BENEDICT XVI'S THIRD CONSISTORY
CREATES 24 NEW CARDINALS
Libretto Illustrations: The so-called "Dalmatic of Charlemagne' from the Vatican Museums. It is made of Hormuz silk and embroidered in gold and silver thread. The central image used on the cover is the Transfiguration of Christ. The dalmatic was considered a symbol of the deacon's service to the community, 'giving aid and joy through administering goods with justice'.
New cardinals bring total to 203 -
121 under 80 and eligible electors
20 NOV 2010 (RV) - Pope Benedict XVI created 24 new cardinals on Saturday, raising the number of Cardinals to 203, of whom 121 are under 80 and eligible to enter a conclave to elect a new Pope.
During a solemn public consistory in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Benedict read the names of the 24 Cardinals in Latin.
The new group of cardinals includes heads of Vatican dicasteries; archbishops of major cities in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas; and retired prelates honoured for their lifelong service to the church.
Pope Benedict XVI told the men they must devote themselves totally to the Church and to Christ. In his homily, he asked the faithful to pray for them, saying:
“Let the Lord's spirit support these new cardinals in the commitment of service to the church, following Christ of the Cross even if necessary to shed their blood”
The Pope reminded the Cardinals that all are called, and all are aided by Divine Grace, adding “This is [your] certainty: Just listen again to the words of Jesus, asking 'Come, follow me' - only by returning to this original vocation is it possible to understand our mission in the Church as true disciples of Christ.”
This is the third consistory in Pope Benedict’s pontificate. He has now named 59 members of the College of Cardinals.
Pope creates 24 new cardinals
amid cheers in St. Peter's
by NICOLE WINFIELD
VATICAN CITY, Nov. 20 (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI formally created 24 new cardinals on Saturday amid cheers in St. Peter's Basilica, bringing a mostly Italian group into the elite club that will eventually elect his successor.
Speaking in Latin, Benedict read out each of the names of the new "princes of the church" at the start of the Mass, eliciting roaring applause from the pews and smiles from the cardinals themselves.
Wearing their new scarlet cassocks — to signify their willingness to shed blood for the Church — the cardinals processed first into the basilica, waving to well-wishers as organ music thundered in a festive yet solemn atmosphere.
The basilica was awash in red as some 150 cardinals from around the world came to Rome for the occasion of welcoming in their newest members.
The 24 new cardinals include heads of Vatican congregations, archbishops of major cities in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas, and retired prelates honored for their lifelong service to the Church.
Their numbers bring the College of Cardinals to 203, 121 of whom are under age 80 and thus eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope.
Eight of the new voting-age cardinals are Italian, seriously boosting the Italian bloc and leading to some speculation that the papacy might eventually swing back to an Italian following a Polish and German Pope.
[Quit the bullshit already! 25 Italians out of 120 total voters will hardly do that, especially as the Italians have never voted as a bloc! What is this MSM 'scheme' seeking to show that Benedict XVI is bending over backwards for the Italians? And why would he do that, anyway? Only one of the new Italian cardinals represents a major archdiocese - the other 7 are being promoted because they hold Curial ranks that, in effect, require a cardinal's authority.]
Benedict, 83, told the men of their new mission as cardinals, saying they must devote themselves totally to the Church and to Christ. In his homily, he asked the faithful to pray for them, saying:
"Let the Lord's spirit support these new cardinals in the commitment of service to the church, following Christ of the Cross even if necessary to shed their blood, always ready ... to respond to whatever is asked."
The senior new cardinal, Angelo Amato, who heads the Vatican's saint-making office, told Benedict at the start of the Mass of the "stupor"
[the appropriate translation of 'stupore' in this context is 'wonder'] each one of the men feels to have been chosen.
"We recognize with trepidation our limits knowing the great dignity with which we have been entrusted and that we are called to testify to with our lives and activities," he said.
