 2016;
— William Goh Seng Chye, 65, Archbishop of Singapore since 2013;
— Adalberto Martinez Flores, 71, archbishop of Asunción, Paraguay, and first Paraguayan cardinal;
— Giorgio Marengo, 47, Italian Consolata missionary and Apostolic Prefect of Ulan Bator in Mongolia, the youngest cardinal in recent history, with Karol Wojtyla, also created cardinal at 47, during the consistory of June 26, 1967 .
Additionally, Pope Francis has appointed the following prelates over the age of 80, who are therefore excluded from attending a future conclave.
Jorge Enrique Jiménez Carvajal, 80, Archbishop Emeritus of Cartagena, Colombia; Arrigo Miglio, 80, Archbishop Emeritus of Cagliari, Italy; Father Gianfranco Ghirlanda, Jesuit and former rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University, who largely collaborated in the drafting of the apostolic constitution Evangelium Predicate; and Fortunato Frezza, 80, from Italy, currently a canon at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, who worked for several years at the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops.
Pope Francis had initially also appointed Bishop of Ghent Luc Van Looy, 80, who later refused to accept the post due to criticism of his response to clergy abuse cases.
