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On Saturday, Pope Francis will raise 13 men including the archbishops of Washington, Kigali and Santiago de Chile, to the cardinal’s rank in St. Peter’s Basilica. For the first time, this will be celebrated at a distance, without hugging, with few guests and partly by video-connection. Two of the new purple bearers cannot travel to Rome due to a pandemic. Bishop Cornelius Sim in Brunei and the Philippine Archbishop Jose Advincula will digitally celebrate the Cardinal elevation, according to the Vatican.
Wilton Gregory, the Archbishop of Washington, is the first African-American to become a Cardinal. Due to the Corona pandemic, only 100 guests and relatives are admitted to the consistory on Saturday afternoon in St. Peter’s Basilica. Many cardinals from all over the world, including the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, decided not to travel to Rome because of the current pandemic situation.
The new cardinal nominations were due: The circle of those cardinals who are younger than 80 years and thus may participate in a papal election has meanwhile fallen below the target number of 120. After the consistory, 73 of the then again 128 cardinals entitled to vote for the pope will be appointed by Francis.
— hp, with reports from news agencies. picture: pixabay.com
