What is a consistory of cardinals?What are the new cardinals chosen by Francis like?The Pope announces the creation of new cardinalsOn August 27, Pope Francis will create new cardinals in a ceremony on ordinary sessionThe Cardinals will meet on March 29 and 30 for an extraordinary meeting to study some aspects of the reform of the Roman Curia, which was carried out on March 19, 2022, by the Apostolic Constitution "Praedicate Evangelium"..
Since such a meeting had not been convened since February 2015, some people have understood this meeting as an opportunity for the cardinals to get to know each other better, to collaborate more easily and, perhaps, to decide on a more informed basis when they have to choose one of them as the future pope.
But this moment can also be an opportunity for the public to get to know them better. Readers of Omnes already know some of them, as we will say in a moment. Let us first recall the essential data on the new cardinals: there are 20 bishops and archbishops, 5 of whom will not be electors because they are over 80 years of age, and 15 will be; and among the latter there is 1 from Oceania, 5 from Asia, 2 from Africa, 3 from Europe (another Belgian bishop declined the nomination) and 4 from America.
The new cardinals, in Omnes
Omnes has interviewed four of the new cardinals in recent months. It is not necessary, nor superfluous, to point out that having interviewed them does not respond to any "filter", selection or preference; for the same reason, I will mention them in alphabetical order of surname.
Giorgio MarengoItalian and Consolata missionary, will be the youngest of the cardinals at the end of the month, since he is only 48 years old. He is the Apostolic Prefect of Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. A conversation with him allows not only to get to know the person, but also to approach the reality of a small Church, located in a distant and different country. Nevertheless, the number of Catholics there is growing, and according to Marengo this is due to two reasons: the accompaniment of converts and consistency of life.
In the month of May, Arthur Roche explained to Omnes the work of the Dicastery for Divine Worship, which he has presided over since 2012. The English archbishop wanted to emphasize in the conversation the need to promote the liturgical formation of all the baptized, and announced a document of the Holy See directed to that end. It would be published, in fact, shortly afterwards under the name of. "Desiderio desideravi".
He will also become a cardinal at the end of August. Leonardo Ulrich SteinerArchbishop of Manaus, which is the capital of the state of Amazonia, in northern Brazil. The Pope's interest in that territory led him to convene a specific Synod in 2019. Steiner understands that his appointment responds to the Pope's desire for "a missionary Church perfectly incarnated in the Amazon, which is Samaritan and therefore close to the native peoples".
A long record of service to the institutions of the Holy See has the archbishop Fernando VérgezSpanish, Legionary of Christ. He began working in them in 1972, and in 2021 he has been appointed President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and of the Governorate of that State. Omnes spoke with him about the workings of these institutions. But his vision goes beyond the Vatican walls, and he affirms that "there is a need for witnesses to the Gospel who know how to shake consciences".
The previous cardinals, in Omnes
The new cardinals will be accompanied by their brothers with more time in the College of Cardinals. And not only because of the natural fraternal closeness, but also because in the following days (August 29-30) Pope Francis has called a meeting of all the cardinals to reflect on the new Apostolic Constitution "Praedicate evangelium", which reorganizes the Roman Curia.
Among this group, there are many who are already known to Omnes readers through the corresponding interviews. We will now recall only some of them, without any particular intention that motivates this selection, and also mentioning them in alphabetical order.
The first name comes from Latin America, specifically from Santiago de Chile, where the Cardinal Cardinal Celestino Aósa Capuchin born in Spain. In this interview he responds to a wide variety of topics based on his desire to put Jesus Christ at the center. And he sums up his vision of the present moment in Latin America as follows: "It is time to work together and build together, taking care of the weakest and most needy. In the midst of so much death and selfishness, it is so beautiful to announce and work for life and love!
From Sweden, Cardinal Anders ArboreliusArchbishop of Stockholm and a Carmelite, always brings a message of hope, also in the dialogue with Omnes. He thinks that this dimension of hope must return to Europe, and offers the Swedish experience of "return from secularization" as an example. In 2018 he addressed that topic with Omnes, among other issues. He also participated as a guest at the Omnes Forum which can be viewed hereIn April 2021, he published in our magazine an article on unity in diversity of church members in Sweden.
The president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue is a Spaniard, a Comboni Missionary. Miguel Angel Ayuso. The focus of the interview with Cardinal Ayuso was on interreligious dialogue as a space for encounter and a commitment to the future, on which he spoke at a meeting in Spain. He dwelt on what the Pope often calls "a world war in pieces", which causes a divided world and calls for a climate of relationship and collaboration.
One of the faces of the social dimension of Francis' pontificate is the Jesuit cardinal Michael Czerny. Shortly after his creation as a cardinal in October 2019, Omnes published a conversation with him containing a biographical, intellectual and spiritual profile of the cardinal. As early as 2022, he granted us another interview upon his return from Ukraine, where he served as a Francisco's special envoy to try to "bring to the people the attention, the hopes, the anguish and the active commitment of the Pope in the search for peace".
With the Hungarian Cardinal Péter Erdő Omnes conversed in the summer of 2021, shortly before the International Eucharistic Congress held in Budapest in the presence of the Pope. Erdő is a prestigious canonist. The interview appeared in Omnes in two parts. Cardinal Erdő spoke not only about the preparations for the Congress, but also about the religious and cultural situation in Hungary, secularization and the challenges for the Church in today's Europe.
The Cardinal Kevin Farrell was born in Dublin (Ireland), although he lived in the United States, and is the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life. On this occasion he spoke to Omnes about the lay movements, stressing that they are and must feel part of the Church. The Cardinal said that they are an important contribution for her, "because they bring an energy, a grace, a spirit through which they can more easily communicate the Word of God to our contemporaries".
The theology and practice of the priesthood were the topic of an interview with the Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet. He addressed the issue of celibacy, denying that it is among the causes that favor sexual abuse. The main cause of abuse would be rather in the lack of self-control and affective imbalance of some priests.
The Archbishop of Montevideo (Uruguay) has been a Salesian since 2014. Daniel Sturla. A year later he was named cardinal, and a few months later he gave us an interview that reflects both his style and the focus of his task at the head of "a poor and free, small and beautiful Church", as he described the Catholic Church in Uruguay.
An undisputed focus of attention in the Church today is the so-called "Synodal Way" initiative in Germany. One of the most prominent figures in the German episcopate is the Cardinal Rainer Maria WoelkiArchbishop of Cologne. In this interview with Omnes, he asks that in the Synodal Path the Pope's indications (such as the Letter to German Catholics of 2019) be listened to. Starting from the Eucharist, Woelki recalls, in the face of the centrifugal forces that "threaten to disintegrate" the Church, that its true center is in Jesus Christ. We also recall the interview with the Cardinal. Reinhardt MarxArchbishop of Munich, which was published in our magazine in April 2014.
I repeat that this is only a casual sample, not exhaustive nor based on any other purpose than to bring to the readers' memory some of these conversations, showing, in the limited space of this text, the variety of people and territories. Both the people mentioned and those who have not been mentioned on this occasion know of our gratitude.
In short, after the Consistory of August 2022, the College of Cardinals will have 229 cardinals, of whom 132 will be electors. Slightly more than 40 % will be European, 18 % will be Latin American, 16 % will be Asian, 13 % will be African, 10 % will be North American, and slightly more than 2 % will be Oceanic.
