THROWBACKTHISDAY, FEB 23; Pope Francis Names New Cardinals

On Thisday 22nd February, 2014 : Pope Francis has appointed nineteen new cardinals in a ceremony at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. This is his first of such appointments since becoming the Pope. 

On 31 October 2013, Pope Francis announced plans to name new cardinals in a consistory on 22 February 2014. In December 2013, he said that rumors that he might name a woman cardinal were not to be taken seriously. He announced the names of 19 new cardinals on January 12, 2014. Sixteen were under the age of 80, eligible to vote in papal conclaves. Observers attempting to interpret Francis' approach to naming cardinals noted the absence of certain names, including the heads of thedioceses of Venice and Turin and the Vatican Librarian and Archivist. Others noted a preference for clerics with pastoral experience and only a single theologian, Müller. John L. Allen said the choices made the February meeting the "Consistory of the Periphery", noting the "broad global distribution" of the new cardinals. Of the nomination of the archbishop of Perugia rather than those of more prestigious dioceses like Turin and Venice, La Stampa said: "Any career planners in the Church who had the path from the seminary to the cardinalship set out very clearly in their minds will have to think again."

Pope Francis sent a letter to each cardinal-designate that said:

The cardinalship does not imply promotion; it is neither an honour nor a decoration; it is simply a service that requires you to broaden your gaze and open your hearts.... Therefore I ask you, please, to receive this designation with a simple and humble heart. And, while you must do so with pleasure and joy, ensure that this sentiment is far from any expression of worldliness or from any form of celebration contrary to the evangelical spirit of austerity, sobriety and poverty.

Those made cardinal at the consistory were:

Name	Title when named cardinal
Pietro Parolin	Secretary of State
Lorenzo Baldisseri	Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops
Gerhard Ludwig Müller	Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Beniamino Stella	Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy
Vincent Gerard Nichols	Archbishop of Westminster, England, United Kingdom
Leopoldo José Brenes Solórzano	Archbishop of Managua, Nicaragua
Gérald Cyprien Lacroix, ISPX	Archbishop of Quebec, Canada
Jean-Pierre Kutwa	Archbishop of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
Orani João Tempesta, OCist	Archbishop of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Gualtiero Bassetti	Archbishop of Perugia-Città della Pieve, Italy
Mario Aurelio Poli	Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina
Andrew Yeom Soo-jung	Archbishop of Seoul, South Korea
Ricardo Ezzati Andrello, SDB	Archbishop of Santiago de Chile, Chile
Philippe Nakellentuba Ouédraogo	Archbishop of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Orlando Beltrán Quevedo, OMI	Archbishop of Cotabato, Philippines
Chibly Langlois	Bishop of Les Cayes, Haiti
Loris Francesco Capovilla	Prelate emeritus of Loreto, Italy
Fernando Sebastián Aguilar, CMF	Archbishop emeritus of Pamplona y Tudela, Spain
Kelvin Edward Felix	Archbishop emeritus of Castries, St. Lucia

                       

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI attended the consistory. He doffed his zucchetto when Pope Francis came down the nave of St. Peter's Basilica to greet him, and took a seat in a row with several cardinals using a chair the same as theirs. Loris Francesco Capovilla was granted a dispensation and did not attend the consistory. Prior to the consistory, there were 106 cardinals under the age of 80 and eligible to participate in the election of a pope. Another 10 were to turn 80 in the remainder of 2014. The maximum of participants in a papal conclave, though often waived, is set at 120.

THROWBACKTHISDAY; makes it 2 years and TBT Blog remembers