2023-07-09 18:53:59
Pope Francis announced on Sunday that he would create 21 new cardinals at the end of September, notably from Latin America, Africa and Asia, to strengthen “the universality of the Church”. The cardinals, who wear the red cassock, are the main advisers and administrators of the pope. Those of them who are under 80, which is the case for 18 of the next 21 new cardinals, participate in the vote to appoint the pope.
“Their provenance expresses the universality of the Church which continues to proclaim God’s merciful love for all the peoples of the earth,” Francis said after his weekly Angelus prayer from the window of the Apostolic Palace on St. Peter’s Square.
An indication of the future direction of the Catholic Church
They will be created at a consistory (an assembly of cardinals) at the end of September, the ninth for the creation of cardinals under Francis, who at 86 is in the tenth year of his papacy and intends to leave a lasting mark on the Vatican. His choices are being watched closely as an indication of the future direction of the Catholic Church and its priorities for its 1.3 billion claimed followers.
Since becoming pope, Francis has sought to promote clergy from developing countries and countries far from Rome to the highest ranks of the Church, as part of his overall philosophy of diversity and inclusion.
The list of future new cardinals announced by Francis on Sunday thus includes clergy from regions where the Church is expanding, such as Latin America, Africa and Asia. On the African side, it includes the archbishops of Juba (South Sudan), Cape Town (South Africa) and Tabora.
Two Frenchmen also appear in this list: Mgr Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio (ambassador of the Holy See) in the United States, and Mgr François-Xavier Bustillo, bishop of Ajaccio. Ambassador of France to the Vatican, Florence Mangin sent them her “hearty congratulations” in a tweet on Sunday.
I offer my sincere congratulations to the prelates who will be created cardinals by @Pontifex_fr at the consistory on September 30. Among them our compatriots Bishop Christophe Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to ???????? and Bishop Francois-Xavier Bustillo, Bishop of Ajaccio. Florence Mangin pic.twitter.com/KiDbAdMlb7
— France at the Vatican (@FranceauVatican) July 9, 2023
The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, for his part considered that the creation of Mgr Bustillo was a “Pride for France”.
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