Cardinals follow the ceremony during the ordinary public consistory for the creation of new cardinals at St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, Dec. 7, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Rome Newsroom, Dec 8, 2024 / 18:36 pm (CNA).
A record 140 cardinals may attend an eventual conclave in the Sistine Chapel. There would have been 141, but Cardinal Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot’s death on November 25 reduced the number by one. In all, the Sacred College now has 255 members.
The number of cardinal electors is the most critical data point to emerge from this weekend’s consistory. Of the 140 cardinal electors, 110 have been created by Pope Francis, 24 by Benedict XVI, and six by St. John Paul II. At the end of the year, on December 24, Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias, created cardinal by Benedict XVI in 2007, will reach 80 years of age and will, therefore, no longer be able to participate in a conclave.
Another 14 cardinals will turn 80 in 2025. They are Cardinals Christoph Schoenborn, Fernando Vergez Alzaga, Celestino Aos Braco, George Alencherry, Carlos Osoro Sierra, Robert Sarah, Stanislaw Rylko, Joseph Coutts, Vinko Pulhić, Antonio Canizares Llovera, Vincent Nichols, Jean-Pierre Kutwa, Nakellentuba Ouédraogo and Timothy Radcliffe.
Two of these were created by St. John Paul II, four by Benedict XVI and eight by Pope Francis.
However, it will be necessary to wait until May 2026 to return to the figure of 120 cardinal electors established by St. Paul VI and never abrogated.
Pope Francis’s choices
For the first time, there is now a cardinal in Iran, Archbishop Dominique Matthieu of Tehran-Ispahan, a Belgian missionary. It is also the first time there is a cardinal in Serbia, with Archbishop Ladislav Nemet of Belgrade receiving the red hat.
Pope Francis has created cardinals from 72 different nations, and 24 of those nations have never had a cardinal before.
Pope Francis has also shown that he does not choose based on the traditional seats of cardinals. For example, there are no cardinals to lead the two historic European patriarchates of Lisbon and Venice, nor in Milan, Florence, or Paris.
There are exceptions, however. In this consistory, Pope Francis created cardinals in the archbishops of Turin, Naples, Lima, Santiago de Chile, Toronto, and the vicar general of the Diocese of Rome.
Naples entered the list somewhat surprisingly, with the pope’s decision communicated in a statement from the Holy See Press Office on November 4. Archbishop Battaglia of Naples replaced Bishop Bruno Syukur of Bogor, Indonesia, who had asked Pope Francis to remove him from the list of new cardinals for unspecified personal reasons.
The geographical balance of the College of Cardinals
The pope did not decide to replace a possible Indonesian cardinal with another cardinal from Asia.
Meanwhile, the percentage of Italian cardinals in the College of Cardinals is the lowest ever, at least in modern times. Only during the so-called Avignon Captivity (1309-1377) was the percentage of Italian cardinals so low.
However, to Italy’s 17 must be added Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, who is included in the quota of Asia, and Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, ordinary of Mongolia, also in Asia.
Cardinal Angelo Becciu is instead considered a non-elector, but this status is still being determined. Pope Francis had asked him to renounce his prerogatives as a cardinal but has continued to invite him to consistories and Masses, where he has always sat among the cardinals. If a decision is not made before then, the College of Cardinals, with a majority vote, will decide whether or not Cardinal Becciu will be admitted to the conclave.
Regional distribution
The balance crucially stays the same. Europe has received three more cardinals, in addition to the four Italians with the right to vote: Archbishop Ladislav Nemet of Belgrade (58 years old), Archbishop Rolandas Makrickas (52), coadjutor archpriest of the papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore since March, and Dominican Father Timothy Radcliffe (79). Europe now has 55 cardinals.
Latin America has received five new cardinals. The purple has arrived in dioceses that have received it several times — with Archbishop Carlos Gustavo Castillo Mattasoglio (74) in Lima and Archbishop Fernando N. Chomali Garib (67) in Santiago de Chile — or only once — with Archbishop Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera (69) in Guayaquil, Ecuador and Archbishop Jaime Spengler (64, who is also president of CELAM) in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
The red birretta to Archbishop Vicente Bokalic Iglic (72) of Santiago del Estero is also a first. However, in this case, the ground had already been prepared by the recent decision to move the title of primate of Argentina from Buenos Aires to this seat. Overall, Latin America now has 24 cardinals (including Cardinal Celestino Aos Braco, emeritus of Santiago de Chile, born in Spain).
