ARCHBISHOP JOINS ELITE CLUB OF VATICAN CARDINALS
VATICAN CITY,
FEBRUARY 21, 2012 (CANADIAN PRESS)
By Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press – 15 minutes
ago - Pope Benedict on today, Saturday brought 22 new Catholic churchmen, including
Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins, into the elite club of cardinals who will
elect his successor, in a greatly simplified ceremony that took account of
evidence the 84-year-old pontiff is slowing down.
The 22 cardinals also include the archbishops of New York, Prague and
Hong Kong as well as the heads of several Vatican offices.
Collins, 65, is the 16th Canadian to be elevated to the position of
cardinal. Only two other Canadian cardinals are alive — Marc Ouellet, 67, of
Quebec City and Jean-Claude Turcotte, 76, of Montreal.
Saturday's elevation brought to 125 the number of cardinals under age 80
who are thus eligible to vote in a papal election.
Collins spent his childhood in the southern Ontario town of Guelph before
earning a string of degrees at universities in Canada and Europe, including
a doctorate of theology from Rome's Gregorian University.
Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, who led an
official delegation to the ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica, said it was
quite an honour for Canada.
"It's poignant actually to see Cardinal Collins move up into an important
role in the global church," Flaherty told CTV News from Rome.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, meanwhile, issued a statement
congratulating Collins on his elevation to the College of Cardinals.
"On the occasion of this great honour for Catholics throughout Canada, I
wish our country's newest cardinal all the best in his continued ministry,"
Harper said.
"The cardinals are usually the principal advisers to and ministers of the
Pope, either assisting in the administration of the affairs of the Holy See
or serving as archbishops of major cities throughout the world. That a
native son of Guelph, Ont., has been made a cardinal is a source of pride
for all Canadians."
Preparations for the ceremony have been clouded by embarrassing leaks of
internal documents alleging financial mismanagement in Vatican affairs, and
reports in the Italian media of political jockeying among church officials
who, sensing an increasingly weak pontiff, are already preparing for a
conclave.
None of that was on display Saturday.
That said, each of the new cardinals did make a solemn pledge to keep
church secrets upon accepting their new title, ring and three-pointed red
hat, or biretta, from the Pope.
Reciting the cardinals' traditional oath of loyalty, each one pledged to
remain faithful to the church and to "not to make known to anyone matters
entrusted to me in confidence, the disclosure of which could bring damage or
dishonour to Holy Church."
Benedict was wheeled into St. Peter's Basilica aboard the moving platform
he has been using for several months to spare him the long walk down the
centre aisle. Benedict, who turns 85 in April, spoke in a strong voice as he
told the cardinals they will be called upon to advise him on the problems
facing the church.
In remarks at the start of the service, Benedict
recalled that the biretta and the scarlet cassock that cardinals wear
symbolizes the blood that cardinals must be willing to shed to remain
faithful to the church.
"The new cardinals are entrusted with the service of love: love for God,
love for his church, an absolute and unconditional love for his brothers and
sisters even unto shedding their blood, if necessary," Benedict said.
Benedict has been slowing down recently. His upcoming trip to Mexico and
Cuba, for example, is very light on public appearances, with no political
speeches or meetings with civil society planned as has been the norm to
date. Even Saturday's consistory was greatly trimmed back to a slimmer
version of the service used in 1969: only one of the cardinals actually read
his oath of loyalty aloud, while the others read it silently to themselves
simultaneously. A reading was cut out, as was a responsorial psalm.
At the end of his remarks, Benedict said: "And pray for me, that I may
continually offer to the people of God the witness of sound doctrine and
guide the holy church with a firm and humble hand."
Of the 22 new cardinals, seven are Italian, adding to the eight
voting-age Italian cardinals named at the last consistory in November 2010.
As of Saturday, Italy will have 30 cardinals out of the 125 under age 80.
That boosts Italy's chances of taking back the papacy for one of its own
following decades under a Polish and a German pope, or at least playing the
kingmaker role if an Italian papabile, or papal candidate, doesn't emerge.
Only the United States comes close, with 12 cardinals under 80, including
New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan and Cardinal-designate Edwin O'Brien, the
former archbishop of Baltimore who is now grand master of the Order of the
Holy Sepulcher, which raises money for the church in the Holy Land.
The consistory class of 2012 is heavily European, reinforcing Europe's
dominance of the College of Cardinals, even though two-thirds of the world's
Catholics are in the southern hemisphere. All but three of the new under-80
cardinals come from the West, along with a Brazilian, an Indian and a
Chinese. _ With files from The Canadian Press.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE
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