At 11:00am today, in the Vatican Basilica, the Holy Father, Pope Francis held an Ordinary Public Consistory for the creation of 20 new Cardinals, for the imposing of the beretta on each of their heads, for the presentation of the Cardinalatial ring and for the assigning of their respective Cardinalatial titles. At the conclusion of the rite of creation of Cardinals, the Pope also held an Ordinary Public Consistory for the Canonization of three Blesseds.
At the beginning of the Consistory, the Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, His Eminence, Dominique Mamberti, the first of the new Cardinals, addressed words of greeting and gratitude to the Holy Father in the name of all the newly-created Cardinals.
The celebration began with a greeting, a prayer and the reading of an Epistle: the hymn to charity from the first letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor 12:31-13:13). Then the Pope delivered his homily. After his homily, the Pope read the formula of creation of new Cardinals, and solemnly proclaimed the names of the new Cardinals, announcing at the same time their respective Orders (ie Cardinal priests or Cardinal deacons).
The Rite of Creation of New Cardinals was followed by the Profession of Faith pronounced by the new Cardinals in the presence of the People of God and the swearing of an Oath of Fidelity and Obedience to Pope Francis and to his successors.
Following the order of their creation, the new Cardinals then knelt before the Holy Father who placed a Cardinalatial zuccheto and baretta on each of their heads, a ring on their fingers and assigned to each of them, one of the churches of Rome as a sign of their participation in the pastoral care which the Pope exercises for the good of the city of Rome. Following the presentation of a Bull of Creation as a Cardinal (the official document), the Holy Father, Pope Francis exchanged a fraternal embrace with each of the new Cardinals as a sign of peace.
Among the new Cardinals created this morning, one was not present, because of his advanced age. The Cardinal's beretta will be presented to Cardinal José de Jesús Pimiento Rodríguez, Archbishop emeritus of Manizales at a later date in Columbia.
In addition to the other Cardinals who were present for this morning's Ordinary Public Consistory in Saint Peter's Basilica, Pope emeritus Benedict XVI was also in attendance.
Dear Brother Cardinals,
The cardinalate is certainly an honour, but it is not honorific. This we already know from its name – cardinal – from the word cardo, a hinge. As such it is not a kind of accessory, a decoration, like an honorary title. Rather, it is a pivot, a point of support and movement essential for the life of the community. You are hinges and are incardinated in the Church of Rome, which presides over the entire assembly of charity (Lumen Gentium, 13; cf. IGN. ANT., Ad Rom., Prologue).
In the Church, all presiding flows from charity, must be exercised in charity, and is ordered towards charity. Here too the Church of Rome exercises an exemplary role. Just as she presides in charity, so too each particular Church is called, within its own sphere, to preside in charity.
For this reason, I believe that the hymn to charity in Saint Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians can be taken as a guiding theme for this celebration and for your ministry, especially for those of you who today enter the College of Cardinals. All of us, myself first and each of you with me, would do well to let ourselves be guided by the inspired words of the apostle Paul, especially in the passage where he lists the marks of charity. May our Mother Mary help us to listen. She gave the world Jesus, charity incarnate, who is the more excellent Way (cf 1 Cor 12:31); may she help us to receive this Word and always to advance on this Way. May she assist us by her humility and maternal tenderness, because charity, as God’s gift, grows wherever humility and tenderness are found.
Saint Paul tells us that charity is, above all, patient and kind. The greater our responsibility in serving the Church, the more our hearts must expand according to the measure of the heart of Christ. Patience – forbearance – is in some sense synonymous with catholicity. It means being able to love without limits, but also to be faithful in particular situations and with practical gestures. It means loving what is great without neglecting what is small; loving the little things within the horizon of the great things, since non coerceri a maximo, contineri tamen a minimo divinum est. To know how to love through acts of kindness. Kindness – benevolence – means the firm and persevering intention to always will the good of others, even those unfriendly to us.
The Apostle goes on to say that charity is not jealous or boastful, it is not puffed up with pride. This is surely a miracle of love, since we humans – all of us, at every stage of our lives – are inclined to jealousy and pride, since our nature is wounded by sin. Nor are Church dignitaries immune from this temptation. But for this very reason, dear brothers, the divine power of love, which transforms hearts, can be all the more evident in us, so that it is no longer you who live, but rather Christ who lives in you. And Jesus is love to the fullest.
