The Pope marks the future of the Church with the investiture of 20 cardinals, including the Spanish Fernando Vérgez

Pope

marks the future of the Church with the investiture this Saturday of

, including the Spanish

.

The 85-year-old Argentine pontiff, who is dealing with the ailments of age and

, prepares the future of the Church with the "creation" of 20 new positions of cardinals,

that, when the time comes, will designate the next head of the Catholics.

The ceremony began at 4:00 p.m. in

and is also attended by numerous cardinals from around the world, summoned for a

.

This is a particular occasion, officially dedicated to the

, approved in March and in force since June 5, but

, for the cardinals to take stock of the situation of the Church and get to know each other.

The meeting has sparked all kinds of

, forcing him to move in a wheelchair.

With the investiture of the new cardinals, the first Latin American pope in history

, who come from distant lands, where the Church is a minority or is growing.

Religious from Africa, Asia and Latin America

In the list of

who will become "princes of the church" there are religious from

,

,

and

, among other countries.

Three Latin Americans also stand out: the Archbishop of Brasilia,

;

the one from Manaus,

, the first cardinal of the Amazon region, and the one from Asunción,

, who will become the first cardinal of Paraguay.

Among those over 80 who will receive the title of cardinal is the Archbishop Emeritus of Cartagena de Indias (Colombia),

.

These new cardinals "represent the Church of today, with a strong presence in the southern hemisphere", where 80% of Catholics live, stressed Vaticanist Bernard Lecomte.

By the end of his eighth consistory, almost one for each year of his papacy,

, that is, almost two-thirds.

A

, since a two-thirds majority is precisely required.

True to his

, closer to the forgotten, the Argentine-born Pope elected two Africans and five Asians, including two Indians, confirming the rise of that continent.

Among the most notable appointments is that of the American

, bishop of San Diego, California,

.

"We come from the four corners of the world to get to know each other," assured the future cardinal.

Another emblematic appointment is that of the Italian missionary

, who works in Mongolia.

.

"With simplicity and humility I came to listen to people with much more experience than me," confessed Marengo, who considers that his designation "is a sign of attention to those realities that are generally considered minority [...] because marginality is in the heart of the Holy Father," he said in statements to the press.

Three future cardinals hold positions in the Curia

, the central government of the Church: Britain's

, Korea's

, and Spain's

, president of the Vatican City State governorate.

Initially appointed, Belgian

, 80, Bishop Emeritus of Ghent, asked to be dispensed from this title over

by members of the clergy.

Europe remains the most represented continent in the College of Cardinals with 40%, ahead of South America and Asia (16% each), Africa (13%) and North America (12%).

Fernando Vérgez, born in Salamanca 77 years ago

Fernando Vérgez

, born in Salamanca 77 years ago, civil governor of

, and first cardinal of the

.

With his appointment,

will become a

in August in the event of a conclave, with 15 cardinals, of which 9 have the right to vote.

This will be the eighth consistory of

, with which he will have created a total of 109 cardinals.

Nine Spanish Cardinal Electors

Spain has nine cardinal electors, although not all of them are bishops in Spanish dioceses.

The Navarrese

, 78 years old, is bishop of David, in Panama;

, from Navarre

, 77, is Archbishop of Santiago de Chile;

and Cardinal

, from Almeria, 70, is Archbishop of Rabat, in Morocco.

Several Spanish cardinals also work

in the

, 78, currently prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith;

the Sevillian at the head of the dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue,

, 69 years old;

and now also

, 77 years old, born in Salamanca.

In addition, the Pope has summoned all the cardinals of the world to a meeting in the Vatican that will take place on August 28 and 29 to discuss together the novelties of the Apostolic Constitution

that entered into force on June 5 , the day of Pentecost, and which culminates the reform of the Curia undertaken by Francis and tries to direct the entire structure more towards evangelizing action.

Spanish delegation

The Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, heads the Spanish delegation that participates this Saturday in this eighth consistory.

On Sunday 28, at 12 noon, the minister will also participate in the reception in honor of Cardinal Vérgez that will be offered at the Spanish Embassy to the Holy See.

This is the second time that Bolaños travels to the Vatican.

On June 13, he had a private audience with the Pope as successor to former Vice President

at the head of relations with the Church in a meeting that he himself described as "inspiring."

In the meeting, as he himself revealed in a subsequent press conference, Bolaños assured the Pope of the dialogue between the Spanish Executive and the Catholic Church while highlighting the "complicity" of his Pontificate with the values ​​with which the Government of Spain.

"I have been able to see how the same values ​​inspire us: the value of dialogue, the value of solidarity, the value of helping people with more difficulties, those who are in the worst situation in the world. These values ​​of dialogue, solidarity and work for the people who have the most difficulties and who are the most disadvantaged, those values ​​that

, that His Holiness conveyed to me, are values ​​that inspire the Government of Spain. There has been a closeness, a complicity there", assured then.

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