German Cardinal Walter Brandmüller (93), a once influential conservative prelate known to be at odds with several aspects of the Francis papacy, has asked that the right to vote in a conclave be limited to those residing in Rome. Brandmüller said that there are too many cardinals who come from faraway places, so they lack Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Cardinals’
Conservative cardinal calls for conclaves to be limited to Rome-based cardinals
Thursday, September 1st, 2022Reform of Roman Curia on the cards
Thursday, August 25th, 2022
The Roman Curia looks likely to be reformed when the world’s cardinals meet in Rome tomorrow. Vatican commentator Thomas Reece says after Pope Francis creates 17 new cardinals, he wants to discuss his plans for reforming the Curia. The Curia is the bureaucracy the pope uses to help him exercise his pastoral office and universal Read more
Women Cardinals
Thursday, April 28th, 2022
Pope Francis is reorganizing the Vatican Curia — the church’s administrators and his senior staff — and may name new cardinals in June. Francis’ new apostolic constitution, “Praedicate Evangelium” (“Preach the Gospel”), issued last month, noted that the heads of dicasteries and other offices that manage the church need not be ordained. This highlighted Francis’ Read more
The church needs women cardinals
Monday, August 3rd, 2020
Two weeks back, La Croix and The Tablet both reported on an interview with the president of the French bishops’ conference, Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort. During the interview, he envisioned that “the Holy See will one day be led by the Pope surrounded by a college of cardinals in which there would be women.” The Read more
Red Hat Report to audit world’s cardinals
Thursday, October 4th, 2018
Popularly dubbed The Red Hat Report, a new organisation backed by wealthy Catholics is planning to spend $1 million over the next 12 months to evaluate cardinals across the world on the way they handle accusations of clerical sex abuse or cover-up. The Better Church Governance Group aims to compile dossiers “in the manner of Read more
Why cardinals have ranks, and how Pope Francis changed them
Thursday, June 28th, 2018
Pope Francis made an unexpected change Tuesday in the structure of the College of Cardinals, adding some curial officials to the rank of “cardinal bishops,” the highest rank within the college. The College of Cardinals is structured in three orders, or ranks: the order of “cardinal deacons,” the order of “cardinal priests,” and the order Read more
Fourteen new cardinals named
Monday, May 21st, 2018
Fourteen new cardinals have been named by Pope Francis. The new cardinals include prelates based in Madagascar, Peru, Mexico and Japan as well as Iraq and Pakistan, where Christians are a vulnerable minority. “The countries of provenance express the universality of the church, which continues to announce the merciful love of God to all men Read more
Pope’s cardinal picks could make the next conclave a wild ride
Thursday, July 6th, 2017
Typically speaking, about the most important thing any cardinal of the Catholic Church will ever do is to help pick a pope. As a result, one time-honored way of evaluating consistories, the events in which popes create new cardinals, is in terms of what they portend for the choice of that pope’s successor. Applying that Read more
5 very diverse new cardinals announced – none Italian
Monday, May 22nd, 2017
The names of five new cardinals from five very different countries were announced yesterday. Pope Francis says on 28 June he will hold a consistory to appoint the cardinals, who come from El Salvador, Laos, Mali, Spain and Sweden. They will add diversity to the church, Francis says. Apart from Spain, none of the countries Read more
Seventeen new Cardinals named
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2016
Seventeen new Cardinals were named on Saturday. They come from all over the world and a range of backgrounds. The Pope Francis has now chosen 44 cardinal electors. That’s about a third of the number allowed by Church Law to choose his successor. Thirteen of his newest Cardinals are under the age of 80. While Read more