Asia has received four new cardinals. The pope gave the red hat to Archbishop Tarcisius Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo, 66, and to the bishops of two dioceses that have never had a cardinal at the helm: Bishop Pablo Vigilio Siongo David, 65, of Kalookan in the Philippines and Archbishop Dominique Joseph Mathieu, 61, of Tehran.
Africa has received two new cardinals, bringing the continent’s total to 18. The two new ones are Archbishop Jean-Paul Vesco, 62, in Algiers, and Archbishop Ignace Bessi Dogbo, 63, in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
North America now has 14 electors, with the addition of Toronto Archbishop Francis Leo (53). Oceania has four electors, with the creation of Bishop Mykola Bychok of the eparchy of Saints Peter and Paul in Melbourne of the Ukrainians as cardinal. At 44, he has become the youngest member of the College of Cardinals.
National representation
Italy remains the most represented nation in the conclave, with 17 electors (plus two more in Asia). The United States has 10 cardinal electors, and Spain has 7 (with another 3 in Morocco, Chile, and France).
Brazil has increased to 7 electors, and India to 6 electors. France remains at 5 electors, to which Archbishop Vesco in North Africa has been added. Cardinal François-Xavier Bustillo, bishop of Ajaccio, is anagraphically Spanish although naturalized French.
Argentina and Canada join Poland and Portugal with four cardinal electors, while Germany is tied with the Philippines and Great Britain with three.
The weight of cardinal electors engaged in the Curia, in other Roman roles or the nunciatures, has decreased, like that of the Italians. They will be 34 out of 140, a historic low.
Of the 21 new cardinals, 10 (all electors) belong to religious orders and congregations, another record. The number of religious electors in the Sacred College has risen from 27 to 35. The Friars Minor joined the Salesians at five and surpassed the Jesuits, who remain at 4. The Franciscan family grows to 10 electors (5 Minors, 3 Conventuals, and 2 Capuchins). The Lazarists and Redemptorists rise to 2.
What would a possible conclave be like?
As of December 8, Pope Francis has created 78% of the cardinals who can vote in a conclave. This means that the cardinals created by Pope Francis far exceed the two-thirds majority needed to elect a pope.
This does not necessarily mean that the conclave will be “Francis-like.” Not only do the new cardinals all have very different profiles, but they have yet to have much opportunity to get to know each other. Popes have also used consistories to bring together cardinals to discuss issues of general interest.
Pope Francis had done so only three times: in 2014, when the family was discussed; in 2015, when the topic was the reform of the Curia; and in 2022, when the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium, or the reform of the Curia now defined and promulgated, was discussed.
In this last meeting, the cardinals were divided into linguistic groups, with fewer opportunities to speak in the assembly together. This scenario makes the vote very uncertain.
Another fact that should be noted is that until St. John Paul II’s election, the cardinals gathered in the conclave were housed in makeshift accommodations in the Apostolic Palace near the Sistine Chapel. John Paul II had the Domus Sanctae Marthae (St. Martha House) renovated precisely to guarantee the cardinals who would elect his successor more adequate accommodations.
Today, however, Pope Francis lives in the Domus Sanctae Marthae. This means that, upon the pope’s death, at least the floor where the pontiff lives must be sealed, as the papal apartment is sealed. Sealing a floor of the Domus also means losing a considerable number of rooms. And with such a high number of voters, it also means risking not having enough rooms to accommodate all the cardinals.
The electors could be placed in vacant apartments within Vatican City State. This, however, would make them even more isolated. In practice, there is a risk that, during the conclave, the cardinals would not always be able to be together to discuss the election.
For these reasons, although Pope Francis has created more than two-thirds of the cardinal electors, it is by no means certain that the pope chosen in a future conclave will have the same profile as Pope Francis.
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We read: “The Vatican warned: ‘It would not be permissible to introduce new official structures or doctrines in dioceses before an agreement had been reached at the level of the universal Church…’.”
