The race to succeed certainly hotting up after today’s appointments.
Pope Benedict XVI has created 22 new cardinals - his closest aides - at a ceremony in Rome’s St Peter’s Basilica. The new “princes of the church” were presented with red hats called birettas and gold rings at the “consistory”.
The archbishops of New York and Hong Kong are among those joining the prestigious group that will one day choose the pontiff’s successor.
Pope Benedict, who is nearly 85, is visibly slowing down, says the BBC’s David Willey in Rome.
He entered St Peter’s Basilica for Saturday’s consistory on a rolling platform to spare him the long walk down the centre aisle. Wearing red and gold vestments, he called on the new cardinals “to serve the Church with love and vigour” before handing them their birettas and rings.
Eighteen of the 22 newcomers are under the age of 80, meaning they can join the group of 125 cardinals who are eligible to take part in the conclave that will meet to elect a new pope once Benedict dies.
Seven Italians - many of them holding influential positions inside Church government - are among the new cardinals, our correspondent says. This will boost the European presence among the 125 “cardinal electors” and increase the possibility that the next Pope could once again be an Italian - a situation that has drawn accusations of bias when the regions of Africa and Latin America have seen greater growths in Catholic congregations than Europe.
Among the new cardinals is 62-year-old New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, a popular former rector of the North American College in Rome which trains future priests in the US. He told a closed-door meeting of cardinals old and new on Friday that a “creative strategy” was needed to bring back faith in increasingly secular countries. Giving the keynote speech at the meeting, he said the Church should accentuate its positive side, and would accomplish what it terms the “new evangelisation” with “a smile, not a frown”.
Other new cardinals include Hong Kong Archbishop John Tong Hon and Berlin Archbishop Rainer Maria Woelki.
The consistory is taking place against a background of disquiet inside the Vatican, our correspondent adds. Confidential internal memos alleging corruption among top clerics and some laymen who advise the Pope have been leaked to the media. The Vatican spokesman said - using a colourful metaphor - that “wolves were on the prowl in the frescoed palace of the popes”.
Obviously if we are electing a new pope any time in the next five years it will be too soon, but I’d bloody love to see my local man Cardinal Timothy Dolan get the top job at some stage. Would be great to have an Irish American in the Vatican.
I’m disappointed that no one thought to let off a large IED in the middle of the consistory.
I see the Italian government is rolling back the tax breaks the Holy See enjoys, which should mean about 600 million extra from their coffers evey year.
The Pope (the real Pope) died on April 2nd, 2005. I was in the Market Bar on Fade Street, Dublin 2, having pints after Leicester had demolished Leinster at Lansdowne Road in the Heino quarter-final, when I heard the Pope had died.
Ratzinger (he was always “that cunt Ratzinger” to me) was elected on April 19th.
So I suppose I’d be using that as a general guide to expect a new Pope by around May 8th.
I think it was slightly different last time because Ratzinger had resigned effective as of February 28th, 2013 and Fran got the gig around about March 12th or 13th I think. He was appointed just before Arsenal played Bayern Munich away in a Champions League second leg last 16 tie so in my mind he’s inextricably linked to all those loser Arsenal players of the late Wenger era like Sead Kolasinac, Rob Holding, Skhodran Mustafi, Laurent Koscielny, Francis Coquelin, Mohamed Elneny and an injured Jack Wilshere.
The power of the church during sede vacante rests with the Camerlengo or Chamberlain, who happens to be Irish, Cardinal Kevin Farrell. So, at the moment, we have an Irish Pope.
:lol: