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ESSAY: FRANCIS CARDINALS MAKE UP ALMOST HALF OF ELECTORS OF NEXT POPE

Pope Francis and Cardinal

US-based Jesuit priest, THOMAS REESE, in an article first published by Religion News Service, takes a closer look at news Pope Francis will create 14 new cardinals next month…

Via RNS

Pope Francis continues to remake the College of Cardinals so that almost half of the men who will pick his successor have been chosen by him. He will create 14 new cardinals on 29th June, 11 of whom are under 80 years of age and therefore able to vote in a papal conclave.

These 11 new cardinals are added to the 48 electors already appointed by Francis to make 47 per cent of the cardinal electors who will choose the next pope. Remaining among the 125 electors are 47 appointed by Pope Benedict XVI and 19 appointed by St John Paul II.

Pope Francis and Cardinal

New Cardinal Louis-Marie Ling Mangkhanekhoun, from Laos, is greeted by Pope Francis after receiving the red three-cornered biretta hat during a consistory inside St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, on 28th June, 2017. PICTURE: Alessandra Tarantino/AP Photo.

 

“Francis continues to break tradition by passing over the archbishops of large European and American archdioceses who have usually been made cardinals. Rather, he picked bishops from Iraq, Pakistan, Japan, Peru, Madagascar and L’Aquila, a small city in southern Italy that suffered from a major earthquake in 2009.”

Next year, another 10 cardinals will turn 80 years of age and become ineligible to vote in a conclave, allowing Francis to make more appointments.

Francis continues to break tradition by passing over the archbishops of large European and American archdioceses who have usually been made cardinals. Rather, he picked bishops from Iraq, Pakistan, Japan, Peru, Madagascar and L’Aquila, a small city in southern Italy that suffered from a major earthquake in 2009.

None of the new cardinals is from the United States, which currently has 10 cardinal electors.

As a result of his appointments, Francis has reduced the Italian faction among the electors to 18 per cent, down from 24 per cent when he was elected in 2013. This number is still one percentage point higher than when Benedict was elected in 2005. The Italians are simply back to their traditional quota under John Paul before Benedict increased their numbers.

Eastern Europeans have also continued to lose their percentage of the college, as they did under Benedict. They are now down to seven per cent of the electors from a high of 13 per cent under John Paul, who increased their number significantly at the expense of Italy. Western Europe (minus Italy) has continued fairly steady for decades, now at 18 per cent.

The real winners under Francis have been Asia and Africa, now 14 per cent and 13 per cent respectively. These are the highest percentages that they have ever had. At the conclave that elected Francis, they each had nine per cent of the electors.

Surprisingly, unlike John Paul, Francis has not significantly increased the percentage of the college from his part of the world, Latin America. After June, Latin America will have only 18 per cent of the electors, less than two percentage points higher than when he was elected. Latin America actually had more cardinals (27) back in 2001.

Francis has also significantly reduced the Roman Curia’s hold over the electoral college. They will be 26 per cent of the college, down from 35 per cent when he was elected. But again, this is not revolutionary. The Curia’s control of the college was only 24 per cent at the election of Benedict.

When it comes to Italy and the Roman Curia in the College of Cardinals, Francis is not revolutionary. He is just getting back to the numbers under John Paul after Benedict knocked them out of whack.

And while Francis has been more generous with Asia and Africa, they are still dwarfed by Europe, which has 42 per cent of the electors. In fact, Europe has almost as many cardinal electors as Asia, Africa and Latin America combined.

Change comes very slowly in the Catholic Church, even under Pope Francis.

 

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