POPE TO CREATE 20 NEW CARDINALS WHO MAY CHOOSE HIS SUCCESSOR

Sat 27 August 2022:

Pope Francis will name 20 new cardinals on Saturday, chosen from all over the world, in an effort to set the stage for his eventual succession as head of the Catholic Church.

As Pope Francis moves closer to choosing the next spiritual leader of the 1.3 billion Catholics, the ceremony is reportedly scheduled to take place at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.

Pope’s eighth ceremony since assuming leadership in 2013 will take place on Saturday. In addition, he would have selected 83 of the 132 cardinals needed to elect a new Pope after the ceremony.

16 of the 20 new cardinals will be under the age of 80 and qualified to serve as electors in the selection of the pontiff’s successor.

Keeping up with the times, the Church has opted to show diversity in its pick by choosing two Africans and five Asians, including two cardinals from India.

Sensitive to minority communities and to evangelisation, the Argentinean Jesuit has freed himself from the traditional choice of archbishops from large cities, preferring less expected profiles.

With five Asians, including two Indians, this consistory confirms the rise in power of this continent. It is also “representative of today’s Church, with a large place for the southern hemisphere”, where 80% of Catholics live, underlines Vatican expert Bernard Lecomte.

Currently, 40 per cent of the electors hail from Europe, while South America and Asua account for 16 per cent, followed by Africa at 13 per cent and North America at 12 per cent.

Following this, on Monday and Tuesday, there will be a meeting with cardinals from all over the world, whom the Argentine pontiff wanted to bring together to discuss the new Vatican “Constitution”, which came into force in June, and the future of the Church.

Jorge Bergoglio has recently accelerated his reforms of the Curia and its finances to introduce more transparency.

Lately, the Pope has been forced to use a wheelchair because of knee pain caused by a minor fracture and an inflamed ligament.

“I don’t think I can continue doing trips with the same rhythm as before. I think that at my age and with this limitation I have to preserve (my strength) a bit in order to be able to serve the Church, or decide to step aside.” the Pope recently informed the reporters.

In addition to dealing with his health, Pope Francis has had to endure the wrath of the general populace over the alleged transgressions of the Church worldwide. During his visit to Canada, the Argentine pope was compelled to apologize for the Church’s abuse of indigenous children.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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