Pope Francis, 86, will “create” 21 new cardinals from four continents on Saturday, the majority of whom will one day be called upon to elect his successor.
Here are five things to know about this consistory, Francis’ ninth pontificate since his election in 2013, which reflects the globalization of the church.
On Saturday at 10:00 a.m. (0800 GMT), the pope will “create” 21 new cardinals – 18 of whom are under 80 – in a solemn ceremony in the square in front of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome – will be able to take part in the next conclave.
As usual, future cardinals will kneel before him to receive their hair clip, a square cap called “Cardinal Purple,” the color of which evokes the blood of Christ shed on the cross. The Pope also gives them the cardinal ring.
The ceremony will be followed by the traditional “courtesy visit” to the Vatican, a social reception in the gold of the Apostolic Palace.
The election of cardinals is the sole responsibility of the Pope, who selects them according to the priorities he has assigned to the Church.
Your job is to assist him in the central government of the church. Some live in Rome and hold positions within the Curia (the Vatican’s “government”), but most serve in their home diocese.
In 2013, the Argentine Jesuit created a nine-member “council of cardinals,” nicknamed “C9,” to help him run and reform the Curia.
Among the new cardinals are two French, both voters, including the Bishop of Ajaccio, Mgr. François Bustillo, 54 years old.
“The church must make people dream, not cry,” the Spanish-born, soccer-loving Franciscan said in an interview with AFP, saying he was “surprised” by his appointment.
The other Frenchman is Christophe Pierre, a 77-year-old Breton who has been Apostolic Nuncio (Ambassador of the Holy See) to the United States since 2016, after notably representing the Vatican in Haiti, Uganda and Mexico.
With the Archbishop of Marseille Jean-Marc Aveline, the archbishops emeritus Philippe Barbarin (Lyon), Jean-Pierre Ricard (Bordeaux) and Mgr. Dominique Mamberti, the College of Cardinals now has six French electors.
The appointment of cardinals is being scrutinized by observers who see it as an indication of the possible line of the future spiritual leader of the Catholic Church and its supposed 1.3 billion believers.
Especially since the Pope, like his predecessor Benedict XVI. left the “door open” to a waiver if his deteriorating health warranted it.
At the end of this consistory, Francis will have chosen 99 of the current 137 cardinals, or about 72%, while about 22% were chosen by Benedict XVI. and 6% were appointed by John Paul II.
This distribution could strain the two-thirds majority needed to elect a new pope, as it increases the likelihood that he shares Francis’ vision, is committed to a serving church and decentralized from himself.
But the election of a pope is always unpredictable and this trend must be put into perspective since certain cardinals appointed by Francis do not always share his positions or have even taken an open position against him, such as the German conservative Gerhard Müller.
Jorge Bergoglio is sensitive to the “peripheries” and minority communities and wants to strengthen “the universality of the Church.” The aim is to promote clergy from developing countries to the highest echelons of the church and to free themselves from the practice of systematically distinguishing specific archbishops from large dioceses.
The list of new cardinals thus reflects regions where the Church is expanding, such as Latin America (3), Africa (3) and Asia (2). On the African side, it particularly includes the archbishops of Juba (South Sudan), Cape Town (South Africa) and Tabora (Tanzania).
Asia, whose representation has grown over the past decade, is represented by the Bishop of Penang (Malaysia) and the Bishop of Hong Kong, Stephen Chow Sau-Yan, who are credited with playing an important role in improving difficult relations between the Church and Beijing .
“This means that the Pope intends to surround himself with people who have experience in the global world, not just in their field. “The presence of two diplomats also strengthens the church’s ties with international civil society,” Italian Vaticanist Marco Politi told AFP.