It was after the Angelus, the Sunday afternoon prayer in St. Peter’s Square in Rome, that Francis announced a new consistory. It will officially take place this Wednesday, but the names are already known. Francis continues his line of appointments: clergy from all over the world, Francis was enthusiastic from the beginning with the role and importance of the ‘world church’. There is Cornelius Sim, a new cardinal who is from Brunei.
Mario Grech also stands out, he is a Maltese. But he was already Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, so he already held a top position in the Vatican. And yet, Francis appoints only two co-workers from the Curia, the governing body in the Vatican, as cardinal: in addition to Grech, there is Marcello Semeraro, recently the head of the Congregation for the Canonization, one of the ten “ministries” of the Vatican. . In the past many more Curie clergy became cardinals, but those days are clearly over.
A few more eye-catching names: Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of the great diocese of Washington, who was the first African American to become a cardinal. And the Archbishop of Kigali, in Rwanda, Antoine Kambanda, will also receive the red cardinal’s hat (and an accompanying title church in Rome). Just like the Archbishop of Chile, Celestino Aos Braco. And there is Mauro Gambetti, the young abbot of the Sacro Convento monastery in Assisi, a very important place for the Pope.
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