Pope Francis’ new cardinals highlight peripheries

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pope Francis will make 21 new cardinals on Saturday (Dec. 7), who will join the group of prelates tasked with selecting his successor one day. The new crop of red hats showcases an increasingly diverse church, with a special eye for those on the margins, whether they have been pushing the limits of Catholic theology or speaking out in defense of war victims in Palestine and Ukraine.

This will be the 10^th consistory by Pope Francis, who has made new cardinals each year of his pontificate with the exception of the year of the COVID-19 pandemic. He has successfully reshaped the college of cardinals by selecting almost 80% of its members, who showcase an increasingly global and multiethnic church. Among the new cardinals there will be prelates representing small Catholic communities from places that have never had a cardinal before, such as Iran and Serbia.

The college of cardinals has shifted from being a primarily European group to a much more global assembly. Asia and South America now closely follow Europe in the number of cardinals, which is likely to impact the discussions that will occur at the next conclave. The upcoming consistory is also a celebration of the underdogs who have been cast aside or persecuted.

The consistory will take place on the eve of the feast of the Immaculate Conception, which traditionally launches the Christmas season at the Vatican. With the new additions, the number of cardinals will total 253. Of these, only 140 cardinals are under the age of 80 and therefore have a right to vote in the conclave to select the next pope (those over 80 can still participate in the conclave, just not vote). The current rules cap the number of voting cardinals at 120, and with 14 cardinals set to age out by the end of 2025, there will be a total of 126.

In this consistory, Francis has appointed both the oldest cardinal in the college, the 99-year-old former Vatican diplomat Monsignor Angelo Acerbi, and the youngest. At 44, the Ukrainian Greek Bishop Mykola Bychok, Eparch of Saints Peter and Paul in Melbourne, said he welcomed the pope’s decision to make him a cardinal and that he “will find every opportunity to speak to the Holy Father about what is going on in Ukraine.”

Speaking to Vatican reporters on Thursday (Dec. 5), Bychok said he hopes to represent the needs of the Ukrainian people who continue to suffer almost three years into the war. “A just peace is very simple: We know who the occupier and the invader is, the Russian Federation. Russian Federation should be punished and we as victims of the invasion should be justified,” he said.

The upcoming consistory will also include the first cardinal of Palestinian origin in recent history, Archbishop Natalio Chomalí Garib of Santiago de Chile, in Chile. “I am Palestinian, so this issue is close to my heart,” he said, speaking about the violence in Gaza. “I am making an appeal, here at the Holy See, to end this war and put an end to this injustice and to move towards dialogue and peace,” he said, adding his support for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.

Chomalí has made repeated appeals for peace in the Middle East and told journalists that as cardinal he hopes to promote unity and enthusiasm for the church. He also addressed a sexual abuse crisis in Chile that has centered around the figure of the priest Fernando Karadima, who was found guilty of abusing minors by both religious and secular courts. Chomalí said the church is recovering and rebuilding from its past mistakes by creating sound structures for reporting abuse and enforcing accountability.

After 50 years preaching on the sidelines, 79-year-old Dominican Father Timothy Peter Joseph Radcliffe has found himself catapulted to the heart of the Vatican and Pope Francis’ project for the future of the church. He was the spiritual father of the October Vatican summit of bishops on synodality, which sought to inject openness, dialogue and a more democratic governance into the institution.

Radcliffe’s willingness to challenge the church’s thinking on LGBTQ+ individuals and women made him an uncomfortable figure during previous pontificates, but Francis has now crowned the British theologian’s work with a red hat. Asked about the inclusion of LGBTQ+ Catholics, Radcliffe said that “all the church offers is love,” while adding that he hopes faithful will have the opportunity to hear women preach soon.

Newly appointed Cardinal P. Timothy Peter Joseph Radcliffe, British theologian and spiritual father of the just-concluded synod, meets journalists in the Vatican press room ahead of his elevation, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

“We need to hear the preaching of women who will speak out of all their profound experience,” he said.

Radcliffe will be wearing his white Dominican habit during the consistory, having asked Pope Francis to be dispensed from being ordained a bishop. “I’m a brother and I wish to remain a brother,” he said.

The English cardinal-elect also said he saw the movie “Conclave,” starring Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci, which portrays the backdoor intrigue and backstabbing of the election of a new pope. “I don’t think you get that sort of corruption any longer at the highest level. I believe not, but I do think that when people gather in conclave to vote for the next pope, which I hope will be a long time, they will be seeking somebody who has joy and simplicity and whose heart is open,” he said.

Archbishop Ignace Bessi Dogbo of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, is one of two African prelates who will be made cardinals on Saturday. As a participant at the October synod, Dogbo said he will bring Pope Francis’ vision for an inclusive and welcoming church to his country and Africa.

He said he hopes the next pope “is (a) missionary, like Pope Francis,” adding that the church can no longer stay back but must move forward. “It’s for everyone, for the poor, for sinners, for saints,” he said.

African bishops reacted negatively to a 2023 document, Fiducia Supplicans, calling for LGBTQ+ welcoming and allowing the blessing of same-sex couples. “The pope’s document is an important document, which must be read calmly. Unfortunately, we didn’t read the document. The media read the document in our stead. So it faced a challenge of interpretation in Africa,” Dogbo said, adding that the African church “need(s) time so we can better understand.”

Francis’ choice to appoint a diverse and global college of cardinals will come with some unique challenges for the next conclaves, as most will be relative strangers to each other. In addition to potential language barriers, those who come from more far-flung locales may be unprepared for the complexities of Vatican politics, including attempts to sway them by more experienced prelates.

The final document of the Synod on Synodality, signed by Pope Francis, asked that “members of the College of Cardinals become better acquainted with one another and that the bonds of communion among them be fostered.” Opportunities for cardinals to meet are few, but some have taken to email and the internet to keep in touch with colleagues far and wide.

“It will not be easy to have some meeting of all cardinals in one location. There will be just one chance maybe during the conclave. But we are trying to get to know each other,” Bychok said.