Vatican City, 14 February 2015 (VIS) –
At 11 a.m. today in the Vatican Basilica, Pope Francis celebrated an
Ordinary Public Consistory during which he created twenty new
cardinals, to whom he imposed the biretta, consigned the ring and
assigned the title or diaconate church.
The celebration was also attended by
Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, whom Pope Francis embraced upon entering
the basilica. He was also greeted by Cardinal Dominique Mamberti,
prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura who, as
first among the new cardinals, addressed some words of thanks to the
Holy Father on behalf of all. “Becoming part of the College of
Cardinals places us in a particular way in the history and life of
the Church of Rome that – according to St. Ignatius of Antioch's
beautiful phrase – presides in charity. We are invited to come out
of ourselves, of our habits and comforts, in order to serve the
mission of this Church, aware that this implies having a broader
horizon”. Cardinal Jose de Jesus Pimiento was unable to attend on
account of his advanced age, and so he will receive the biretta in
Colombia.
In the homily he pronounced before the
new cardinals, the Pope chose as a guide the hymn to charity from St.
Paul's first Letter to the Corinthians, and emphasised that charity
must always preside over their ministry.
“The cardinalate is certainly an
honour, but it is not honorific”, he began. “This we already know
from its name – 'cardinal' – from the word 'cardo', a hinge. As
such it is not a kind of accessory, a decoration, like an honorary
title. Rather, it is a pivot, a point of support and movement
essential for the life of the community. You are 'hinges' and are
'incardinated' in the Church of Rome, which 'presides over the entire
assembly of charity'”.
In the Church, “all 'presiding' flows
from charity, must be exercised in charity, and is ordered towards
charity. Here too the Church of Rome exercises an exemplary role.
Just as she presides in charity, so too each particular Church is
called, within its own sphere, to preside in charity. For this
reason, I believe that the 'hymn to charity' in St. Paul’s first
letter to the Corinthians can be taken as a guiding theme for this
celebration and for your ministry, especially for those of you who
today enter the College of Cardinals. All of us, myself first and
each of you with me, would do well to let ourselves be guided by the
inspired words of the apostle Paul, especially in the passage where
he lists the marks of charity. May our Mother Mary help us to listen.
She gave the world Jesus, charity incarnate, who is 'the more
excellent Way'; may she help us to receive this Word and always to
advance on this Way. May she assist us by her humility and maternal
tenderness, because charity, as God’s gift, grows wherever humility
and tenderness are found.
“St. Paul tells us that charity is,
above all, 'patient' and 'kind'”, remarked the Holy Father. “The
greater our responsibility in serving the Church, the more our hearts
must expand according to the measure of the heart of Christ.
'Patience' – 'forbearance' – is in some sense synonymous with
catholicity. It means being able to love without limits, but also to
be faithful in particular situations and with practical gestures. It
means loving what is great without neglecting what is small; loving
the little things within the horizon of the great things, since 'non
coerceri a maximo, contineri tamen a minimo divinum est'. To know how
to love through acts of kindness. 'Kindness' – benevolence –
means the firm and persevering intention to always will the good of
others, even those unfriendly to us.
“The Apostle goes on to say that
charity 'is not jealous or boastful, it is not puffed up with pride'.
This is surely a miracle of love, since we humans – all of us, at
every stage of our lives – are inclined to jealousy and pride,
since our nature is wounded by sin. Nor are Church dignitaries immune
from this temptation. But for this very reason, dear brothers, the
divine power of love, which transforms hearts, can be all the more
evident in us, so that it is no longer you who live, but rather
Christ who lives in you. And Jesus is love to the fullest.
