He is the current president of the Vatican City Government and of the Pontifical Commission.
The Pope has appointed a total of 21 new cardinals, whom he will create in a consistory to be held on August 27, including the Spaniard, the Salamancan Fernando Vérgez, current president of the Government of the Vatican City and of the Pontifical Commission.
Francisco has made these appointments this Sunday, May 29, from Saint Peter’s Square in the Vatican after concluding the Marian prayer.
The Holy Father has surprised those present at the ‘Regina Coeli’ with this decision by which Spain would have fifteen cardinals, nine of them electors and eligible if a conclave were held today, in addition to another six emeritus, becoming the third country in the world with the largest number of cardinals.
Other countries where the cardinals come from are Paraguay, India, France, Singapore, Ulan Bator and Timor. Among the appointments is an emeritus from Colombia and two Italians.
The Pope will make five cardinals who are over 80 years old, so they would not have the right to vote in a conclave to elect a new Successor of Peter.
The 21 new cardinals named by Francis are Mons. Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments; Bishop Fernando Vérgez Alzaga LC, President of the Pontifical Commission for the State of Vatican City and President of the Governorate of the State of Vatican City; Bishop Jean-Marc Aveline, Metropolitan Archbishop of Marseille (France); Bishop Peter Okpaleke, Bishop of Ekwulobia (Nigeria); Mons. Leonardo Ulrich Steiner, OFM, Metropolitan Archbishop of Manaus (Brazil); Bishop Filipe Neri António Sebastião di Rosário Ferrão – Archbishop of Goa and Damão (India); Bishop Robert Walter McElroy, Bishop of San Diego (USA); Virgilio Do Carmo Da Silva, SDB, Archbishop of Dili (East Timor); Bishop Oscar Cantoni, Bishop of Como (Italy); Bishop Anthony Poola, Archbishop of Hyderabad (India); Bishop Paulo Cezar Costa, Metropolitan Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Brasilia (Brazil); Bishop Richard Kuuia Baawobr M. Afr, Bishop of Wa (Ghana); Bishop William Goh Seng Chye, Archbishop of Singapore (Singapore); Bishop Adalberto Martínez Flores, Metropolitan Archbishop of Asunción (Paraguay); Bishop Giorgio Marengo, IMC, Apostolic Prefect of Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia).
Joining them will be the members of the College of Cardinals: Bishop Jorge Enrique Jiménez Carvajal, Archbishop Emeritus of Cartagena (Colombia); Archbishop Lucas Van Looy SDB, Archbishop Emeritus of Ghent (Belgium); Archbishop Arrigo Miglio, Archbishop Emeritus of Cagliari (Italy); Gianfranco Ghirlanda sj, Professor of Theology; Mons. Fortunato Frezza, Canon of Saint Peter.
Before listing the cardinals he will create at the end of this summer, the Holy Father recalled the figure of Luigi Lenzini, the priest who has been beatified in the last few hours in the Italian city of Modena. Francis praised the biography of this religious who was assassinated in 1945, after being found guilty of “helping people in a climate of hatred and conflict.”
Also, the Bishop of Rome has made reference to those present to the World Day of Social Communications that the Church celebrates this Sunday. Francis has urged society to make use of this year’s motto, ‘Listen with the ears of the heart’, since he underlines that “knowing how to listen is the first sign of love, knowing how to listen is waiting for others to say things, knowing listen with mind, ear and heart”, he claimed.
On the other hand, he has not overlooked the fact that Italy celebrates this May 29 the ‘National Day of Relief’. Day that has served the Pope to remember that more important than the disease is the patient, and emphasizes that “when it is not possible to be cured, it is always possible to accompany, console and make one feel close.”
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