Pope appoints 21 new cardinals: a way to the uniform church!

Pope appoints 21 new cardinals: a way to the uniform church!

On December 7, 2024, the St. Peter's Basilica experienced an important event when Pope Francis appointed 21 new cardinals as part of a solemn consistory. The event was remarkable in the history of the Catholic Church, since the Cardinal College now has 253 members, including 140 cardinals entitled to vote, which are younger than 80 years old. This represents a significant change, since by the end of 2025 some cardinals, including the Viennese cardinal Christoph Schönborn, will leave the group entitled to vote. The oldest newcomer, the 99-year-old Angelo Acerbi, is no longer entitled to choose a new Pope.

Cardinals from all over the world

The new cardinals come from different regions, including Europe, Africa and Australia. Particularly noteworthy is the Belgrade Archbishop Nemet, who lived in Austria and is an expert for intercultural dialogue. In the ceremony, the Pope presented symbolic objects such as the Red Birett and the cardinal ring to the cardinals, while asking them to act as a "master builder of unity", as in the reports of Vatican News documented. Francis warned the new cardinals, the fame and power not to put the service to God and changed the cohesion of the Church as the central theme of his speech.

The ceremonial consistory was also a memory of the basic values ​​of the Catholic Church: the joy of encounter and concern for the weakest. In his sermon, the Pope said that every cardinal should maintain the passion of encounter with people and to overcome the walls of the division in the community. This call to unity and combating enmity is of crucial importance for the future orientation of the church and shapes the new composition of the Cardinal College, as well as from Vienna.at reported.