Permissible? An Agreement? Proceduralism over content; this is a secular game plan…
Before we know it, we’ll be notified in the footnotes that truth is constructed rather than discovered, and that even the Council of Nicaea was only a synodal/consensus sort of thingy, rather than a recollection of what the Church has lived and believed from the beginning in the incarnate Christ. Arius was not “synthesized” (synodal jargon!) into the top-level package; he was rejected.
Can’t see the kind of clarity demonstrated at Nicaea ever coming under Cardinal Hollerich–grand-poobah relator for the 2023 Synod on Synodality–who through the media has already joined with Germania’s Marx and Batzing in calling for the deconstruction of human sexual morality as clearly articulated in the Catechism.
Instead of the Trinity, the triumvirate. What a joke.
Attacks against the church are common in any era. The church stands against all unrighteousness and those who espouse ungodly paths do infiltrate the church in order to destroy their critics.
It appears that Papa is reluctant to stamp out heresy. Some will argue that he sows the seeds of disunity and wishes a church to be a soup kitchen and hostel.
Jesus Christ is our spiritual food and drink. To those who would steal away the essence of the church, let them be excommunicated as a warning to all.
Thank you for steadfast love of truth and proclaiming Christ crucified.
Since this matter has become as serious as stated [most would agree], would not the more effective response to the German Synodal Way be for the pontiff to call an ecumenical council of world bishops, the pontiff in attendance, and required attendance by all German bishops with a set agenda of the issues? If some bishops remain obstinate they may be penalized, if necessary a new German bishops conference and president to replace the former.
That’s a great idea of how to proceed if we had the episcopate of 40 years ago. Currently, I not only don’t trust Francis, but after watching how many of the Cardinals swayed in tune to the trash music of the “Youth Synod” several years ago, I don’t trust an assembled Church leadership to not end up embracing rather than disciplining the Germans.
Alas, so it may be.
I keep asking myself, “Who’s on first.”
No, that would not be the most effective response at the moment Fr. Peter. At the moment, they – the German Bishops – are merely voicing their opinion. Next year, the Bishops will meet, as planned, and then the Germans will know that their views have been totally rejected by the universal Church. Pope Francis has already stated that this journey is not about doctrine.
Fr Peter, why in the world would he do that when he is very much the head of the German Synodal path? This is the symphony he is conducting, the play he is writing and directing.
Just a wild guess.
That tittering sound we hear is Tetzel laughing, possibly in hell.
Instead of him tin-cupping indulgences in the 16th century, the Church in Germany in the 21st century excommunicates those who refuse to pay the federal church-tax, AND, sells out to those who would exchange the entire Church for a “synodal” mess of pottage.
Way back on February 25, 1296, before fledgling nation-states had become radically secularized, Pope Boniface VIII prohibited (in Clericis laicos) “all prelates and in general all persons belonging to the Church” (without the consent of the Holy See) from paying to laymen [today read the ZdK: the lay Central Committee of German Catholics] any ‘imports, taxes, tithes or half tithes or even a one-hundredth part”—on the penalty of ipso facto excommunication.
This penalty of 1296 A.D. was incurred automatically in 1955 by the lay-Catholic, Argentine dictator, Juan Peron. Butt, what will later history say of today’s clerical money-changers and proposed flesh markets in Germania?
The Vatican has issued another warning
Warning, or rather projection?
The single subject on which the Pope seems to speak with razor sharp clarity and focus is his intense dislike of the EF of the Mass and those who are attached to it. Everything else is fog and evasion.
Bergoglio’s Synodal Way poses threat to Catholicism by Design.
Pope Francis’s Synodal Way poses absolutely no threat to our Church. The Holy Spirit is present. Respect His presence and guidance. Pope Francis does.
There is absolutely not purpose to these synods other than to attempt to enshrine anti-Catholic bigotry into the Deposit of Faith.
The warning by Pope Francis to the
liberal “German Synodal Way” is significant for another reason. This is bad for Arch-conservative US Bishops because it puts Francis in the middle as a moderate between arch- conservative US Bishops and radical- liberal German Bishops; and makes it more difficult for US Bishops to claim that Francis is “going too far” to the left. Remember the old saying: “play the middle.” Francis can do that now because of the “radical” Germans, who have pushed US Bishops further to the right and placed Francis in the middle now between the two of them.