During the ceremony, the new cardinals each promised to obey the Pope, reading an oath in Latin to maintain communion with the Holy See, keep secrets given to them and not divulge anything that might bring harm onto the Church.
After pledging the oath, each new cardinal walked up to the pontiff who was seated on a gilded throne on the altar to receive his red zucchetto, or skullcap, and biretta, a three-ridged hat worn over it.
Applause broke out again as each received the Pope's blessing and kissed his ring.
One new cardinal, the Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt, Antonios Naguib, wore a black cassock
as is consistent with his role.
[Not with his role, but with Coptic practice.]
A choir sang and a brass ensemble played as the men then greeted each of the other cardinals in the college, exchanging a few words of welcome.
There was Cardinal Kurt Koch of Switzerland, the new head of the Vatican office for relations with other Christians, greeting his predecessor, retired Cardinal Walter Kasper of Germany.
There was the new Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the Italian head of the Vatican's culture office, greeting the retired Vatican No. 2 Cardinal Angelo Sodano. And so on.
One of the loudest rounds of applause was for Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., who was joined in Rome by a delegation of some 400 well-wishers from the United States.
A cardinal's main task is to offer the Pontiff advice and eventually elect his successor.
[In addition, of course, to his principal function - be it as a Curial official or as a diocesan pastor.]
This is the third time Benedict has held a consistory to create new cardinals. With Saturday's additions, he will have hand-picked 40 percent of the college, infusing it with conservative, tradition-minded prelates like himself and almost ensuring that a future Pope will carry on the path he has set out for the Church.
{It's what every Pope does, and it's the obvious thing to do!]
During a day of reflection on Friday, cardinals new and old discussed some of the most pressing issues of concern to the Church, including the sex abuse scandal.
Cardinal William Levada, who heads the Vatican office responsible for dealing with abuse cases, told the cardinals his office was planning to issue a set of guidelines to bishops around the world on responding to priests who rape and molest children.
The Vatican said Levada spoke of the need for prevention programs, better screening of priests and the need to obey civil reporting requirements.
Receiving the biretta,above, from left: Curial officials Amato, Koch, Sarah, and Burke. Below, from left: Cardinal Ranjith of Colombo, Cardinal Naguib of Alexandria, Cardinal Marx of Munich, and Cardinal Pasinya of the Congo.
Here is a full translation of the Holy Father's homily:
[Eminent Cardinals,
Venerated Brothers in the Episcopate and Priesthood,
Dear brothers and sisters:
The Lord gives me the joy of carrying out, once more, this solemn act through which the College of Cardinals is enriched with new members, chosen from various parts of the world.
We have pastors who zealously govern important diocesan communities, and prelates assigned to the dicasteries of the Roman Curia, or who have served the Church and the Holy See with exemplary faithfulness.
Starting today, they become part of that coetus particularis - a special group - who give the Successor of Peter immediate and assiduous collaboration, sustaining him in the exercise of his universal ministry.
To them, first of all, I address my affectionate greeting, renewing the expression of my esteem and my sincere appreciation for the testimony that they render to the Church and to the world.
I especially thank Archbishop Angelo Amato, and I thank him for the kind statements he addressed to me.
I extend my heartfelt welcome to the official delegations from various countries, to the representatives of many dioceses, and to all those gathered here to participate in this event, at which these venerated and beloved brothers will receive the symbols of the cardinal's rank with the imposition of the biretta and the assignment of a title to a church in Rome.
The ties of special communion and affection which binds these new cardinals to the Pope make them singularly precious cooperators in the high mandate entrusted by Christ to Peter, to pasture his flock (cfr Jn 21,15-17), to bring together peoples with the solicitude of Christ's charity.
It is precisely from this love that the Church was born, called to live and journey according to the commandment of the Lord, in whom all the laws of the Prophets converge. To be united to Christ, in faith and in communion with him, means to be "rooted and founded in charity" (Eph 3,17), the fabric that unites all the members of the Body of Christ.
