Consistory under Covid-19

Pope Francis

Rome/Vatican [ENA] Today Pope Francis, 83, elevated 13 clerics to the College of Cardinals, the elite group of red-robed churchmen whose primary task is to elect a new Pope. This is the first Consistory which was held in the Vatican on 28 and 29 November, for the first time in Streaming due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The Pope gave the red birretta to the thirteen new cardinals, six Italians, of whom nine are "electors" of the next

Consistory in Rome

Pope and four are over-eighty. Infact, nine cardinals, three of whom are Italian, are under eighty, and therefore with the right to participate in the next Conclave. Pope Francis urged new cardinals he created today not to stray away from “journeying on God’s road”. The red colour of the cardinals’ attire, which symbolizes blood, he warned, “can, for a worldly spirit, become the colour of a secular ‘eminence’”.

Consistory under Covid-19 in Vatican

During the consistory, the cardinals-designate professed the creed together and approached Pope Francis one by one who placed the red biretta on each one of them, giving them the cardinal’s ring and the title and rank. Two new cardinals missed in Rome because they are from other continents in southern emisphere and due to the contingent pandemic situation have not been able to be present. In fact, the Filipino Archbishop, Jose F. Advincuta of Capiz, and the apostolic vicar of Brunei, Mons. Cornelius Sim, were created cardinals, connecting with the Vatican Basilica.

Vatican St. Peter‘s Basilica

Pope Francis, 83

Cardinals in Vatican

Vatican Basilica

The ongoing health emergency has revolutionized the celebrations of the ordinary public consistory by imposing a very limited participation and some changes even to the strict Vatican protocol. Pope Francis has chosen many cardinals from the „peripheries“ of the Catholic world to highlight the universal role of the Church. At the moment the majority of cardinals in the College which will elect the next Pope have been elevated to the rank by Pope Francis. This means that the next Pontiff will likely continue on the path taken by Pope Francis.