Appointment of new cardinals: A hint from the Pope?

20 new cardinals are to receive their office in Rome today. They determine the course of the Catholic Church and elect the Pope. Francis wants to align the body differently in the future – especially with a view to Asia.

They come from East Timor, from Paraguay, from Nigeria or from Mongolia. The cardinals who will be appointed at the forthcoming consistory will shift the balance within the College of Cardinals. The number of Europeans is getting smaller and smaller. So far they have been disproportionately represented – at least in relation to the proportion of Catholics in the population.

Journalist Gerard O’Connell has been monitoring the Vatican for many years. For him it is clear: “I think Francis is increasingly aligning the College of Cardinals with the reality of the Church.”

Contribution to Asia presumed

The Argentine Pope sees the future of the Church in Asia. He believes in the great possibility of a spring there. “Francis didn’t try to make more Latin Americans cardinals,” O’Connell said. “He increased the number of Asians.”

The choice of cardinals determines the course of the Church. Because the most important task of the men who have the highest dignity after the pope is the election of a new pope at the conclave. At least up to the age of 80, because you can only vote up to this age.

Last consistory almost two years ago

Pope Francis himself is now 85 years old. On his last trip abroad to Canada, he was asked on the return flight what character traits his successor would need. “That is the work of the Holy Spirit,” was his reply. “He knows how to do it better than I do, better than any of us. Why? Because he inspires the Pope’s decisions.”

First of all, many cardinals have to get to know each other, the last consistory took place in November 2020. They will meet on at least three days, according to O’Connell: “They have a meeting to discuss the reform of the curia, the Vatican’s public service.”

Above all, however, the meeting pursues two goals: “First, to explain to them what the vision for the church looks like, what inspired them. And secondly, they should also be given the opportunity to meet and get to know each other. Because mostly they don’t even know each other.”

Great influence of Francis

Almost 70 percent of future papal electors were then determined by Francis. In the current creation, the pope takes into account places that have never had a cardinal – such as the island state of East Timor. Or he selects an archbishop from India whose family belongs to the so-called Dalit.

In the Indian caste system, they were considered the untouchables and were classified outside of the four levels. But the new cardinals also come from Africa, France or the USA.

Cardinals decide on new pope

One day they will elect the successor to Pope Francis. According to O’Connell, at the last conclave they were looking for a man who could bring new energy to the church and they got one. “They were looking for a man who was not bound by the Roman mentality. And they chose a pope who had never worked or studied in Rome.”

But all these criteria are difficult to predict, at least at this point in time. After the consistory – at least the papal electors – could know more.