SW News:

The Holy Father exhorted the Sacred College of Cardinals to work towards a more symphonic and synodal Church, recalling the image of a symphony orchestra. He made this exhortation while presiding over the consistory to create 21 new cardinals in St Peter’s Square. 

In his address to the Sacred College of Cardinals, Pope Francis reflected on the reading from the Acts of the Apostles that details the incidents that took place on Pentecost. He recalled how the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke with the gift of tongues and preached the Gospel to the Jews hailing from different nations. 

The pontiff said that the Pentecost narrative should make everyone think with gratitude about the gift of having been given the Gospel after being drawn from various people. By welcoming the Gospel, everyone was baptized in the Holy Spirit and became part of the Church which speaks in all languages, is one and is Catholic, said Pope Francis. 

He told them that before being priests or prelates, they should remember that they are “Parthians, Medes and Elamites” like those Jews at Pentecost and should be grateful for getting the opportunity to receive the Gospel among their respective peoples of origin and in their language. 

“We are evangelizers to the extent we cherish in our hearts the wonder and gratitude of having been evangelized, even of being evangelized, because this is really a gift always present, that must be continually renewed in our memories and in faith, because, we are evangelized evangelizers, non functionaries". 

Out of the 21 new cardinals, 18 are under the age of 80 making them eligible to take part in a conclave to elect the next pope as per Church law. The three others were given the red hat because of their long, outstanding service to the Catholic Church. 

The new cardinals hail from the USA, France, Italy, Argentina, Switzerland, South Africa, Spain, Colombia, South Sudan, Hong Kong, Poland, Malaysia, Tanzania, Venezuela, and Portugal. While South Sudan got its first cardinal, Malaysia got its second and it reflects the pope’s preference for prelates from the peripheries in the College of Cardinals. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa was also given the cardinal’s hat.