Diario Extra – Firefighters save Pope Francisco after being caught in an elevator

he Pope Francisco explained that he was late for the traditional Sunday prayer of the Angelus, as he had been stuck in a Vatican elevator and had to be rescued by firefighters.

After telling the story of his "rescue", he made a surprise announcement about the creation of new "princes" of the Church, with purple capelo, of which ten are among those who could succeed him as pontiff.

"I have to apologize for being late." I was locked in an elevator for 25 minutes due to a power outage, but the firefighters arrived, "said the pontiff, a senior citizen. 82 years old, smiling.

"A firefighter's applause," he suggested. The crowd at his feet reacts between his applause.

Francisco arrived seven minutes late, sparking the anxiety of Italian TVs broadcasting the Angelus live, warning that there was an almost unprecedented incident.

he dad he seems to have unlimited energy despite his age, and in his youth, most of the lung has been removed, and occasionally a spontaneous grimace reveals the discomfort caused by almost chronic sciatica.

"There was a moment of great concern about what could have happened to him," said Vania De Luca, Vatican expert for Rai News.

– Possible future potatoes –

Francisco was surprised to announce the creation of 13 new cardinals on October 5, ten of whom are under 80, in order to be able to succeed him on the throne of St. Peter, as well as to vote in the secret conclave Will decide when the moment is coming.

These meetings take place as long as the Argentine pontiff wants a cardinal school less European.

The new cardinals come from North and Central America, the Caribbean, Africa, Europe and Asia and declare in this respect: "their origins express the missionary vocation of the Church".

The new "princes" of the Church, who will be designated at a special ceremony, the session, come from countries like Cuba, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Indonesia and Morocco .

In addition to playing a key role, cardinals frequently occupy the highest administrative functions of the Church.

The Archbishop of Bologna, Matteo Zuppi, will be one of the next cardinals. The Vatican consultant to the communications secretariat, James Martin, stressed that he was "a great advocate for LGBT Catholics".

Christopher Lamb, Vatican expert, said that the appointments of the dad "They reflect their priority of building bridges with other religions … and supporting migrants."

Among the new cardinals will be Michael Czerny SJ, Head of the Migration and Refugees Section of the Department of Integral Human Development, and the British Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, expert on Christian-Muslim relations.

– & # 39; Before it is too late & # 39; –

Also the dad He has declared himself "concerned" with ecology, especially the fires that are devastating the Amazon rainforest, "this vital lung for our planet".

"We are concerned about the great fires that are occurring in the Amazon, this forest lung is vital for our planet," said the pontiff to the crowd of faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.

Urging the 1.3 billion Catholics of the world to "pray that, thanks to everyone's commitment, these fires will be extinguished as soon as possible".

Francisco, elected pontiff in March 2013, met in May the indigenous leader Raoni, who had traveled to warn Europe about deforestation in the Amazon.

In his encyclical "Laudato si" (May 2015), a text with a very social tone on the ecology, the dad denounced the exploitation of the Amazon rainforest by "huge international economic interests".

In January 2018, he went to Puerto Maldonado, a Peruvian city surrounded by the Amazon jungle and where thousands of Peruvian, Brazilian and Bolivian Indians converged.

The pontiff has badped "strong pressure from major economic interests that covet monocultures of oil, gas, timber, gold and agro-industry."

In addition, this Sunday, he paid tribute to young climate activists, who have increased pressure on institutions, saying that all eyes will be on the upcoming UN climate action summit. in New York, in the last week of September. .

"May God … give us the courage to work well without waiting for others to start, without waiting until it's too late," he said.