The Word of God just proclaimed helps us to meditate precisely on this very fundamental aspect. In the Gospel passage (Mk 10, 32-45), the icon of Jesus as Messiah - pre-announced by Isaiah (cfr Is 53) - is placed before our eyes. He did not come to make himself be served but to serve. His way of life would become the basis for new relationships within the Christian community and of a new way of exercising authority.
Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem and pre-announces for the third time, indicating to his disciples, the way through which he intends to bring to completion the work entrusted to him by the Father: It is the way of humility, giving himself up to the sacrifice of his life, the way of the Passion, the way of the Cross.
And yet, even after this announcement, as in the preceding ones, the disciples reveal all their difficulty pf understanding, of making the necessary 'exodus' from a worldly mentality to the mentality of God.
In this case, it is the two sons of Zebedee, James and John, who ask Jesus to be able to seat at the first places next to him in 'glory', manifesting expectations and plans of grandeur, of authority, of honor according to the world.
Jesus, who knows the heart of man, is not bothered by this request, but immediately highlights its profound weight: "You do not know what you are asking for". Then he leads the two brothers to understand that it means to follow him.
What then is the way to be taken by he who wishes to be a disciple? It is the way of the Master, the way of total obedience to God. That is why Jesus asks James and John: Are you ready to share my decision to fulfill the will of the Father to the very end? Are you prepared to follow this way, which goes through humiliation, suffering and death for love?
The two disciples, with their sure response, "We can", show once again that they have not understood the real meaning of what the Master has foretold for them.
And once again, Jesus, with patience, makes them take a further step: Not even experiencing the chalice of suffering and the baptism of death gives the right to the first place, because this is "for those who are prepared". It is in the hands of the Heavenly Father - man should not calculate, he should simply abandon himself to God, without claims, conforming himself to his will.
The indignation of the other disciples becomes an occasion to extend the teaching to the entire community. First of all, Jesus "called them to him" - it is the original gesture of vocation, to which he invites them to return.
It is very significant to refer to this constitutive moment of the calling of the Twelve, to 'being with Jesus', having been invited - because it reminds us with clarity that every ecclesial ministry is always a response to God's call - it is never the fruit of one's own plan or one's ambition, but it is conforming one's will to that of the Father who is in heaven, as Christ did in Gethsemane (cfr Lk 22,42).
In the Church, no one is master, but all are called, all are invited, all are assembled and led by divine grace. This is also our guarantee. Only by listening again to the word of Jesus, who asks "Come follow me", only in returning to that original call, is it possible to understand our own presence and mission in the Church as authentic disciples.
The request of James and John, and the indignation of the 'other ten' Apostles raised a central question to which Jesus wished to reply: Who is great, who is 'first' with God?
First of all, one must look at the behavior that "those who are considered the governors of nations" runs the risk of assuming: "to dominate and to oppress".
Jesus shows the disciples a completely different way: "Among you, that is not so". His community follows another rule, another logic, another model: "Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant, and and whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of everyone".
The criterion of greatness and of primacy in the eyes of God is not dominion, but service. The diaconate is the fundamental law of the disciple and of the Christian community, and lets us see something of the "Lordship of God'.
Jesus also indicates the point of reference: the Son of Man, who came to serve - thus synthesizing his mission under the category of service, understood not in the generic sense, but in the concrete sense of the Cross, of the total giving of life as 'ransom', as redemption for many, and he indicates this as a condition for following him.
It is a message that is valid for the Apostles, it is valid for all the Church, it is valid above all for those who have the task to lead the Pepple of God. It is not the logic of dominion, of power according to human criteria, but the logic of bowing down to wash feet, the logic of service, the logic of the Cross, which is the basis of every exercise of authority.
In every time and place, the Church is committed to conform herself to this logic and to testify to it in order to make the true 'Lordship of God' emerge, that of love.
Dear brothers elected to the dignity of cardinal, the mission to which God calls you today and which qualifies you to ecclesial service that will be even more charged with responsibility, requires an ever greater will to assume the style of the Son of God, who has come among us as one who serves (cfr Lk 22,25-27).
