Preaching a “more tolerant” church, Pope appoints 21 recent cardinals

Vatican City, Vatican – Pope Francis on Saturday elevated 21 clergymen from distant corners of the world to the rank of cardinal, saying diversity was indispensable to the longer term of the Catholic Church.

Under sunny skies and with a crowd that filled half of Vatican City’s grandiose, colonnaded St Peter’s Square, the 86-year-old pope welcomed the brand new “Princes of the Church” — considered one of whom could someday turn into the successor to the present pontiff.

“The College of Cardinals is named to resemble a symphony orchestra, representing the harmony and synodality of the Church,” said Francis, seated under a cover before the gathered cardinals on the steps of St Peter’s Basilica.

Diversity signals church priorities 

“Diversity is crucial; it’s indispensable. However, each sound must contribute to the common design,” said the Argentine Jesuit.

The selection of the brand new cardinals, who include diplomats, close advisers and administrators, is closely watched as a sign of the priorities and position of the Church.

One of them could also someday be elected by his peers to succeed Francis, who has left the door open to stepping down in the longer term should his health warrant it. In June, the Pope had his second abdominal surgery in only two years was accomplished “without complications.” His health problems have fueled rumors that the Pope could resign.

Saturday’s ceremony, referred to as a consistory, is the ninth since Francis in 2013 was named head of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics.

One by one, the scarlet-clad cardinals knelt before the pope, who bestowed on them the 2 symbols of their high office: a scarlet four-cornered cap referred to as a biretta, and a cardinal’s ring.

To some, a grinning Francis uttered an encouraging “Bravo!” or “Courage!” as he shook their hand.

During his papacy, Francis has sought to create a more inclusive, universal Church, looking past Europe to clergy in Africa, Asia and Latin America to fill the Church’s highest ranks.

Eighteen of the 21 newly made cardinals are under the age of 80 and thus currently eligible to vote as “cardinal electors” in the subsequent conclave, when Francis’ successor can be decided.

They are amongst 99 cardinal-electors created by Francis, representing about three-quarters of the whole.

That has given rise to speculation that the Church’s future spiritual leader can be much like Francis, preaching a more tolerant Church with a greater deal with the poor and marginalized.

A growing Catholicism

With his latest roster of cardinals, Francis has again looked to the world’s “peripheries” — where Catholicism is growing — while breaking with the practice of promoting archbishops of enormous, powerful dioceses.

The array of cardinals represent “a richness and quite a lot of experience, and that is what the Church is all about,” the Archbishop of Cape Town, Stephen Brislin, told AFP Thursday. “The Church encompasses all people, not only a certain group of individuals,” he said.

There are three recent cardinals from South America, including two Argentinians, and three from Africa, with the promotion of the archbishops of Juba in South Sudan, Tabora in Tanzania, and Brislin from Cape Town.

Asia is represented by the Bishop of Penang in Malaysia and the Bishop of Hong Kong, Stephen Chow, who’s seen as playing a key role in looking for to enhance tense relations between the Vatican and Beijing. Some of the brand new cardinals, like Chow, have experience in sensitive zones of the world where the Holy See hopes to play a vital diplomatic role.

The list includes the Holy Land’s top Catholic authority, Italian Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the primary seated Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem to be made cardinal.

“Jerusalem is a small laboratory, interreligious and intercultural, and that is a challenge that the entire world is facing at this point,” Pizzaballa told AFP.

Also to be promoted is the apostolic nuncio, or ambassador, to the United States, France’s Christophe Pierre, whose decades-long diplomatic profession includes posts in countries including Haiti, Uganda and Mexico.

Top administrators within the Curia, the Holy See’s government, are also being recognized. There is Italy’s Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches; Argentina’s Victor Manuel Fernandez, whom the pope recently named head of the powerful Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith; and Chicago-born Robert Prevost, a former missionary in Peru who leads the Dicastery for Bishops.

The last consistory was held in August 2022.