(Vatican City) Diplomats, close advisors and people in the field: Pope Francis on Saturday created 21 cardinals from four continents, the majority of whom will one day be called upon to elect his successor.
In a Catholic Church in full reflection on its future, the profiles of these “promoted” reflect the priorities set by Jorge Bergoglio who has gradually designed a less Western Sacred College.
Ninth ordinary Consistory since the election of the Argentine Jesuit in 2013, this solemn ceremony was held Saturday morning in Saint Peter’s Square in Rome, under a bright sun.
PHOTO RICCARDO DE LUCA, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pope Francis during the ceremony
Dressed in their red cassock, the new cardinals knelt before the pope to receive the barrette – a quadrangular purple cap – and a cardinal ring.
” Courage ! “, ” Ahead ! “, the Pope said, smiling to encourage them, to the cheers of the thousands of faithful, some waving flags of their country.
Among the 21 prelates called to assist the pope in the government of the Church, 18 — those under the age of 80 — will participate in the conclave called to elect the next pope.
In front of cardinals “from all parts of the world”, Francis compared the college of cardinals to a “symphony orchestra” where “diversity is essential”, but where “each musician must listen to the others”.
“Breakup”
Sensitive to the “peripheries” and minority communities, Francis seeks to promote the clergy of developing countries to the highest ranks of the Church, freeing himself from the practice of systematically distinguishing certain titular archbishops of large dioceses.
“He’s looking for cardinals who fit the times. These are people who have all taken a step compared to the Church of the past, who positively ensure a break,” explains an informed observer from the Holy See to AFP. “He loves bishops who are in action.”
The list of new cardinals from 15 nationalities thus reflects regions where the Church is expanding, such as Latin America and Africa, with the promotion of the archbishops of Juba (South Sudan), Cape Town (South Africa ) and Tabora (Tanzania).
Asia, which has seen its representation grow in 10 years, is represented by the bishop of Penang (Malaysia) and that of Hong Kong, Stephen Chow Sau-Yan, seen as being able to play an important role in improving the difficult relations between the Church and Beijing.
Among the new entrants are two French people, bringing the number of voters from France to six: the bishop of Ajaccio, Mgr François Bustillo, 54, a Franciscan of Spanish origin, and Christophe Pierre, 77, nuncio apostolic (ambassador of the Holy See) to the United States after a rich diplomatic career.
Some 800 Corsican faithful traveled to attend the ceremony.
As nuncios, “we are intermediaries, servants. As a cardinal, I think that will not change,” Mgr Pierre told AFP, while admitting to feeling “a certain weight on his shoulders”.
Italian Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa is the first serving Patriarch of Jerusalem – the highest Catholic authority in the East – created a cardinal.
Francis’ line
Europe, whose representation has declined in ten years, is this time in a good place with eight representatives, including the Portuguese Américo Aguiar, 49 years old and the youngest on the list.
Also note the distinction of three close to the Pope who are members of the Curia, the central “government” of the Holy See: the Italian Claudio Gugerotti, the Argentinian Victor Manuel Fernandez and the American Robert Prevost.
The appointment of cardinals is scrutinized by observers, who see it as an indication of the possible line of the future spiritual leader of the Catholic Church and its claimed 1.3 billion faithful.
Especially since the 86-year-old pope, who now uses a wheelchair, has left the “door open” to a renunciation, like his predecessor Benedict XVI, if his declining health justifies it.
Francis has now chosen 99 cardinal electors out of the current total of 137, almost three-quarters, while around 22% were created by Benedict XVI and 6% by John Paul II.
This distribution could weigh on the two-thirds majority needed to elect a new pope by increasing the likelihood that he shares Francis’ ideas, even if the election of a pope is always unpredictable, as an old Roman saying goes: “He who enters the conclave as pope comes out as cardinal.”