(February 18, 2012) Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday created 22 New Cardinals from around
the world at a solemn Consistory in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Among the new princes
of the Church is Major Archbishop George Alencherry of Ernakulam-Angamaly of India.
During the consistory, meaning the gathering of Cardinals with the Pope for a specific
purpose, created the new cardinals and gave each the cardinal's biretta and the ring
and assigned a titular church. In his homily the Pontiff urged the Cardinals to be
united with new and stronger bonds not only to the Roman Pontiff but also to the entire
community of the faithful spread throughout the world. Reflecting on the meaning
of authority in the context of the Gospel of Mark, the Pope said that Jesus offered
the disciples himself as the model of service and self-giving, when the sons of Zebedee
James and John looked for glory. He said that dominion and service, egoism and altruism,
possession and gift, self-interest and gratuitousness: these profoundly contrasting
approaches confront each other in every age and place. Jesus chose the practical
path indicating to the disciples that the Son of man came not to be served but to
serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. With the placing of the red biretta
the new Cardinals are entrusted with the service of love: love for God, love for his
Church, an absolute and unconditional love for his brothers and sisters, even unto
shedding their blood. Furthermore, the Cardinals are to serve the Church with love
and vigour, with the transparency and wisdom of teachers, with the energy and strength
of shepherds, with the fidelity and courage of martyrs. Pope Benedict hoped that
Christ’s total gift of self on the Cross be for them the foundation, stimulus and
strength of a faith operative in charity. Their mission in the Church and the world
always be “in Christ” alone, responding to his logic and not that of the world, and
may it be illumined by faith and animated by charity which comes to us from the glorious
Cross of the Lord. With the creation of 22 new cardinals on Feb. 18, the number
of cardinals worldwide now stands at 213, of whom 125 being under the age of 80, are
eligible to vote in an eventual conclave for the election of a new Pope. Eighty-eight
cardinals are above the age of 80 and hence are not eligible to vote in a conclave.
Benedict XVI has created 84 cardinals so far in the four consistories since being
elected Pontiff in 2005. The current members of the College of Cardinals come from
seventy-one states, distributed as follows: Europe 119, North America (U.S.A. and
Canada) 21, Latin America 32, Africa 17, Asia 20 and Oceania 4.