Pope may name new cardinals soon Fri 26 September, 2003 11:49 BST

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - With membership down in the College of Cardinals, speculation is growing that Pope John Paul may soon name new entries to the elite group that will choose his successor.

Several Italian newspapers reported on Friday that the 83-year-old Pope, whose health has been faltering recently, may name a new batch of cardinals as early as Sunday. Others say it will be announced later this year.

The timing of the announcement of new cardinals has always been one of the Vatican's best-kept secrets, known only to the Polish Pope and a handful of close aides.

Whenever it is announced, it will give the ageing Pontiff perhaps his last chance to influence the group of men that will choose the next leader of the world's one billion Catholics.

It would also give him the chance to continue to affect Church policy after his death.

Since the Pope promotes prelates who agree with his teachings, the new appointments will increase the possibility the next Pontiff will also be a theological conservative who will not tamper with controversial rulings such as bans on contraception and women priests.

Cardinals, known as the "princes" of the Roman Catholic Church, form an ultra-elite group that runs the world's largest dioceses and the key departments in the Vatican.

Under current rules, only 120 cardinals, known as "cardinal electors," can enter a conclave to elect a new pope from among their own ranks after the death of the current Pope. They lose the right when they turn 80 years old.

There are currently 164 cardinals but only 109 of them are electors, leaving room for the appointment of 11 more cardinals under 80 years old.

But the Pope has broken his own rules in the past, going over the 120 limit for cardinal electors and basing the decision on the fact that some would exceed 80 in the following months.

COMING 25TH ANNIVERSARY

The Pope is likely to name a number of younger non-Italian cardinals, increasing the possibility that the next pope will also be from another country. John Paul became the first non-Italian Pope in 455 years when he was elected in 1978.

Apart from a number of Vatican positions that need to be filled, the Pope is expected to promote to cardinal several archbishops recently named to cities traditionally headed by cardinals, such as Boston, Manila and Philadelphia.

There also has been much speculation that he will reward his long-time personal secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, by naming him a cardinal and put him in line to head the archdiocese of Krakow in their native Poland.

Several Italian newspapers have reported the Pope originally planned to create the new cardinals in February but may move it forward because of his recent health problems.

The ceremony to create new cardinals is called a consistory and is usually held a month after the Pope announces the names. The next consistory whenever it is held, would be the ninth of his pontificate.

If held next month, it would coincide with celebrations surrounding the 25th anniversary of his election, which falls on October 16.

Of the 109 current cardinal electors under 80 years old, all but five were appointed by John Paul. The others were appointed by his predecessor, Paul VI.

-- Patrick (patrickleungnufc@hotmail.com), September 27, 2003

Answers

Patrick, see www.devilsfinalbattle.com

-- (dutchee@sbcglobal.net), September 27, 2003.

List of 30 cardinals named Sunday by pope Sunday September 28, 2003

VATICAN CITY (AP) Pope John Paul II named 30 new cardinals on Sunday, as well as one unnamed prelate. Here is a list of the new ``princes'' of the church, who will be elevated at a consistory on Oct. 21.

Monsignor Jean-Louis Tauran, France, Vatican foreign minister

Monsignor Renato Martino, Italy, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace

Monsignor Francesco Marchisano, Italy, Archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica

Monsignor Julian Herranz, Spain, head of the Vatican Office of Legislative Texts

Monsignor Javier Lozano Barragan, Mexico, head of Vatican office of Health Care

Monsignor Stephen Fumio Hamao, Japan, head of Vatican office of Migrants

Monsignor Attilio Nicora, Italy, head of the Administration of Patrimony of the Holy See

Residential archbishops include:

Monsignor Angelo Scola, Italy, Patriarch of Venice

Monsignor Anthony Olubunmi Okogie, Nigeria, Archbishop of Lagos

Monsignor Bernard Panafieu, France, Archbishop of Marseille

Monsignor Gabriel Zubeir Wako, Sudan, Archbishop of Khartoum

Monsignor Carlos Amigo Vallejo, Spain, Archbishop of Seville

Monsignor Justin Rigali, United States, Archbishop of Philadelphia

Monsignor Keith Michael Patrick O'Brien, Scotland, Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh

Monsignor Eusebio Oscar Scheid, Brazil, Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro

Monsignor Ennio Antonelli, Italy, Archbishop of Florence

Monsignor Tarcisco Bertone, Italy, Archbishop of Genoa

Monsignor Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, Ghana, Archbishop of Cape Coast

Monsignor Telesphore Placidus Toppo, India, Archbishop of Ranchi

Monsignor George Pell, Australia, Archbishop of Sydney

Monsignor Josip Bozanic, Croatia, Archbishop of Zagreb

Monsignor Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man, Vietnam, Archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City

Monsignor Rodolfo Quezada Toruno, Guatemala, Archbishop of Guatemala

Monsignor Philippe Barbarin, France, Archbishop of Lyon

Monsignor Peter Erdo, Hungary, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest

Monsignor Marc Ouellet, Canada, Archbishop of Quebec

Named for special service to the church:

The Rev. George Cottier, Switzerland, the pope's personal theologin

Monsignor Gustaaf Joos, Belgium

The Rev. Thomas Spidlik, Czech Republic

The Rev. Stanislaw Nagy, Poland

And a 31st cardinal named ``in pectore'' and not made public.

-- Patrick (patrickleungnufc@hotmail.com), September 28, 2003.

Hi Patrick I was surprised not to see more of a response to your post as it was a very important annoucement for the Church. Thanks for details and God Bless .

ANyone have any thoughts on the Cardinals choosen I guess for most of you Monsignor Justin Rigali, , Archbishop of Philadelphia might ring a bell. Comments?

-- Kiwi (csishwood@hotmail.com), September 30, 2003.

Kiwi,

I have heard of about ten of these men before, but I don't know enough about them (except one) to express an opinion.
Thumbs up for Cardinal-elect Justin Rigali. He was hidden away working in the Vatican for many years before at last being appointed as Archbishop of St. Louis (Missouri) several years ago. He was very recently transferred to Philadelphia (Pennsylvania).

At the beginning of September, EWTN started to broadcast a (13-part?) series -- 1/2 hour weekly -- in which Abp. Rigali is speaking in-depth about the Second Vatican Council, especially going through the documents. (The series was taped earlier this year.) He mentioned that, during his years at the Vatican, he did a lot of translating work for the pope. He seems to be a very soft-spoken, gentle, and pious man.

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), September 30, 2003.

While it would be pure speculation on anyone's part, is there any kind of consensus here as to who the next pope will be? Currently, there's rather widespread belief that he will come from Latin America or Africa. Further, I recently stumbled across a website concerning the prophecies of St. Malachy of Ireland:

http://www.dayofgod.net/Malachy/malachy.htm and http://www.dayofgod.net/ Malachy/The%20Popes.htm .

These websites seem to suggest the next pontiff may be (in my opinion) Keith Cardinal O'Brien of Scotland; or Cardinal Stéphanos Ghattas II of Egypt. The issue I base these candidates on is finally allowing priests to marry. Cardinal O'Brien has stated his support of such a change, and Cardinal Ghattas II is a Coptic Catholic, where priests are permitted to marry.

-- Owl (owl-luvr@comcast.net), October 27, 2003.

There was plenty of fast and furious speculation before the last election - but the Holy Spirit surprised everyone by guiding the cardinals to select a relatively unknown and certainly unexpected bishop, from Poland of all places. No point in trying to figure out the mind of God before He acts.

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), October 27, 2003.