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by John Thavis Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI has completed his second encyclical, a meditation on Christian hope, Vatican sources said.
The text, tentatively titled "Spe Salvi" ("Saved by Hope"), is about 65 pages, sources said Oct. 16. No release date has been set for the document.
The working title comes from St. Paul's letter to the Romans, in which he wrote: "For in hope we have been saved." The encyclical is said to explore the Christian understanding of hope, with reference to modern philosophy and the challenges of disbelief.
The pope worked on the encyclical this summer, when he had time to write during his sojourns in northern Italy and at his villa outside Rome. At the same time, he was working on a third encyclical that deals with social themes, Vatican officials said.
The pope published his first encyclical in late 2006. Titled "Deus Caritas Est" ("God Is Love"), it called for a deeper understanding of love as a gift from God to be shared in a self-sacrificial way.
The pope spoke about the importance of the virtue of hope in 2005, when he addressed Mexican bishops on their "ad limina" visits to Rome.
"Confronted by today's changing and complex panorama, the virtue of hope is subject to harsh trials in the community of believers. For this very reason, we must be apostles who are filled with hope and joyful trust in God's promises," the pope told the bishops.
From a pastoral standpoint, he added, hope means reminding Christians that God never abandons his people and is alive and active in the world.
"In contemporary society, which shows such visible signs of secularism, we must not give in to despair or a lack of enthusiasm in pastoral projects," he said.
In introducing a section on hope, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit."
Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved. Used with permission. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed. CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250
1. Mons. Leonardo Sandri, Prefetto della Congregazione per le Chiese Orientali;
2. Mons. John Patrick Foley, Pro-Gran Maestro dell’Ordine Equestre del Santo Sepolcro di Gerusalemme;
3. Mons. Giovanni Lajolo, Presidente della Pontificia Commissione e del Governatorato dello Stato della Città del Vaticano;
4. Mons. Paul Joseph Cordes, Presidente del Pontificio Consiglio "Cor Unum";
5. Mons. Angelo Comastri, Arciprete della Basilica Vaticana, Vicario Generale per lo S.C.V. e Presidente della Fabbrica di San Pietro;
6. Mons. Stanis³aw Ry³ko, Presidente del Pontificio Consiglio per i Laici;
7. Mons. Raffaele Farina, Archivista e Bibliotecario di S.R.C.;
8. Mons. Agustín García-Gasco Vicente, Arcivescovo di Valencia (Spagna);
9. Mons. Seán Baptist Brady, Arcivescovo di Armagh (Irlanda);
10. Mons. Lluís Martínez Sistach, Arcivescovo di Barcellona (Spagna);
11. Mons. André Vingt-Trois, Arcivescovo di Parigi (Francia);
12. Mons. Angelo Bagnasco, Arcivescovo di Genova (Italia);
13. Mons. Théodore-Adrien Sarr, Arcivescovo di Dakar (Senegal);
14. Mons. Oswald Gracias, Arcivescovo di Bombay (India);
15. Mons. Francisco Robles Ortega, Arcivescovo di Monterrey (Messico);
16. Mons. Daniel N. DiNardo, Arcivescovo di Galveston-Houston (Stati Uniti d’America);
17. Mons. Odilio Pedro Scherer, Arcivescovo di São Paulo (Brasile);
18. Mons. John Njue, Arcivescovo di Nairobi (Kenya).
Desidero inoltre elevare alla dignità cardinalizia tre venerati Presuli e due benemeriti ecclesiastici, particolarmente meritevoli per il loro impegno al servizio della Chiesa:
1. S.B. Emmanuel III Delly, Patriarca di Babilonia dei Caldei;
2. Mons. Giovanni Coppa, Nunzio Apostolico;
3. Mons. Estanislao Esteban Karlic, Arcivescovo emerito di Paraná (Argentina);
4. P. Urbano Navarrete, S.I., già Rettore della Pontificia Università Gregoriana; e
5. P. Umberto Betti, O.F.M., già Rettore della Pontificia Università Lateranense.
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI named 23 new cardinals, including U.S. Archbishop John P. Foley, grand master of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, and U.S. Archbishop Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, the first cardinal from a Texas diocese.
The pope announced the names at the end of his weekly general audience Oct. 17 and said he would formally install the cardinals during a special consistory at the Vatican Nov. 24.
Cardinal-designate Foley was in St. Peter's Square when the announcement was made; he told Catholic News Service he had gone into the square, wading into the midst of the crowd, after going to a doctor's appointment.
While rumors were running strong that the pope would name cardinals at the end of the audience and his nomination was almost a given, Cardinal-designate Foley said he was shocked to be the second name announced by the pope. The order in which the cardinals are announced determines their seniority with the College of Cardinals, which has little practical effect except in liturgical processions.
Naming 18 cardinals under the age of 80, the age limit set for voting in a papal conclave, Pope Benedict said he was setting aside the limit of 120 potential papal electors established by Pope Paul VI and confirmed by Pope John Paul II.
After the new cardinals are installed in late November, there will be 121 potential voters.
The 23 new cardinals will bring the total membership of the College of Cardinals to 202.
The nomination of Cardinals-designate Foley and DiNardo brings to 17 the number of U.S. cardinals; after the consistory, the U.S. contingent will include 13 potential papal electors.
The November ceremony will mark the second time Pope Benedict has created cardinals since his election in April 2005. At a March 2006 consistory, he created 15 new cardinals.
The new cardinals represent 15 countries on five continents. Eight of the new cardinals are current or retired Vatican officials, 13 are current or retired heads of archdioceses around the world and two are former rectors of the main pontifical universities in Rome.
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