Pope Francis has written a short but meaningful letter to the faithful of the 21 new cardinals of the Catholic Church. The Pontiff welcomed them to the “Clergy of Rome”, reminding them that this membership expresses “the unity of the Church and the bond of all Churches with the Church of Rome”, and highlighted three attitudes that the new members of his In my opinion, cardinals must have . Three characteristics that the Pope borrowed from the Argentine poet Francisco Luis Bernárdez’s description of Saint John of the Cross: “high eyes, bandaged hands, bare feet.”
In this sense, the Pope explains in the letter that “.High eyes“The “expansion of the gaze and the expansion of the heart to look further and to love more universally with greater intensity.”
What the “Hands together“Francis points to prayer, which is necessary in the Church “to shepherd Christ’s flock well. Prayer is the field of discernment that helps me to seek, find and follow God’s will for our people.
Finally, the “Bare feet“The Pope emphasizes that they allude to being in those “corners of the world intoxicated with pain and suffering due to war, discrimination, persecution, hunger and numerous forms of poverty that demand so much compassion and mercy from you become”.
The Pope concluded his letter to the new cardinals with a call to a life of service: “May the title of ‘servant’ – deacon – increasingly eclipse the title of ’eminence.’
Francis’ majority of cardinals
The 21 new cardinals will be admitted to the College of Cardinals on December 8 in the tenth consistory of Francis’ pontificate, making him the pope with the highest number of cardinals in recent years. Cardinal consistories created: 10 in 13 years, while John Paul II convened 9 in 24 years and John Paul II created 9 in 24 years. Benedict XVI five years of his pontificate.
Currently, the vast majority of the College of Cardinals consists of cardinals appointed by Pope Francis. 111 of them were appointed by this Pope, while 24 others were appointed by Benedict XVI. were appointed and only six from the time of John Paul II.
