By Matthew Bunson

New Cardinals reflect Church's universality

Prelates getting the red hat Nov. 24 are from 14 countries, including two from the United States

Pope Benedict XVI continued to shape the future direction of the Church and made another significant mark upon the eventual election of his successor when he announced the creation of 23 cardinals Oct. 17.

The new members of the College of Cardinals, including two Americans, are from 14 countries and include seven officials based in Rome, 11 heads of archdioceses around the globe, and five clerics over the age of 80 who will be honored for their long service to the Church but who are not eligible to participate in any future conclave.

The pope declared, when he named the latest members of the college: "The new cardinals come from various parts of the world. And the universality of the Church, with the multiplicity of her ministries, is clearly reflected in them."

In naming the 23 cardinals, Pope Benedict exceeded by one the maximum limit of 120 cardinal electors set by Pope Paul VI in 1973. Pope John Paul II set aside the limit on several occasions during his pontificate.

All of the cardinals will be installed officially at a special consistory Nov. 24.

By the numbers

202
Total number of cardinals once the new cardinals are installed Nov. 24

121
Number of cardinals who will be eligible to participate in any conclave -- 60 are from Europe, 20 from North America, 17 from South America, 9 from Africa, 13 from Asia and two from Oceania

91
Number of current cardinal electors named by Pope John Paul II

30
Number of current cardinal electors named by Pope Benedict XVI

13
Number of U.S. voting cardinals, with is the second-largest contingent after Italy, which as 21

American cardinals

Archbishop Daniel DiNardo

The appointment of Archbishop Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, 58, is especially significant as it marks the first time that a cardinal has been named for the Texas see that was raised to the rank of an archdiocese by Pope John Paul II only three years ago. The archdiocese is the 10th largest in the United States, and the designation reflects both the rapid growth in recent decades of the Catholic population in the South and Southwest and the increasing diversity of the Church in Texas.

Archbishop John Foley

Archbishop John Foley, who is now the Grand Master of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, is best known for serving as the popular president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications from 1984 until this June. The 71-year-old customarily provided the narration for the televised Midnight Mass at Christmas from the Vatican.

Notable names

• Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, 63, prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, from Argentina, a former nuncio to Mexico and undersecretary of state for general affairs in the Vatican. He delivered the official announcement in St. Peter's Square in 2005 that Pope John Paul II had died.

• Archbishop Sean Brady of Armagh, Ireland, 68, has become one of his country's most articulate voices for peace in Northern Ireland and the dangers of growing secularism in the Isle.

• Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco of Genoa, Italy, 64, is considered a rising star in European Catholicism, especially with his appointment as head of the influential Italian bishops' conference. In April 2007, following a condemnation of same-sex unions, he was the target of death threats from gay-rights activists and was given police protection.

• Archbishop Odilo Scherer of São Paulo, Brazil, 58, the first non-Franciscan archbishop in São Paulo in 37 years, recently was in charge of the important meeting of the Council of Latin American Bishops’ Conferences (CELAM) in Brazil that was attended by Pope Benedict.

• Archbishop Theodore-Adrien Sarr of Dakar, Senegal, 70, is revered for his defense of human rights and promotion of peace in western Africa. He and his fellow bishops received threats of violence in 2004 for their work in a country that is 95 percent Muslim and 5 percent Catholic.

• Archbishop Emmanuel III Delly, 80, the Patriarch of Babylon for the Chaldeans and head of the Chaldean Catholic Church with his base in Baghdad, became patriarch in 2003 and has served during the difficult post-Saddam Hussein era in Iraq. He has labored to hold together the Christian population in the country while forging good relations with the new government and negotiating for the release of kidnapped hostages.

All of the cardinals will be installed officially at a special consistory on November 24. At that time, there will be 202 total cardinals with 121 of them eligible to participate in any conclave: 60 electors are from Europe, 20 from North America, 17 from South America, 9 from Africa, 13 from Asia and two from Oceania. Of the current cardinal electors, thirty were named by Benedict XVI and 91 by John Paul II. The United States has the second largest number of voting cardinals, at 13, behind only Italy which has 21.

More new members of the college

• Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, 72, from Italy, who is in charge of the administration of the Vatican City State.

• Archbishop Paul-Josef Cordes, 73, from Germany, president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum.

• Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko, 59, from Poland, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

• Archbishop Angelo Comastri, 64, from Italy, archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica and president of the Fabric of Peter.

• Archbishop Raffaele Farina, S.D.B., 74, from Italy, archivist of the Holy Roman Church and head of the Vatican Library.

• Archbishop Agustin Garcia-Gasco y Vicente, 76, archbishop of Valencia, Spain.

• Archbishop Llui's Martnez Sistach, 70, archbishop of Barcelona, Spain.

• Archbishop Andre Vingt-Trois, 64, archbishop of Paris, France.

• Archbishop Oswald Gracias, 62, archbishop of Bombay, India.

• Archbishop Francisco Lopez Ortega, 58, archbishop of Monterrey, Mexico.

• Archbishop John Njue, 63, archbishop of Nairobi, Kenya.

In addition to Archbishop Emmanuel III Delly, there are four new cardinals older than 80 and therefore ineligible to vote in a conclave:

• Archbishop Giovanni Coppa, 81, from Italy, former apostolic nuncio to Czechoslovakia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

• Archbishop Estanislao Esteban Karlic, 81, archbishop emeritus of Parana, Argentina.

• Father Urbano Navarrete Cortes, S.J., 87, from Italy, rector emeritus of the Gregorian University in Rome.

• Father Umberto Betti, O.F.M., 85, from Spain, rector emeritus of the Lateran University in Rome.

Matthew Bunson, editor of Our Sunday Visitor's "Catholic Almanac," writes from Indiana.

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