Saint Paul then tells us that charity is not arrogant or rude, it does not insist on its own way. These two characteristics show that those who abide in charity are not self-centred. The self-centred inevitably become disrespectful; very often they do not even notice this, since respect is precisely the ability to acknowledge others, to acknowledge their dignity, their condition, their needs. The self-centred person inevitably seeks his own interests; he thinks this is normal, even necessary. Those interests can even be cloaked in noble appearances, but underlying them all is always self-interest. Charity, however, makes us draw back from the centre in order to set ourselves in the real centre, which is Christ alone. Then, and only then, can we be persons who are respectful and attentive to the good of others.
Charity, Saint Paul says, is not irritable, it is not resentful. Pastors close to their people have plenty of opportunities to be irritable, to feel anger. Perhaps we risk being all the more irritable in relationships with our confreres, since in effect we have less excuses. Even here, charity, and charity alone, frees us. It frees us from the risk of reacting impulsively, of saying or doing the wrong thing; above all it frees us from the mortal danger of pent-up anger, of that smouldering anger which makes us brood over wrongs we have received. No. This is unacceptable in a man of the Church. Even if a momentary outburst is forgivable, this is not the case with rancour. God save us from that!
Charity – Saint Paul adds – does not rejoice at the wrong, but rejoices in the right. Those called to the service of governance in the Church need to have a strong sense of justice, so that any form of injustice becomes unacceptable, even those which might bring gain to himself or to the Church. At the same time, he must rejoice in the right. What a beautiful phrase! The man of God is someone captivated by truth, one who encounters it fully in the word and flesh of Jesus Christ, the inexhaustible source of our joy. May the people of God always see in us a firm condemnation of injustice and joyful service to the truth.
Finally, love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Here, in four words, is a spiritual and pastoral programme of life. The love of Christ, poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, enables us to live like this, to be like this: as persons always ready to forgive; always ready to trust, because we are full of faith in God; always ready to inspire hope, because we ourselves are full of hope in God; persons ready to bear patiently every situation and each of our brothers and sisters, in union with Christ, who bore with love the burden of our sins.
Dear brothers, this comes to us not from ourselves, but from God. God is love and he accomplishes all this in us if only we prove docile to the working of his Holy Spirit. This, then, is how we are to be: incardinated and docile. The more we are incardinated in the Church of Rome, the more we should become docile to the Spirit, so that charity can give form and meaning to all that we are and all that we do. Incardinated in the Church which presides in charity, docile to the Holy Spirit who pours into our hearts the love of God (cf Rom 5:5). Amen.
At the beginning of the Consistory, the Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, His Eminence, Dominique Mamberti, the first of the new Cardinals, addressed words of greeting and gratitude to the Holy Father in the name of all the newly-created Cardinals.
The celebration began with a greeting, a prayer and the reading of an Epistle: the hymn to charity from the first letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor 12:31-13:13). Then the Pope delivered his homily. After his homily, the Pope read the formula of creation of new Cardinals, and solemnly proclaimed the names of the new Cardinals, announcing at the same time their respective Orders (ie Cardinal priests or Cardinal deacons).
The Rite of Creation of New Cardinals was followed by the Profession of Faith pronounced by the new Cardinals in the presence of the People of God and the swearing of an Oath of Fidelity and Obedience to Pope Francis and to his successors.
Following the order of their creation, the new Cardinals then knelt before the Holy Father who placed a Cardinalatial zuccheto and baretta on each of their heads, a ring on their fingers and assigned to each of them, one of the churches of Rome as a sign of their participation in the pastoral care which the Pope exercises for the good of the city of Rome. Following the presentation of a Bull of Creation as a Cardinal (the official document), the Holy Father, Pope Francis exchanged a fraternal embrace with each of the new Cardinals as a sign of peace.
Among the new Cardinals created this morning, one was not present, because of his advanced age. The Cardinal's beretta will be presented to Cardinal José de Jesús Pimiento Rodríguez, Archbishop emeritus of Manizales at a later date in Columbia.
In addition to the other Cardinals who were present for this morning's Ordinary Public Consistory in Saint Peter's Basilica, Pope emeritus Benedict XVI was also in attendance.
Homily of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the Ordinary Public Consistory
for the Creation of new Cardinals
Dear Brother Cardinals,
The cardinalate is certainly an honour, but it is not honorific. This we already know from its name – cardinal – from the word cardo, a hinge. As such it is not a kind of accessory, a decoration, like an honorary title. Rather, it is a pivot, a point of support and movement essential for the life of the community. You are hinges and are incardinated in the Church of Rome, which presides over the entire assembly of charity (Lumen Gentium, 13; cf. IGN. ANT., Ad Rom., Prologue).
