The Pope would soon announce the eighth Consistory of his pontificate to create new cardinals, which will be decisive in guaranteeing him the dominance of the two-thirds of the Conclave that will elect his successor, in the face of the maneuvers of his adversaries in the fight for power in the Church.
The Cardinal Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, is the leader of the conservatives who seek to change in depth the current reformist orientation that Jorge Bergoglio has given to the Church of 1,300,000 million faithful.
Almost two years ago, Dolan began distributing a hostile book to the current pontiff by sending them to all the cardinals. The title is a program. Is named “The next pope.” Its author is George Weigel, one of the intellectual blood givers of traditionalist muscular Catholicism, edited by the ultraconservative Ignatius Press.
This direct attack, which Cardinal Dolan naturally denies, plus the operation he had to undergo to have 33 centimeters of his intestines removed due to diverticulitis, showed Francisco that in December it is inexorable that he turns 85 and that There is no time to lose.
The final cycle of his pontificate has begun and he will continue to suffer the turbulences that have characterized his pontificate, which will be nine years old on March 13, 2022.
In the coming weeks, the Vaticanists will be more attentive than ever to the Angelus that the Pope recites every Sunday. It is not mandatory but it is customary that at the end of the ceremony before the crowd that gathers in St. Peter’s Square, Francisco announce that he has decided to convene a Consistory for about a month later in order to create new cardinals.
Will read the names of the elect from the window of the pontifical study of the Apostolic Palace. Last year he made the announcement on October 22 and the Consistory was held on November 28, with the creation of 13 cardinals, nine of them electors.
The key: the age of the cardinals
The key is less in the number of cardinals than in the age of each. The under 80 years old will be voters in the next Conclave. The others will receive in the Consistory, which is a council of cardinals summoned by the Pope, the same red cap, the appointment, the ring and the embrace of the pontiff, but his position is rather honorary. For reasons of age they cannot enter the Conclave.
Paul VI established a norm respected with great elasticity by his successors, limiting the age to participate in the election of the new Bishop of Rome and therefore the successor of Saint Peter and Pope of the Universal Church to those under 80 years of age.
As is known, according to Catholic doctrine is the presence of the Holy Spirit that flies over invisible and immaterial inside the Sistine Chapel, where the pontiffs are elected, which plays a decisive role in inspiring the voting cardinals.
Hence, several provisions prohibit the cardinals from exchanging opinions on the election of the new pontiff. This is why Cardinal Dolan’s outspoken gesture of distributing the book aptly titled “The Next Pope” among the cardinals has been so criticized.
But the truth is that the groups that contend for power in the Church anticipate the times, They give a hand to the Holy Spirit. The favorite heir of Jorge Bergoglio and his followers is always the Filipino Luis Antonio “Chito” Tagle, 64 years old, the “golden kid” of the Church, former Archbishop of Manila, “minister” of the Curia as Prefect of the Evangelization of Peoples, one of the dicasteries most important of the Vatican, which deals with missions and manages a huge heritage.
Luis Antonio “Chito” Tagle, 64, the “golden kid” of the Church. Photo: AFP
“Chito” (for Luis) is also president of Caritas International, the main charitable body of the Church.
Good-natured, spontaneous, with impeccable theological training in the United States, Cardinal Tagle could not hold back his tears at a press conference when he told how his maternal grandfather had to leave China, his native country, as a child, accompanying his father who was looking for a better life for the family and chose the Philippines.
“Chito” he apologized for his emotionality but it showed how much he understands and defends poor migrants. He also confirmed the importance of being of Chinese origin on the mother’s side in a Church launched into the search for a modus vivendi with the Asian superpower.
We must not forget that Tagle, who had impressed Benedict XVI so well. who consecrated him archbishop of Manila in 2011 and ten months later created him cardinal, he appeared as papable despite his youth on the list of candidates in the Conclave that elected Argentine Jorge Bergoglio as Pope Francis on March 13, 2013 after the resignation of his predecessor, the German Josef Ratzinger.
Pope Francis receives Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle. Photo: AFP
“Chito” Tagle is fully identified with the pastoral line of reformist renewal of Francis.
The next Consistory will be important because from now to the end of 2022 they will be twelve cardinals who will pass the dramatic barrier of 80 years of age that excludes them from the conclaves. Among them are six Latin Americans. The best known is the Honduran Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, one of the members of the council of cardinals that the Argentine pope appointed in 2013 to advise him.
The list of probable new cardinals includes personalities from the Roman Curia close to the Pope. Like Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, 67, the Church’s “foreign minister.” There is also the South Korean Monsignor Lazarus You Heung-Six, 70, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, the British Arthur Rochs, 72, “minister” for Divine Worship and the new president of the Pontifical Commission for the State of the City of Vatican, Monsignor Fernando Vergez Alzaga, 76, Spanish.
They are all voters. If the Pope created a dozen cardinals under the age of 80 the cardinals appointed by the current pontiff would reach 76, practically on the verge of the two-thirds of the 80 necessary to consecrate the most voted if all are present. In the Conclave that consecrated Bergoglio on March 13, 2013, 115 cardinals participated. The Argentine was elected on the sixth ballot with 85 votes and the quorum was 77.
Often the chosen ones have been shepherds unknown worldwide but appreciated in their territories of origin. In his years of pontificate, Francis has thus valued marginal and distant countries. They have increased what Italians call “foreign cardinals” to the detriment of Italian and European figures.
Never named a French cardinal, for instance. Several traditionally cardinal cities in Italy, such as the historic Patriarchate of Venice, have been left out.
Of the total of 120 cardinal electors, eleven have been created by John Paul II and 34 by Benedict XVI. The rest were baked by Francisco, who in his seven consistories created 101 cardinals older and younger than 80 years old.
Vatican, correspondent
ap
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