It means following him in giving humble and total love to the Church his spouse, on the Cross. It is on that wood that the grain of wheat, which the Father has allowed to fall on the field of the world, dies to become mature fruit. This requires an even more profound and firm rootedness in Christ.
The intimate relationship with him transforms life ever more in a way that to be able to say with St. Paul "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Gal 2,20) constitutes the primary requirement in order that our service may be serene and joyous, and can give the fruit that the Lord expects of us.
Dear brothers and sisters, who today surround the new cardinals: pray for them! Tomorrow, in this Basilica, during the concelebration on the Solemnity of Christ, King of the Universe, I will give them their ring. It will be a further occasion to "praise the Lord, who remains faithful always" (Ps 145), as we repeated in the Responsorial Psalm.
May his Spirit sustain the new cardinals in their commitment of service to the Church, following Christ on the Cross - if necessary, even usque ad effusionem sanguinis - to shedding their blood - ever ready, as St. Peter tells us in the reading just proclaimed - to respond to whoever asks about the reason for our hope (Cfr 1Pt 3,15).
]To Mary, Mother of the Church, I entrust the new cardinals and their ecclesial service, so that, with apostolic ardor, they may proclaim to all peoples the merciful love of God. Amen.
Following is the list of Churches and Diaconates assigned to the new cardinals:
1 Card. ANGELO AMATO, S.D.B., Diaconia di Santa Maria in Aquiro
2. Card. ANTONIOS S.B. NAGUIB
3. Card. ROBERT SARAH, Diaconia di San Giovanni Bosco in via Tuscolana
4. Card. FRANCESCO MONTERISI, Diaconia di San Paolo alla Regola
5. Card. FORTUNATO BALDELLI, Diaconia di Sant’Anselmo all’Aventino
6. Card. RAYMOND LEO BURKE, Diaconia di Sant’Agata de’ Goti
7. Card. KURT KOCH, Diaconia di Nostra Signora del Sacro Cuore
8. Card. PAOLO SARDI, Diaconia di Santa Maria Ausiliatrice in via Tuscolana
9. Card. MAURO PIACENZA, Diaconia di San Paolo alle Tre Fontane
10. Card. VELASIO DE PAOLIS, C.S., Diaconia di Gesù Buon Pastore alla Montagnola
11. Card. GIANFRANCO RAVASI, Diaconia di San Giorgio in Velabro
12. Card. MEDARDO JOSEPH MAZOMBWE, Titolo di Santa Emerenziana a Tor Fiorenza
13. Card. RAÚL EDUARDO VELA CHIRIBOGA, Titolo di Santa Maria in Via
14. Card. LAURENT MONSENGWO PASINYA, Titolo di Santa Maria «Regina Pacis» in Ostia mare
15. Card. PAOLO ROMEO, Titolo di Santa Maria Odigitria dei Siciliani
16. Card. DONALD WILLIAM WUERL, Titolo di San Pietro in Vincoli
17. Card. RAYMUNDO DAMASCENO ASSIS, Titolo dell’Immacolata al Tiburtino
18. Card. KAZIMIERZ NYCZ, Titolo dei Santi Silvestro e Martino ai Monti
19. Card. ALBERT MALCOLM RANJITH PATABENDIGE DON, Titolo di San Lorenzo in Lucina
20. Card. REINHARD MARX, Titolo di San Corbiniano
21. Card. JOSÉ MANUEL ESTEPA LLAURENS, Titolo di San Gabriele Arcangelo all’Acqua Traversa
22. Card. ELIO SGRECCIA, Diaconia di Sant’Angelo in Pescheria
23. Card. WALTER BRANDMÜLLER, Diaconia di San Giuliano dei Fiamminghi
24. Card. DOMENICO BARTOLUCCI, Diaconia dei Santissimi Nomi di Gesù e Maria in via Lata
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 21/11/2010 10:55]