In the Church, all presiding flows from charity, must be exercised in charity, and is ordered towards charity. Here too the Church of Rome exercises an exemplary role. Just as she presides in charity, so too each particular Church is called, within its own sphere, to preside in charity.
For this reason, I believe that the hymn to charity in Saint Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians can be taken as a guiding theme for this celebration and for your ministry, especially for those of you who today enter the College of Cardinals. All of us, myself first and each of you with me, would do well to let ourselves be guided by the inspired words of the apostle Paul, especially in the passage where he lists the marks of charity. May our Mother Mary help us to listen. She gave the world Jesus, charity incarnate, who is the more excellent Way (cf 1 Cor 12:31); may she help us to receive this Word and always to advance on this Way. May she assist us by her humility and maternal tenderness, because charity, as God’s gift, grows wherever humility and tenderness are found.
Saint Paul tells us that charity is, above all, patient and kind. The greater our responsibility in serving the Church, the more our hearts must expand according to the measure of the heart of Christ. Patience – forbearance – is in some sense synonymous with catholicity. It means being able to love without limits, but also to be faithful in particular situations and with practical gestures. It means loving what is great without neglecting what is small; loving the little things within the horizon of the great things, since non coerceri a maximo, contineri tamen a minimo divinum est. To know how to love through acts of kindness. Kindness – benevolence – means the firm and persevering intention to always will the good of others, even those unfriendly to us.
The Apostle goes on to say that charity is not jealous or boastful, it is not puffed up with pride. This is surely a miracle of love, since we humans – all of us, at every stage of our lives – are inclined to jealousy and pride, since our nature is wounded by sin. Nor are Church dignitaries immune from this temptation. But for this very reason, dear brothers, the divine power of love, which transforms hearts, can be all the more evident in us, so that it is no longer you who live, but rather Christ who lives in you. And Jesus is love to the fullest.
Saint Paul then tells us that charity is not arrogant or rude, it does not insist on its own way. These two characteristics show that those who abide in charity are not self-centred. The self-centred inevitably become disrespectful; very often they do not even notice this, since respect is precisely the ability to acknowledge others, to acknowledge their dignity, their condition, their needs. The self-centred person inevitably seeks his own interests; he thinks this is normal, even necessary. Those interests can even be cloaked in noble appearances, but underlying them all is always self-interest. Charity, however, makes us draw back from the centre in order to set ourselves in the real centre, which is Christ alone. Then, and only then, can we be persons who are respectful and attentive to the good of others.
Charity, Saint Paul says, is not irritable, it is not resentful. Pastors close to their people have plenty of opportunities to be irritable, to feel anger. Perhaps we risk being all the more irritable in relationships with our confreres, since in effect we have less excuses. Even here, charity, and charity alone, frees us. It frees us from the risk of reacting impulsively, of saying or doing the wrong thing; above all it frees us from the mortal danger of pent-up anger, of that smouldering anger which makes us brood over wrongs we have received. No. This is unacceptable in a man of the Church. Even if a momentary outburst is forgivable, this is not the case with rancour. God save us from that!
Charity – Saint Paul adds – does not rejoice at the wrong, but rejoices in the right. Those called to the service of governance in the Church need to have a strong sense of justice, so that any form of injustice becomes unacceptable, even those which might bring gain to himself or to the Church. At the same time, he must rejoice in the right. What a beautiful phrase! The man of God is someone captivated by truth, one who encounters it fully in the word and flesh of Jesus Christ, the inexhaustible source of our joy. May the people of God always see in us a firm condemnation of injustice and joyful service to the truth.
Finally, love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Here, in four words, is a spiritual and pastoral programme of life. The love of Christ, poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, enables us to live like this, to be like this: as persons always ready to forgive; always ready to trust, because we are full of faith in God; always ready to inspire hope, because we ourselves are full of hope in God; persons ready to bear patiently every situation and each of our brothers and sisters, in union with Christ, who bore with love the burden of our sins.
Dear brothers, this comes to us not from ourselves, but from God. God is love and he accomplishes all this in us if only we prove docile to the working of his Holy Spirit. This, then, is how we are to be: incardinated and docile. The more we are incardinated in the Church of Rome, the more we should become docile to the Spirit, so that charity can give form and meaning to all that we are and all that we do. Incardinated in the Church which presides in charity, docile to the Holy Spirit who pours into our hearts the love of God (cf Rom 5:5). Amen.
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