Kikuchi, David and Latin rite archbishop of Tehran among the new cardinals
Pope Francis announced a consistory for 8 December. Four Asians are among the new cardinals. Along with the archbishop of Tokyo and the president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, the list includes Bishop Bruno Syukur Paskalis of Bogor (Indonesia), and Mgr George Jacob Koovakad, from India, hitherto in charge of papal travels. After the Angelus, Francis issued a plea for peace, appealing “for an immediate ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon”.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – On Sunday, following the Angelus, Pope Francis announced a new consistory, his tenth, to be held in two months for the creation of 21 new cardinals (read the full list here).
In his address, the pontiff said, “on December 8th, I will hold a consistory for the appointment of new cardinals. Their origin reflects the universality of the Church, that continues to announce God's merciful love to all people.”
Asia is getting four new cardinals: Archbishop Tarcisius Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo (Japan), who chairs Caritas Internationalis; Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan (Philippines), who serves as president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines; Bishop Paskalis Bruno Syukur of Bogor (Indonesia); and Mgr George Jacob Koovakad, a Vatican diplomat responsible for papal travels, born in Chethipuzha (India) in 1973.
Extremely significant at this time in history is the decision to confer the title of cardinal to Bishop Dominique Joseph Mathieu of Tehran-Isfahan (Iran), head of the small Catholic community of Latin rite in the Iranian capital. Equally significant for dialogue with the Muslim world is the elevation of Archbishop Jean-Paul Vesco of Algiers. There are fuori new Italian cardinals: the archbishop of Turin Roberto Repole, the vicar general for the diocese of Rome Baldassarre Reina, the Scalabrinian missionary Fr Fabio Baggio, under secretary of the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development and the former apostolico nuncio mons. Angelo Acerbi. Among those from the American continent is Archbishop Francis Leo of Toronto, who served for a number of years at the Holy See's mission in Hong Kong. Francis also awarded the purple to the british 79-year-old Dominican theologian Fr Timothy Radcliffe, former master general of the order.
As a result of today’s announcement, 25 out of 141 cardinal electors will come from Asia. This number will start to drop as of 24 December when Archbishop Oswald Gracias of Mumbai turns 80 and must retire for reason of age. He will be joined in the first months of 2025 by fellow Indian, Archbishop George Alencherry, and Archbishop Joseph Coutts from Pakistan.
The group of “new cardinals” shows the inseparable legal relationship between the See of Peter and local Churches in the world, said Pope Francis, who has created 142 cardinals during his pontificate, including 113 electors, especially sensitive to the "peripheries" of the world. At the start of last month, the pontiff was in Asia, including Indonesia.
“Let us pray for the new Cardinals, that in confirming their commitment to Christ, the merciful and faithful High Priest, they may assist me in my ministry as the Bishop of Rome for the good of the holy people of God,” said the pontiff.
Tarcisius Isao Kikuchi, archbishop of Tokyo, was born on 1 November 1958 in Iwate prefecture, Diocese of Sendai. After studies in Japan, he made his perpetual profession in the Congregation of the Divine Word Missionaries in March 1985, and was ordained a priest in March 1986. He completed his studies in Australia. He held various posts: In 1996 he became coordinator of his order’s Office of Justice and Peace for the Asia and Pacific area. In 1998 he joined Caritas Japan, eventually becoming its executive director, representing Japanese bishops at international conferences in 1998. Before Tokyo, his first episcopal appointment was in Niigata in 2004.
Pablo Virgilio David, bishop of Kalookan, was born in Betis, Guagua, Pampanga, Archdiocese of San Fernando, on 2 March 1959. He studied until 1991 at the Catholic University of Louvain, and attended the École Biblique de Jérusalem. In his native Philippines, he held various posts: teacher, director of the Mother of God Counsel Seminary until 1986, and, since 2002, director of the seminary’s Department of Theology. He serves as deputy president of the Association of Catholic biblical scholars of the Philippines and Vice of the Archdiocesan Media Apostolate Networks, and is the author of several publications on the Scriptures.
Paskalis Bruno Syukur, bishop of Bogor, was born on 17 May 1962 in Ranggu, Diocese of Ruteng, Flores Island. His made solemn profession with the Franciscans Minor on 22 January 1989, while his ordination took place in 1991. He has held various positions, as provincial superior in Indonesia (2001-2009) and O.F.M. general councillor for Asia and Oceania in Rome (since 2009).
Dominique Joseph Mathieu, archbishop of Tehran Ispahan, was born on 13 June 1963 in Arlon, Belgium. He entered the Order of Friars Minor Conventual after high school. Ordained a priest on 24 September 1989, he was incardinated in the Provincial Custody of the East and the Holy Land in 2013. He held different positions in his order: rector of the National Shrine of St Anthony of Padua in Brussels and director of the related confraternity. He arrived in Lebanon in 2013 to join the Provincial Custody of the East and the Holy Land, where he served as custodial secretary, educator, master of novices and rector of postulants and candidates. He was appointed Archbishop of Tehran Ispahan (Iran) on 8 January 2021.
After the recitation of the Marian prayer, Francis issued another strong appeal for peace in the world, a day before 7 October, the first anniversary of the Hamas attack.
“Tomorrow marks one year since the terror attack on the population in Israel, to whom I once again express my closeness. Let us not forget that there are still many hostages in Gaza. I ask for them to be released immediately,” the pontiff noted. “I call for an immediate ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon,” he added.
This afternoon Francis travelled to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major to invoke the intercession of the Mother of God. “Tomorrow will be a day of prayer and fasting for world peace. Let us unite with the power of good against the diabolical plots of war,” Francis said.
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