At today's weekly general audience, the Holy Father announced that a consistory will take place on March 24 at which he will create 15 new cardinals.
The names are:
- Archbishop William Joseph Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
- Archbishop Franc Rode C.M., prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
- Archbishop Agostino Vallini, prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.
- Archbishop Jorge Liberato Urosa Savino of Caracas, Venezuela.
- Archbishop Gaudencio B. Rosales of Manila, Philippines.
- Archbishop Jean-Pierre Ricard of Bordeaux, France.
- Archbishop Antonio Canizares Llovera of Toledo, Spain.
- Archbishop Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk of Seoul, Korea.
- Archbishop Sean Patrick O'Malley O.F.M. Cap., of Boston, U.S.A.
- Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow, Poland.
- Archbishop Carlo Caffarra of Bologna, Italy.
- Bishop Joseph Zen Ze-kiun S.D.B. of Hong Kong, China
- Archbishop Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, archpriest of the Basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls.
- Archbishop Peter Poreku Dery, emeritus of Tamale, Ghana.
- Fr. Albert Vanhoye S.J., formerly rector of the Pontifical Biblical Institute and secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission.
What strikes me most about this is the internationa flavor of the list, particularly the two Asian cardinals. Note also the elevation of Archbishop Dziwisz, who served as the longtime personal secretary of Pope Johm Paul II and who is now the late pope's successor in the see of Krakow. Poland is surely rejoicing today over the elevation of one of its hometown boys who made very, very good.
The last three names on the list are all over the age of 80 and thus unable to vote for a new pope in the event of a conclave. Pope Benedict has decided to maintain the limit of 120 cardinal-electors established by Pope Paul VI and ignored by JPII.
In addition to the consistory, the Pope also invited all of the cardinals of the world to the Vatican on March 23 for "a meeting of reflection and prayer." What an amazing event to think about! This year, the feast of the Annunciation on March 25 is going to have a very special additional grace attached to it.
http://www.stblogs.org/scgi-bin/mv/mt-tb.cgi/18007
