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The College of Cardinals in 2021: Who could vote in a future papal conclave

January 6, 2021 CNA Daily News 1

Vatican City, Jan 6, 2021 / 03:01 am (CNA).- As of the first month of 2021, the College of Cardinals is composed of 229 members, 128 of whom are under the age of 80, and therefore eligible to vote for the next pope in a future conclave.

It was St. Paul VI who established, on Nov. 20, 1970, that cardinals aged 80 and over could not participate in the process for electing a pope.

Paul VI wrote in his motu proprio Ingravescentem aetatem that “the higher good of the Church demands that we consider the problem of old age also in relation to the eminent office of Cardinals, for which we have shown special concern several times in the past.”

The office of cardinal “is indeed a matter of an office with particularly serious and delicate tasks,” the pope stated, “both because of the very singular connection which binds it to Our supreme responsibility at the service of the whole Church, and because of the high responsibility it entails in the vacancy of the Apostolic See with respect to the universal Church.”

Paul VI declared that after reaching the age of 80, a cardinal loses the right to elect the Roman Pontiff and, therefore, the right to take part in the conclave.

In 2021, six cardinals of the Catholic Church will lose this privilege: three from Africa, two from Europe, and one from Oceania. Four of the six were given the red hat by St. John Paul II in his last two consistories, in 2001 and 2003.

The first cardinal to turn 80 years old in the course of the year — on Feb. 27 — will be Gabriel Zubeir Wako, archbishop emeritus of Khartoum. He was made cardinal by St. Pope John Paul II in 2003.

On March 8, Cardinal Wilfried Fox Napier of Durban, will lose the right to vote in a future conclave. He was also made a cardinal by John Paul II.

Also made a cardinal in 2003, Cardinal George Pell, former prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, will turn 80 June 8.

On July 19, Cardinal Maurice Piat of Port Louis will have his 80th birthday. He was given the red hat by Pope Francis in the November 2016 consistory.

Cardinal Beniamino Stella, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, will reach age 80 Aug. 18. He received the red biretta from Pope Francis’ first consistory, held in February 2014.

The last cardinal to turn 80 in 2021 will be Angelo Scola, archbishop emeritus of Milan. St. John Paul II made him cardinal in the 2003 consistory, when Scola was patriarch of Venice.

The continental breakdown of the College of Cardinals is that 108 hail from Europe, 54 of whom are electors. There are 16 North American cardinals eligible to vote, out of a total 26. There are nine cardinals from Central America, of whom seven are electors. South America has 25 cardinals, 14 of whom have voting rights. Asia is represented by 27 cardinals, of which 16 are under age 80. There are 28 African cardinals, 17 of whom are electors. Oceania has four cardinal electors and two non-electors.

 

Hannah Brockhaus contributed to this report.


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Archbishop Gänswein to Catholic journalists: Be brave like Mother Angelica

January 4, 2021 CNA Daily News 2

Vatican City, Jan 4, 2021 / 09:30 am (CNA).- Archbishop Georg Gänswein urged Catholic journalists Monday to act with the courage of EWTN founder Mother Angelica.

Preaching at a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Jan. 4, the personal secretary to Benedict XVI also encouraged those working in Catholic media to convey “the essence of the Christian message” in the spirit of Renaissance artist Michelangelo.   

“In doing so, imitate Mother Angelica and Michelangelo. Be brave like Mother Angelica! And reach for the stars like Michelangelo,” Gänswein said, according to CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner, which published the full text of the archbishop’s homily.

Mother Angelica began broadcasting from a converted garage in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1981. By the time of her death in 2016, EWTN had become the largest religious media network in the world. 

The Mass, attended by EWTN employees, took place in the Chapel of the Pietà, which houses Michelangelo’s celebrated sculpture of Mary cradling Jesus Christ after the Crucifixion. The artist carved the image out of Carrara marble in 1498–1499, when he was 24 years old. It is the only artwork he ever signed.

Referring to the Pietà, Gänswein said: “The creative act of the sculptor is the removal of everything unnecessary, as we see here. In this respect, sculptors are particularly similar to God, who often only takes away the unnecessary in order to create something new.” 

“Michelangelo also removed everything superfluous from the marble block from Carrara, in which this sculpture had been hidden for millions of years. In this sense, this marvel just had to be freed. It was, so to speak, the invisible essence in this raw marble block that Michelangelo recognized and exposed with his genius.”

“Finally, I can and will recommend this technique to you as Catholic media people.”

The 64-year-old archbishop told a German magazine last month that he was “grateful to God that 2020 was over.”

Gänswein, from the Black Forest region of Germany, is prefect of the Papal Household, but has been on leave from his duties as prefect since February in order to be able to dedicate his time exclusively to the former pope as Benedict XVI’s private secretary. 

Following treatment for kidney problems in September, Gänswein told the magazine Bunte that he had had a “clarifying, very fortifying and encouraging meeting with Pope Francis” about his removal from active duty as prefect, which he stressed he knew was not a “punishment.”

Gänswein celebrated Christmas and the New Year with the Pope Emeritus at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican Gardens, where the two men and four Italian nuns reside.

In his homily on Monday, the archbishop urged journalists to imitate Michelangelo’s approach to sculpture by omitting “everything unnecessary in your reporting that all media report on anyway.”

“Instead, keep getting to the essence of the Christian message and make it as free as the young Michelangelo, without any competition,” he said.

“Because in all news on Earth — about all tragedies, catastrophes, wars or pandemics — the most important essence is always the good news of the Incarnation of God in Jesus Christ.”

“It is precisely this message that we see here before us. Therefore, never cease to tell about it above all and to expose the beauty of this news to the best of your ability.”


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