Is that the story you tell yourself? The radical Germans? They are very much of the heart of Pope Francis. The Pope pretends to excoriate them. That is all. It is a charade, nothing more.
Francis, himself, poses a threat to the unity of the Church. He refuses to stand against “Catholics” who promote an anti-Catholic agenda when it comes to their public defiance of Church teaching to protect the unborn. And, worse, he admonishes those shepherds who seek to bring members of their flocks back into the fold. Add his admiration for James Martin, and the case becomes airtight. Compassion is one thing, but when it silences the teaching of the Church, it is no longer compassionate.
Oh, there is no silence. Pope Francis, our teacher, has made it clear that abortion is an evil act, and those who support it are not in communion with the Church and so should not receive communion.
Donna, St Paul tells us the same thing. BTW, Is there any statement in the Bible that says they should be refused communion?
Steeped in mortal sin….Cordileone’s letter explains it.
Read 1 Corinthians 11:27-29, but don’t get wrapped up in sola scriptura, Mal. Canon 915 also addresses the subject of excommunication, which one does to oneself when denying the teaching of the Church and presenting oneself to receive the Eucharist.
Donna, it is truly our belief that if the teachings of the Church are denied then, when this is done, one excommunicates one’s self. This is exactly what Pope Francis has said on a few occasions.
Does the priest, who is distributing Holy Communion, really know what is lurking in the minds and hearts of all those who come up to receive the sacred bread? It is possible that many of these people do not accept or live by all the teachings of the Church. The onus is on the receiver. St. Paul makes it clear that these people eat and drink judgment upon themselves.
Mal,
Excommunication is used when a transgression is public. Not privately held in the heart.
When the archbishop of New Orleans excommunicated segregationists he only used that discipline for those who loudly and publicly continued unrepentant in error. If holding segregation beliefs silently in one’s heart was grounds for excommunication the archbishop would have need to excommunicate virtually every white person under his jurisdiction. That was the sad condition of civil rights in that time and region.
Where is it in the BIBLE??? Spoken like a Protestant. Are you?? As you must know the Catholic church is based on more than that alone. There is an old saying that actions speak louder than words. Having spoken several times to the Germans no effect, its time for the Pope to actually do something. Call in the particular German Bishops for a session of discipline including a time of quiet reflection on there actions for some extended period of time at some isolated monastery. As for your commentary above to my post, people commit many sins. No matter how bad, they will be forgiven if repented of. In the main those sins are committed by private people of no public note. The actions of the German bishops are much more serious as they threaten the unity of the church. Further they have made statements suggesting it is the church which must change to reflect modern times. Women priest, gay marriage , communion for non catholics are all on their agendA which they defiantly continue to push publicly. Time for Frances to put and end to these ramblings before bigger damage is done.
1 Corinthians 5:11
The Amish reference scripture verses for their practice of shunning which like excommunication is really meant to awaken people to the gravity of their transgressions in hopes they will repent.
Exodus 20:13 – Thou shalt not kill.
Exodus 20:16 – Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Only a hypocrite would support abortion (or another intrinsically evil act) while presenting oneself for Holy Communion. Such a hypocrite is like the Pharisee about whom you often write. His thinking is warped and fossilized. He is a self-styled judge against the word of God and the 2000-year-old Magisterium of the Catholic Church. One who loves God knows Him and keeps His commandments.
Catholic works of mercy compel us to instruct the ignorant and to admonish the sinner. This is the work of the Church and the work of each of the faithful.
Sure, sure. Then he hails the number one abortionist in Italy as one of its greats.
A landmark event happens with the overturning of Roe V Wade and he is mum.
Sola Scriptura? Catholicism, unlike Protestantism, affirms it is a grievance sin to be in grievance sin and receive communion and for a priest or high prelate to knowingly facillitate the act.
Yes, and back in olden times we even had the following from the Council of Trent:
“CANON XI. If any one saith, that faith alone is a sufficient preparation for receiving the sacrament of the most holy Eucharist, let him be anathema. And for fear lest so great a sacrament may be received unworthily, and so unto death and condemnation, this holy Synod ordains and declares, that sacramental confession, when a confessor may be had, is of necessity to be made beforehand, by those whose conscience is bothered with mortal sin, how contrite even soever they may think themselves. But if any one shall presume to teach, preach, or obstinately to assert, or even in public disputation to defend the contrary, he shall be thereupon excommunicated.”
