New cardinals, choices that express the Pope's vision

At the end of the Angelus on Sunday 25 October, Pope Francis announced the creation of 13 new cardinals. These are:

• Mario Grech. Maltese, 63 years old, is Bishop emeritus of Gozo and General Secretary of the Synod of Bishops.
• Marcello Semeraro, will turn 73 before Christmas, is Bishop emeritus of Albano and new Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
• Antoine Kambanda, Archbishop of Kigali (Rwanda). 62 years old on November 10th, he was bishop of Kibungo from 2013 to 2018.
• Wilton Gregory, 73 years old, is Archbishop of Washington, former Archbishop of Atlanta and former President of the United States Episcopal Conference.
• Jose Fuerte Advincula, 68 years old, Archbishop of Capiz (Philippines), was Bishop of San Carlos from 2001 to 2011.
• Celestino Aos Braco, 74 years old, Capuchin friar, is Archbishop of Santiago de Chile.
• Cornelius Sim, 69 years old, has been bishop since 2004.
• Augusto Paolo Lojudice, 56 years old, is Archbishop of Siena-Colle Val d'Elsa-Montalcino and was Auxiliary Bishop of Rome from 2015 to 2019.
• Fra Mauro Gambetti, 55 years old, Father Guardian of the Sacred Convent of Assisi, has been a priest since 2000.
• Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel, 80 years old, Bishop emeritus of San Cristobal de las Casas (Mexico).
• Silvano Maria Tomasi, Titular Archbishop of Asolo, is 80 years old.
• Father Raniero Cantalamessa, 86 years old, Preacher of the Papal Household. Franciscan, in service since 1980.
• Enrico Feroci, 80 years old, parish priest at Divino Amore in Rome and former director of the diocesan Caritas. He has been a priest since 1965.

The new cardinals will be created on the occasion of a Consistory (the seventh convened by Pope Francis), set for Saturday 28 November, the eve of the first Sunday of Advent. Nine, of which three are Italian, are under eighty years old, and therefore with the right to participate in the next Conclave.

“These are expressive choices of the Pope's feelings and vision – he commented father Sandro Barlone, president of the Don Luigi Di Liegro Foundation – of a Church that is no longer just European, but international, of a universal Christianity, that is, Catholic in the authentic sense of the term. Benedict XVI had already maintained that in the Church there are no first and second level Christians, with Francis we can add that the purple also expresses this: it is no longer an acquired right for a particular diocese but gives voice to pastors of Churches who live in peripheral, border and comparison contexts".

Also the choice of two of the new Italian cardinals, who have carried forward pastoral activity and attention towards the marginalized (Roma, disabled, prisoners, immigrants, minors and the homeless), as Enrico Feroci and Augusto Paolo Lojudice, reflects the vision of Pope Francis. As well as, for example, that of Wilton Gregory, the first African-American American cardinal, who shows the Pope's sensitivity towards places, such as the USA, where racism, "not overcome even in the conscience of the faithful", explains Father Barlone, gives rise to profound radicalizations as well as an instrumental use of religion even in political ends.

The choice of the thirteen new cardinals confirms "theattention to the catholicity of the Church and to the aspects on which Francis calls for ecclesial sensitivity, that of those who take the Gospel to heart – concludes Sandro Barlone – The Gospel is the only treasure of the Church”. A Gospel that signifies God's tastes, his concern for men, starting with the least.