2023-07-09 13:57:30
Pope Francis announced this Sunday the appointment of 21 cardinalsamong them three Argentinesa Colombian and a Venezuelan, with the special circumstance that one of the Argentine priests, the father confessor of the Church of Our Lady of Pompeii Luis Dri, is 96 years old. According to Francisco, his appointments represent “the universality of the Church.”
The other two Argentines are Monsignor Victor Manuel Fernandez, recently appointed by Francis as prefect of the Department for the Doctrine of the Faith; and the Archbishop of Córdoba Angel Sixto Rossi. Both, due to their age, will be able to vote in an eventual new conclave to define Francisco’s successor, while the father Dri, you will not be able to do it, because the limit in the pontifical voting conclaves is 80 years.
“I am happy to announce that on September 30 I will celebrate a Consistory for the creation of new cardinals”revealed the Supreme Pontiff during his weekly Angelus prayer, which he performed from the window of the Apostolic Palace in Saint Peter’s Square.
Along these same lines, the Holy Father remarked: “Its provenance expresses the universality of the Churchwhich continues to proclaim the merciful love of God to all men on earth”.
Also on the list are the Archbishop of Bogotá, Colombia, Luis Jose Rueda Aparicioand Venezuela the archbishop emeritus of the Venezuelan city of Cumana, Diego Rafael Padron Sanchezwho also would not have the right to vote because he is over 80 years old.
Two Spaniards were also included in the list, the Archbishop of Madrid, Jose Cobo Canoand the major rector of the Salesians, Angel Fernandez Artime. Together with them, the archbishops of Juba will also be named cardinals (South Sudan), Cape Town (South Africa), Tabora (Tanzania) and the Bishops of Penang (Malaysia) y Hong Kong (China). In addition, the Italian Claudio Gugerotti, current prefect of the Dicastery for Oriental Churches, also joins.
The consistory will be the ninth for the creation of cardinals under Pope Francis, who is in the 10th year of his papacy. These elections are closely watched, as cardinals under the age of 80 will participate in the vote to name the successor to the Argentine pope.
The last consistory took place in August 2022, when Francis created 20 cardinals. At the end of that consistory, the pope chose about 90 of the 132 cardinals with the right to vote in the conclave that will designate the next head of Catholics, that is, almost two-thirds of the total.
It is a determining figure in the event of the election of the pope, since a two-thirds majority is precisely required for white smoke to rise from the Vatican.
AS/HB
1688916984
#Pope #Francis #cardinals #including #Argentines #years