Today, more complicated than abortion, because regarding the possible psychological complexity of aberrant sexual activities, in individual cases, the new Catechism carefully recognizes mitigating circumstances affecting subjective guilt (those individuals (!) whose consciences might be aware of “grave” but not fully deliberate “mortal” sin).
But it is precisely this so-called (!) “grey area” of mitigation—in individual cases—which Marx, Batzing, Hollerich and Grech would like to expand and exploit into a morally exempt category (!) for a contrived category of (LGBTQ) persons. And, indeed, even for unmarried and non-celibate heterosexuals as well (equity!).
Alchemy by a new name: synodality.
Thanks. Well said.
Well, well.
Tepid, but maybe a beginning.
Pope Francis cannot avoid being drawn out in this. Schism is a real possibility considering the declarations coming from the German Synod.
As promised by Christ, the Holy Spirit will have the final say on the Deposit of Faith.
As he has said before he is ok with schism. He is likely enjoying this.
It sounds as though the devil is alive and well in Germany. What is our Pope waiting for? Excommunicate those responsible.
James, you can wait until pigs fly if you are waiting for the Pope to do anything about it. They are merely executing his playbook.
The warning by about the liberal “German Synodal Way” is significant for another reason. This is bad for Arch-conservative US Bishops because it puts Francis in the middle as a moderate between arch- conservative US Bishops and radical- liberal German Bishops; and makes it more difficult for US Bishops to claim that Francis is “going too far” to the left. Remember the old saying: “play the middle.” Francis can do that now because of the “radical” Germans, who have pushed US Bishops further to the right and placed Francis in the middle now between the two of them.
“The Roman Pontiff has
full, SUPREME and universal POWER over the WHOLE Church, a power which he can always exercise UNHINDERED.” Cathechism # 882.
Yet ANOTHER “warning”???? How ineffective and banal. When is the Vatican ( aka the Pope) actually going to DO something about the German Church? Endless meetings and warnings have evidently resolved NOTHING and the fact that the German church roars on toward their goal of schism unimpeded ( for that is the only explanation which makes sense) is an indictment of the Pope. He refuses to protect the church from being publicly injured. Instead , crazed liberal clerics are deluding scores of Catholics that their way is fine and dandy. It would seem the pope has had too many “who am I to judge” moments and has abdicated his role. SOMEBODY has to judge, and that somebody is HIM. Tip-toeing around the truth will serve no one.
Wow! What if somebody else was to judge? He would kick out these Germans for merely expressing an opinion, kick out those who have had abortions, who take contraceptive pills, who have lustful thoughts, who have Pharisaical attitudes (our Lord denounced them) who allow some form of bigotry to reign in their lives etc. etc.
I don’t think the Germans are merely expressing an opinion. They are making up changes specifically to sacraments contrary to Magisterium. And if acts are no longer recognized as sin then what’s the point of the confessional. Self and pride certainly does not examine conscience. And I wonder how does the Holy Family hold as an image? It ain’t Joseph, Joseph and Jesus or Mary, Mary and Jesus. Will even that sacred image be tossed aside for wokeness?
Mal, don’t you know that abortion is an automatic excommunication?
Pope Francis has made it clear to this group – which is not the whole German Church – “If they find themselves separated from the entire ecclesial body, they weaken, rot and die. Hence the need always to ensure communion with the whole body of the Church.”
Here is another strong statement: “In order to safeguard the freedom of the People of God and the exercise of the episcopal ministry, it seems necessary to clarify that the ‘Synodal Way’ in Germany does not have the power to compel bishops and the faithful to adopt new forms of governance and new orientations of doctrine and morals.”
Natural calamities like droughts, forest fires, thunderstorms, floods, earthquakes, landslides, diseases, hunger, joblessness, homelessness, air and water pollution – are making life difficult for people in different parts of the world.
Yawn. Surely.
Well put Meiron.
The changes that the German “Bishops” proper with special regard to homosexuality, blessing same sex marriages. etc is a\particulatly grievous and deserving of a harsh warning to defrock and even excommunicate priests that participate in such activity…..I am moved to ask what good comes out of Germany after Martin Lither, Karl Marx, Adolph Hitler and now this!