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Vatican: in a desire for diversity, Pope Francis creates 21 new cardinals
Pope Francis presided over a consistory ceremony on Saturday morning, September 30, during which he admitted to the College of Cardinals profiles from four continents. New cardinals, 21 in total, to reinforce an image of the universality of the Church desired by the Argentine pontiff.
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The newly elected cardinals, Archbishop Angel Sixto Rossi of Cordoba (left) and Archbishop Luis Jose Rueda Aparicio of Bogotá, Colombia (right) are congratulated by their fellow cardinals at the end of a consistory to create 21 new cardinals in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican, September 30, 2023. AFP - FILIPPO MONTEFORTE
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Our Vatican correspondent Eric Sénanque reports
Under the sun of St. Peter's Square, the purple robes of the cardinals catches the eye. They are 20 new "princes of the Church" to have received from the hands of Pope Francis the bar, the ring and a parish of Rome that shows their link with the pontifical see this Saturday, September 30. The 21st, a 96-year-old Argentine, will receive his bar from the hands of the bishop of Buenos Aires.
Among them, two Frenchmen: Msgr. Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, and Msgr. François-Xavier Bustillo, the bishop of Ajaccio. A first for the diocese of Corsica.
These new cardinals come from 4 continents such as the Archbishop of Juba in South Sudan, Bishop Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla - who welcomed the Pope last February during his visit to the country -, that of Hong Kong, Stephen Chow Sau-Yan, or the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, for the first time created cardinal.
The College of Cardinals is called to resemble a symphony orchestra, representing the synodality of the Church: diversity is indispensable, but each sound must contribute to the common project. And for this, mutual listening is fundamental. pic.twitter.com/YjUhHZOSrT
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex_fr) September 30, 2023
A Church that wants to be universal and diverse: "The College of Cardinals is called to resemble a symphony orchestra," the pope explained in his homily. An orchestra where everyone is called to play his score: "A symphony lives from the learned composition of the timbres of the different instruments: each one makes his contribution, sometimes alone, sometimes united with another, sometimes with the whole ensemble. Diversity is necessary, it is indispensable," Francis said.
The College of Cardinals now has 242 members, 138 of whom are under 80 years old and will be electors in the event of a conclave.
" READ ALSO The migration issue at the center of the Pope's visit to Marseille
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