Archbishop Oswald Gracias of Bombay among 23 new cardinals created by Pope
(Nov. 24, 2007) At an imposing ceremony in Rome’s St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday
Pope Benedict XVI created 23 new cardinals, two of them Asians, urging them to closely
unite themselves with the Successor of Peter in the service of God, the Church and
neighbour, giving a strong witness to the catholicity and universality of the Church.
Among the new cardinals is Indian Archbishop Oswald Gracias of Bombay; the other Asian
being 80-year-old Patriarch Emmanuel III Delly of Baghdad, Iraq, the head of the Chaldean
rite Catholic Church. Besides them there were two Africans, four Latin Americans,
two North Americans and 13 Europeans. At the solemn ceremony, called the ordinary
public consistory for the creation of new cardinals, the Pope conferred upon each
the cardinal’s red hat and assigned them a church or diaconate in Rome. The ceremony
in the form of a prayer service began with the Pope reading the name of each of the
23 new cardinals, after which Archbishop Leonardo Comastri addressed the Pope on behalf
of his fellow new cardinals. He particularly thanked the Holy Father for his thoughtfulness
towards the suffering Church of Iraq by conferring the cardinalate on Patriarch Emmanuel
III Delly of Baghdad. In his homily, the Pope said that the ceremony in St. Peter’s
Basilica, the heart of the Christian world, was an eloquent sign of Catholic unity,
which brought into relief the value of the duty of the new cardinals who are called
to carry out their duty in close cooperation with the Successor of St. Peter, the
first Pope. The Pope recalled that the cardinals’ duty to be the closest advisors
and collaborators of the Pontiff goes back to an ancient tradition reminiscent of
the presbytery of the Bishop of Rome. Besides carrying out their pastoral and liturgical
commitments in their particular churches, the pastors of Rome never fell short in
their precious collaboration with the Pope in his universal apostolic ministry.
However, the Pope noted, that times have changed and today the great family of the
disciples of Christ is spread in every continent and the remotest corners of the earth,
and the Church speaks practically every language of the world and includes every culture.
The geographical as well as cultural diversity, the Pope pointed out, highlights this
providential growth as well as the changed pastoral needs of the Church that call
for the attention of the Pope. This universality and catholicity of the Church,
the Pope said, is well reflected in the composition of the College of Cardinals.
He expressed his sincere appreciation for the new cardinals’ hard work and sacrifice
in the pastoral care of souls and the generosity with which they carry out their daily
apostolic activities. And now they are called to an even greater responsibility
to be in close communion with the Bishop of Rome. Pope Benedict XVI remembered
the particular churches of the new cardinals, especially those that are severely tried
by various forms of suffering, challenges and difficulties. In a special way, the
Holy Father regarded the Christian communities of Iraq with particular appreciation
and affection. These our brothers and sisters in faith, the Pope said, feel in
their flesh the dramatic consequences of a prolonged conflict and are going through
in a ever fragile and delicate political phase. The Pope said that by inducting Patriarch
Emmanuel II Delly of Baghdad into the college of cardinals he wished to express in
a concrete way his spiritual closeness and affection for the people of Iraq. He reaffirmed
to them the solidarity of the entire Church and invited all to invoke from the merciful
God the longed-for reconciliation and peace for all the peoples involved in the conflict.
Pope Benedict urged all the cardinals in the service of love: love for God, love
for his Church, love for the brothers and sisters with the highest unconditional dedication
even to the point of shedding blood, which the formula of the conferring of the cardinal’s
hat as well as the red colour of their dress recall. After the homily, the new
cardinals recited the Creed and swore their fidelity and obedience to the Pope.
One by one as the new cardinals came up to the altar and knelt before the Holy Father,
the crowd applauded. Pronouncing the Latin formula the Pope bestowed the red hat
on them assigning each a title or a diaconate of a Church of Rome. Indian Cardinal
Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay was also heartily applauded, as he came up to
the Pope. He was assigned the Church of St. Paul of the Cross in Rome’s Corviale
quarter. But the longest and loudest applause was reserved for Card. Emmanuel
III Delly of Baghdad who received a traditional round hat typical of the Chaldean
Church. Patriarchs and heads of eastern Churches are not assigned a Church in Rome.
With Saturday’s consistory, the number of cardinals worldwide now stands at 201,
of whom 120 are below the age of 80 and hence are eligible to vote for a new Pope.
Asia now has 21 cardinals, 6 of them from India alone. They are Cardinal Ivan Dias,
Prefect of the Vatican’s congregation for the Evangelization of peoples, Cardinal
Telesphore Toppo Archbishop of Ranchi, retired Cardinal Simon Lourdusamy, resident
in Rome, cardinal Simon Pimenta former archbishop of Bombay, Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil,
major archbishop of the Syro-Malabar rite Catholic church, and now Cardinal Oswald
Gracias. Of these only Cardinals Toppo, Dias and Gracias are eligible to vote for
a new pope. This is the second batch of new cardinals created by Pope Benedict, the
first time being on March 24, 2006, when he created 15 new cardinals. On Sunday,
the feast of the Christ the King, Pope Benedict will concelebrate a Mass in St. Peter’s
Basilica with the new cardinals during which he will present each of them a ring,
sealing their special bond with the Successor of Peter.