Pope Francis presided over a ceremony Saturday to create 21 recent cardinals, including key figures on the Vatican and in the sector who will help enact his reforms and cement his legacy as he enters an important recent phase in running the Catholic Church.
Among the brand new cardinals are the controversial recent head of the Vatican’s doctrine office, Victor Manuel Fernandez, and the Chicago-born missionary now answerable for vetting bishop candidates across the globe, Robert Prevost.
Also receiving red hats were the Vatican’s ambassadors to the United States and Italy, two vital diplomatic posts where the Holy See has a keen interest in reforming the church hierarchy. Leaders of the church in geopolitical hotspots like Hong Kong and Jerusalem, fragile communities like Juba, South Sudan, and mawkish favorites like Cordoba, Argentina, filled out the roster.
The ceremony in St. Peter’s Square took place days before Francis opens a giant meeting of bishops and lay Catholics on charting the church’s future, where hot-button issues reminiscent of women’s roles within the church, LGBTQ+ Catholics and priestly celibacy are up for discussion.
The Oct. 4-29 synod is the primary of two sessions – the second comes next 12 months — that in some ways could cement Francis’ legacy as he seeks to make the church a spot where all are welcomed, where pastors hearken to their flocks and accompany them quite than judge them.
Several of the brand new cardinals are voting members of the synod and have made clear they share Francis’ vision of a church that’s more in regards to the people within the pews than the hierarchy. Among them is Fernandez, often called the “pope’s theologian” and maybe Francis’ most consequential Vatican appointment in his 10-year pontificate.
In his letter naming Fernandez as prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Francis made clear he wanted his fellow Argentine to oversee a radical break from the past, saying the previous Holy Office often resorted to “immoral methods” to implement its will.
Rather than condemn and judge, Francis said he wanted a doctrine office that guards the religion and offers hope. He also made clear Fernandez wouldn’t must cope with sex abuse cases, saying the office’s discipline section could handle that dossier.
It was a much-debated decision given Fernandez himself has admitted he made mistakes handling a case while he was bishop in La Plata, Argentina, and that the size of the issue globally has long cried out for authoritative leadership.
With Saturday’s ceremony, Francis may have named 99 of the 137 cardinals who’re under age 80 and thus eligible to vote in a future conclave to elect his successor. While not all are cookie-cutter proteges of the 86-year-old reigning pontiff, many share Francis’ pastoral emphasis versus the doctrinaire-minded cardinals often chosen by Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
Such an enormous proportion of Francis-nominated cardinals almost ensures that a future pope will either be from amongst his cardinal candidates or may have secured their votes to guide the church after Francis is gone.
Europe still has essentially the most voting-age cardinals with 52, followed by the Americas with 39 and Asia with 24.
