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Pope Francis at midday prayer on St. Peter's Square: Announcement on the window
Photo: Alessandra Tarantino / AP
Pope Francis wants to appoint 13 clergymen cardinals.
The head of the Catholic Church announced this surprisingly during the midday prayer in the Vatican.
The decision is not only an honor for the future cardinals, it is also important for church politics.
Nine of the elect are younger than 80 years - a decisive limit for the Church: in the event of a conclave, they would be allowed to vote for the new Pope.
These include the Archbishop of the US capital Washington DC, Wilton Gregory, the Archbishop of the Rwandan capital Kigali, Antoine Kambanda, and the Franciscan monk Mauro Gambetti.
Influential college of cardinals
Pope Francis has selected more than half of the cardinals eligible to vote since his appointment.
In the past, these included men from countries that have never had a cardinal, such as Haiti, Papua New Guinea or the Central African Republic.
He is trying to counterbalance the powerful cardinals from Europe or the United States.
In addition, he mainly opted for clergy who share his positions on social justice, migrant rights and dialogue with Islam.
With his personnel policy, Francis increases the likelihood that the Convention will decide on a successor who will continue the papal office in Francis' sense.
The four over 80 nominees are honored with the elevation to the cardinal status for their commitment to the Catholic Church and appointed for life.
They include the Pope's chaplain, Raniero Cantalamessa, and former Vatican diplomat and Archbishop Silvano Tomasi.
In addition, Pope Francis pays tribute to the former director of the Catholic charity Caritas in Rome, Enrico Feroci, and Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel from Mexico.
The 13 men are to be raised to the cardinal status in a consistory on November 28th.
So far, it is unclear what the ceremony should look like in view of the corona pandemic and global travel restrictions.
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