The Holy Father declared in his homily on August 27 to the College of Cardinals and its new members, “A cardinal loves the Church.”
During a service on Saturday in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis consecrated 20 new cardinals for the Catholic Church.
Jesus addresses us by name and inquires of us directly, “Can I trust on you?” On August 27, Pope Francis delivered a homily to the College of Cardinals and its freshmen.
The Lord wants to give us his own apostolic boldness and zeal for the salvation of every person, without exception, he stated. Because the Father’s mercy has filled his heart to overflowing, he wishes to share his magnanimity and unending love with us.
After reading verses 49–50 of Chapter 12 of the Gospel of Luke, the Pope offered his perspective. Jesus told his disciples at that time, “I have come to set the planet on fire, and how I wish it were already burning! How much pain I will endure till I receive a baptism, with which I must be baptized.
Francis observed, “The words of Jesus, right in the middle of the Gospel of Luke, penetrate us like an arrow.
He said, “The Lord beckons us once more to walk with him in the way of his purpose. “A flaming mission, like that of Elijah, both in terms of what he came to do and in terms of how he did it.
It is as though Jesus is handing us a lit torch and saying, “Take this; as the Father has sent me, so I now send you.'” This is especially true for those of us in the Church who have been selected from the membership for a ministry of particular service.
The Pope mentioned that one cardinal-elect, Richard Kuuia Baawobr of Wa (Ghana), was absent before concluding his homily. Francis requested prayers for the African bishop and said that Baawobr was unwell. Pope Francis led the ceremony’s opening prayer in Latin at the start of the consistory.
The Creed was recited by the new cardinals as they professed their religion during the rite. They then swore allegiance and submission to the Pope and his successors.
In order to receive the scarlet biretta, the cardinal’s ring, and a document identifying the titular church to which he has been appointed, each cardinal then walked up to Pope Francis and knelt down in front of him.
“Pax Domini sit semper tecum,” which translates to “The peace of the Lord be with you always,” was the greeting that Pope Francis gave to each new cardinal when he was received. “Amen,” each cardinal reacted.
The new cardinals also shared a peace sign with a few Cardinals who stood in for the entire College of Cardinals.
“To the glory of almighty God and the honor of the Apostolic See, receive the scarlet biretta as a sign of the dignity of the cardinalate, signifying your readiness to act with courage, even to the shedding of your blood, for the increase of the Christian faith, for the peace and tranquility of the People of God, and for the freedom and growth of the Holy Roman Church,” the Pope said as he placed the red biretta on each cardinal’s head.
“Receive this ring from the hand of Peter and know that, with the love of the Prince of the Apostles, your love for the Church is enhanced,” Francis remarked as he presented the ring to each new cardinal.
“The Lord wants to impart on us his own apostolic courage, his enthusiasm for the salvation of every human being, without exception,” the Pope remarked in his homily. Because the Father’s mercy has filled his heart to overflowing, he wishes to share his magnanimity and unending love with us.
He also remembered a charcoal fire, another type of fire. This fire, he continued, “burns in a special way in the prayer of adoration, when we kneel before the Eucharist in silence and take solace in the meek, covert, and hidden presence of the Lord. His presence provides warmth and nourishment for our daily lives, much like the charcoal fire.
He remarked, “A cardinal loves the Church, always with that same spiritual fire, whether dealing with major topics or solving common issues, with the powerful of this world or those common individuals who are magnificent in God’s eyes.
St. Charles de Foucauld, Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, and Cardinal Van Thuan were the three persons the Pope cited as role models for the cardinals to follow.
Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect of the liturgy dicastery, spoke on behalf of all the newly elected cardinals during the consistory to greet and thank Pope Francis.
In a speech in St. Peter’s Basilica on August 27, Cardinal Arthur Roche represents the new cardinals. The CNA is Daniel Ibáez.
