The ritual, known as a consistory, will take place on Saturday. Francis was named head of the 1.3 billion Catholics around the world in 2013.
Pope Francis promoted 21 clergymen from different parts of the world to the rank of cardinal on Saturday, asserting that diversity was essential to the Catholic Church’s future.
The 86-year-old pope welcomed the new “Princes of the Church”—one of whom may someday succeed the present pontiff—under beautiful skies and in front of a crowd that filled half of Vatican City’s majestic, colonnaded St. Peter’s Square.
Francis addressed the cardinals assembled on the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica while sat beneath a canopy, saying, “The College of Cardinals is called to resemble a symphony orchestra, representing the harmony and synodality of the Church.”
Diversity is essential and vital. However, each sound must add to the overall composition, according to the Argentine Jesuit.
As a sign of the church’s aims and position, the selection of the new cardinals, who include diplomats, trusted advisors, and administrators, is keenly scrutinised.
One of them might also be chosen by his peers one day to succeed Francis, who has indicated that he may step down in the future if his health so requires.
The ritual, known as a consistory, will take place on Saturday. Francis was named head of the 1.3 billion Catholics around the world in 2013.
The scarlet-clad cardinals bowed before the pope one by one as he conferred the two marks of their lofty office—a scarlet biretta, or four-cornered cap, and a cardinal’s ring—on them.
For some, a beaming As he shook their hands, Francis said, “Bravo!” or “Courage!” in a motivating tone.
Francis has made it a priority during his pontificate to make the Church more inclusive and universal, looking outside of Europe for clerics in Latin America, Africa, and Asia to occupy the Church’s highest positions.
The Holy See aspires to play a significant diplomatic role in difficult regions of the world, and several of the new cardinals, like Chow, have prior experience there.
The list includes Italian Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the first seated Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem to be elevated to cardinal and the foremost Catholic figure in the Holy Land.
“Jerusalem is a small laboratory, interreligious and intercultural, and that’s a challenge the whole world is facing at this point,” Pizzaballa told AFP.
The apostolic nuncio, or ambassador, to the United States, Christophe Pierre of France, who has held diplomatic positions in Haiti, Uganda, and Mexico over the course of a decades-long career, will also receive a promotion.
Also honoured are top officials in the Curia, the Holy See’s administration.
Claudio Gugerotti of Italy is the prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, Victor Manuel Fernandez of Argentina is the head of the influential Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Robert Prevost of Chicago is the prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops.
AFP
