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Pope Francis will call a consistory next February to bestow red hats on a group of new cardinals, a news agency has reported.
The Rome-based French religious agency I-Media says the consistory will be on February 21 and 22, following a two-day meeting of the Pope with the entire College of Cardinals to discuss his plans for Vatican reforms.
The consistory will give Pope Francis the opportunity to show his criteria for the selection of cardinals.
A commentary on the Catholic Culture website suggests that the Pope, who has shown a strong preference for decentralisation of Church authority, may choose to name the leaders of major archdioceses, rather than Vatican officials, for most of the available spots in the College of Cardinals.
Pope Paul VI set a limit of 120 cardinals eligible to vote in a conclave. By February 2014 there will be 14 vacancies that could be filled by new cardinal electors below the age of 80.
There are three prelates in the Roman Curia who are not cardinals: the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller; the new prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, Archbishop Beniamino Stella; and the new Secretary of State, Archbishop Pietro Parolin.
All three are expected to receive a red hat in the next consistory.
By the time the consistory is held, the eight-member council of cardinals appointed by Pope Francis to look into Curia reform will already have met three times.
A month after the consistory, the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the Family will be held.
There were 117 cardinals eligible to vote in the conclave that elected Pope Francis, but only actually 115 voted after Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien — accused of abuse — chose not to attend the conclave and Indonesian Cardinal Julius Riyadi Darmaatmadj resigned.
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