We all work in the Lord’s vineyard, bringing with us our unique personal histories and living circumstances from all over the world. As diocesan and religious priests, we are dedicated to sharing the Gospel in a variety of settings and cultures while being steadfast in the belief that there is only one God and one Church, according to Cardinal Roche.
Now that you’ve shown that you believe in us, you’re calling us to this new service in even closer cooperation with your ministry, within the expansive framework of the entire Church, he said.
God is aware of the dust from which we are all produced, and we are aware that we are capable of failing without him.
We are all weak, but he is weakest of all who ignores his own weakness, St. Gregory the Great once stated in a letter to a bishop, according to Cardinal Roche.
The Holy Father, he continued, “we draw strength from your witness, your spirit of service, and your call to the entire Church to follow the Lord with greater fidelity; living the joy of the Gospel with discernment, courage, and, most importantly, with an openness of heart that manifests itself in welcoming everyone, especially those who suffer the injustice of poverty that marginalizes, the suffering of pain that seeks a response of meaning, the violence of wars that destroy.” We share your dedication to and desire for church fellowship.
Pope Francis called a consistory for the cardinals to approve the canonization of the Blesseds Artemide Zatti and Giovanni Battista Scalabrini following the consistory to ordain cardinals.
Here are the new cardinals:
— Cardinal Arthur Roche, 72, a former bishop of Leeds, England and prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship;
— Lazarus You Heung-sik, 70, a former bishop of Daejeon, South Korea and prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy;
— Jean-Marc Noel Aveline, 63, the archbishop of Marseille and the first bishop of a French diocese to receive this award under Pope Francis;
— Peter Ebere Okpaleke, a 59-year-old bishop of Ekwulobia in central Nigeria who was consecrated a bishop by Benedict XVI in 2012;
— Leonardo Ulrich Steiner, 77, the archbishop of Manaus in Brazil’s Amazon area, a Franciscan who served as vice president of the recently established Amazonian Bishops’ Conference and as a key figure during the Amazon synod;
— Robert McElroy, 68, bishop of San Diego, California, whose diocese is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, headed by Archbishop José Gomez, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; — Filipe Neri António Sebastio do Rosário Ferro, 69, archbishop of Goa (India);
68-year-old Salesian Virgilio do Carmo Da Silva, who has served as the archbishop of Dili, East Timor, since 2019;
— Oscar Cantoni, a 71-year-old Italian bishop who was chosen by Milan’s suffragan, St. John Paul II, in January 2005;
— Anthony Poola, 60, archbishop of Hyderabad, India, a bishop since 2008 and the first dalit to become a cardinal; — Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, 77, an archbishop who serves as president of the Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State and of the Governorate of the Vatican City State;
— Cardinal Paulo Cezar Costa, the 54-year-old archbishop of Brasilia, Brazil, who is the fourth archbishop of that city;
— Bishop Richard Kuuia Baawobr, 62, a former superior general of the White Fathers who has served in that capacity since 2016;
— William Goh Seng Chye, 65, who has been Singapore’s archbishop since 2013;
— Adalberto Martinez Flores, 71, the first cardinal from Paraguay and archbishop of Asunción;
— Karol Wojtyla, who was also made a cardinal at the age of 47 during the consistory on June 26, 1967, and Giorgio Marengo, an Italian Missionary of the Consolata and the apostolic prefect of Ulan Bator in Mongolia, both of whom are the youngest cardinals in recent memory at age 47.
Additionally, Pope Francis appointed the following clerics who will no longer be able to participate in future conclaves since they are beyond the age of 80.
Father Gianfranco Ghirlanda, a Jesuit and former rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University, who actively contributed to the writing of the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium; Jorge Enrique Jiménez Carvajal, 80, archbishop emeritus of Cartagena, Colombia; Arrigo Miglio, 80, archbishop emeritus of Cagliari, Italy; Fortunato Frezza, 80, of Italy
The nomination by Pope Francis also included the 80-year-old Ghent Bishop Luc Van Looy, who eventually rejected to take the position due to criticism of his handling of priest abuse cases.
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