“St. Paul then tells us that charity
'is not arrogant or rude, it does not insist on its own way'”,
continued Pope Francis. “These two characteristics show that those
who abide in charity are not self-centred. The self-centred
inevitably become disrespectful; very often they do not even notice
this, since 'respect' is precisely the ability to acknowledge others,
to acknowledge their dignity, their condition, their needs. The
self-centred person inevitably seeks his own interests; he thinks
this is normal, even necessary. Those 'interests' can even be cloaked
in noble appearances, but underlying them all is always
'self-interest'. Charity, however, makes us draw back from the centre
in order to set ourselves in the real centre, which is Christ alone.
Then, and only then, can we be persons who are respectful and
attentive to the good of others.
“Charity, Saint Paul says, 'is not
irritable, it is not resentful'. Pastors close to their people have
plenty of opportunities to be irritable, to feel anger. Perhaps we
risk being all the more irritable in relationships with our
confreres, since in effect we have less excuses. Even here, charity,
and charity alone, frees us. It frees us from the risk of reacting
impulsively, of saying or doing the wrong thing; above all it frees
us from the mortal danger of pent-up anger, of that smouldering anger
which makes us brood over wrongs we have received. No. This is
unacceptable in a man of the Church. Even if a momentary outburst is
forgiveable, this is not the case with rancour. God save us from
that!
“Charity – St. Paul adds – 'does
not rejoice at the wrong, but rejoices in the right'. Those called to
the service of governance in the Church need to have a strong sense
of justice, so that any form of injustice becomes unacceptable, even
those which might bring gain to himself or to the Church. At the same
time, he must 'rejoice in the right'. What a beautiful phrase! The
man of God is someone captivated by truth, one who encounters it
fully in the word and flesh of Jesus Christ, the inexhaustible source
of our joy. May the people of God always see in us a firm
condemnation of injustice and joyful service to the truth”.
Finally, the Pope concluded, “'love
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all
things'. Here, in four words, is a spiritual and pastoral programme
of life. The love of Christ, poured into our hearts by the Holy
Spirit, enables us to live like this, to be like this: as persons
always ready to forgive; always ready to trust, because we are full
of faith in God; always ready to inspire hope, because we ourselves
are full of hope in God; persons ready to bear patiently every
situation and each of our brothers and sisters, in union with Christ,
who bore with love the burden of our sins.
“Dear brothers, this comes to us not
from ourselves, but from God. God is love and he accomplishes all
this in us if only we prove docile to the working of his Holy Spirit.
This, then, is how we are to be: 'incardinated' and docile. The more
we are 'incardinated' in the Church of Rome, the more we should
become docile to the Spirit, so that charity can give form and
meaning to all that we are and all that we do. Incardinated in the
Church which presides in charity, docile to the Holy Spirit who pours
into our hearts the love of God. Amen”.
Following his allocution, the Pope
pronounced the formula for the creation of the new cardinals, their
name and the titular diaconate or church assigned to them. The new
cardinals recited the Creed and their oath of fidelity and obedience
to the Holy Father and his successors. They subsequently received the
biretta and the ring from the Pope, who also assigned them their
title or diaconate.
At the end of the rite, Cardinal Angelo
Amato S.D.B., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints,
addressed the Holy Father to request that three Blesseds be inscribed
in the Book of Saints. The first, Jeanne-Emilie de Villeneuve, was
born in France in 1811, and founded the Congregation of the Sisters
of the Immaculate Conception of Castres for the education of poor
girls and young women, for the sick, and for missions in distant
lands. She died in 1854 and was beatified by Benedict XVI in 2009.
The second, Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas (nee Maryam Sultanah) was
born in Jerusalem in 1843 and carried out an intense apostolate in
favour of Christian mothers and the young. Co-foundress of the
Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Rosary of Jerusalem of the
Latins, she died in 1927 and was beatified by Benedict XVI in 2009.
Finally, Mary of Jesus Crucified (nee Maryam Baouardy), born in
Abellin near Nazareth in 1946, was a professed nun of the Order of
Discalced Carmelites, and was sent to found the new Carmelites first
in India and later in Bethlehem, where she died in 1878. She was
beatified by St. John Paul II in 1983.
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