Pope announces consistory to name 15 cardinals; three are Asian
Only 12 new cardinals are electors. New Asian cardinals come from South Korea (Msgr Cheong Jin-suk, Archbishop of Seoul), Hong Kong (Msgr Joseph Zen Ze-kiun), Philippines (Msgr Gaudencio B. Rosales, Archbishop of Manila).
Vatican City (AsiaNews) Benedict XVI has convened a consistory for March 24 during which he will appoint 12 new cardinal electors and three cardinals over 80, his first nominations since taking over the papacy last year. He will being convening all the cardinals on the day prior to the consistory for a general meeting. This announcement was made today by the Pope himself at the end of his general audience: with these nominations the Pope has brought the number of electors, cardinals who are eligible to vote in a conclave, to 120, respecting the limit set by Paul VI.
The new cardinals (three of whom hold positions in the Roman Curia and nine of whom are residential archbishops) represent the entire Church: four are from Europe, two from America and three from Asia, specifically from South Korea (Msgr. Cheong Jin-suk, Archbishop of Seoul), Hong Kong (Monsignor Joseph Zen Ze-kiun) and Philippines (Monsignor Gaudencio B. Rosales, Archbishop of Manila).
Those over 80 are Msgr. Andrea Cordero Lanza Di Montezemolo, archpriest of St Paul's Outside The Walls Basilica; Msgr. Peter Poreku Dery, archbishop emeritus of Tamale (Ghana); and Fr. Albert Vanhoye, S.J., a former rector of the Pontifical Biblical Institute and Secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission.
Today's Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, as Benedict XVI himself highlighted, "is a particularly appropriate day" to announce new cardinals. "This announcement", he added, "fits in appropriately with today's Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter because cardinals have the duty to support and assist Peter's successor in the fulfilment of the task he has been assigned in serving the Church."
The cardinals, Benedict XVI added, constitute a sort of senate around the Pope that he calls upon in the exercise of his ministry.
The list read by Benedict XVI at the end of the audience opens with Archbishop Joseph Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Also named were: Franc Rodé, Prefect of the Congregation for Consecrated Life; Agostino Vallini, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal for the Apostolic Segnatura, Horge Urosa Savino, Archbishop of Caracas, Venezuela; Gaudencio Rosales, Archbishop of Manila, Philippines; Jean Pier Ricard, Archbishop of Bordedaux; Antonio Canizares Lovera, Archbishop of Toledo; Cheng Jing Sur, Archbishop of Seoul; the Archbishop of Boston, Patrick O'Malley, a Capuchin; Stanislaw Dziwisz, Archbishop of Krakow, Poland; Carlo Caffarra, Arcbishop of Bologna; and Joseph Zen Ze Kiun, Archbishop of Hong Kong.
In the thoughts expressed to those gathered for the audience, before announcing the consistory, Benedict XVI said that Rome, where Peter concluded in martyrdom his service of faith, took up the duty entrusted by Christ to Peter to be at the service of all the particular Churches for the edification and the unity of the People of God as a whole.
In his reflections -- on a topic personally chosen for today's audience by the Pope who, in the first 40 general audiences of his pontificate, had completed the catechesis initiated by John Paul II on the Psalms -- Benedict XVI illustrated the meaning of the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter, saying to the 9000 faithful gathered in the Paul VI Auditorium that it is "a very ancient tradition, that can be traced back to the 4th century, with which we render thanks to God for the mission entrusted to the Apostle Peter and to his successors. The 'chair' is literally the Bishop's exclusive seat, found in the mother church of a Diocese, which for this reason is called a "cathedral" and is the symbol of the authority of the Bishop and, in particular, of his 'magisterium', in other words the evangelical teaching which he, in his capacity as successor of the Apostles, is called to watch over and transmit to the Christian Community. When the Bishop takes possession of the particular Church that he has been assigned, he, wearing a mitre and carrying a crozier, he sits on the Bishop's Chair. From that seat, he guides, as teacher and pastor, the journey of the faithful, in faith, in hope and in charity."
"What was, therefore," the Pope asked, "the 'chair' of Saint Peter? He, chosen by Christ as "the rock" on which to build the Church (cf Mat 16:18), began his ministry in Jerusalem, after the Lord's Ascension and Pentecost. The Church's first seat was in the Upper Room, and it likely that in that location, where also Mary, Mother of Jesus, prayed together with the disciples, a special place has been reserved for Simon Peter." Benedict XVI recalled that the seat of Peter then became Antioch (in today's Turkey), "which was at that time the third city of the Roman empire after Rome and Alexandria. In was in that city, evangelized by Barnabas and Paul, where "the disciples were first called Christians." (Acts 11:26), that Peter was the first bishop."
"From there, Providence lead Peter to Rome, thus we have the journey from the nascent Church of Jerusalem, to Antioch, a pagan capital, to Rome, where he concluded in martyrdom the course of his service to the Gospel. It is for this reason that the seat of Rome, which received the greatest honour, took on the onus entrusted by Christ to Peter to be at the service of all the particular Churches, for the edification and the unity of the People of God as a whole. The seat of Rome thus came to be known as that of the successor of Peter, and the 'chair' of its bishop represented that of the Apostle to whom Christ entrusted the task of grazing his flock."
"The chair of the Bishop of Rome," he then added, "represents, therefore, not only his service to the Roman community, but his mission to guide the People of God as a whole. Thus, celebrating the "Chair" of Peter, as we are doing today, means attributing to it a strong spiritual meaning and recognizing a privileged sign of the love of God, the good and eternal Pastor, who wants to gather his entire Church and guide it on the way to salvation."
Referring, at the end, to the chair monument found in St Peter's Basilica, Benedict XVI invited the faithful to "dwell before this suggestive artefact, which can today be admired with its decoration of numerous candles, and pray in a special way for the ministry that God as entrusted to me. Lifting our gaze to the alabaster and glass window which opens over the Chair, pray that the Holy Spirit constantly sustains, with its light and power, my daily service to the entire Church," adding, "especially in the concern for the unity of the People of God."
Before going to the Paul VI Auditorium, Benedict XVI had gone to Saint Peter's Basilica to greet the approximately one thousand people, mainly Italian students, gathered there. He invited them to "look at the Chair of Saint Peter," which "stimulates and nourishes the personal and community life of a faith founded on the witness of Peter and the Apostles. Imitating their example, you too, dear friends, can be witnesses of Christ in the Church and in the world."
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19/02/2012
