Rest of the World, 72 Europe, 53. And these numbers speak volumes about the pope

Photo credits: António Marujo, Público

In this case, some figures translate important facts: from this Thursday, there will be 72 cardinals from the rest of the world, in the composition of the college which, in a possible conclave, will decide the election of A future pope. The cardinal group of the Catholic Church is becoming more universal and Europe alone "has only 53" (including 22 Italians, the most important country).

The cardinal electors of a new pope will become 125 minus until January of next year, if no one dies until then, because at that time one of the cardinal voters of a new pope will become 125 less until January of next year, They finish 80 years, ceasing to be an elector in a conclave). The constitution which regulates the matter establishes a maximum of 120, but since John Paul II this ceiling has always been exceeded, at the time of the appointment of new cardinals.

To compare, in the consistory in which the previous patriarch of Lisbon was made cardinal, in 2001, there were still 65 cardinals in Europe (and the Italians were 24 years old). At that time there were 13 African (now 16), 27 Latin American (now 17) and 13 Asian (now 17) Cardinals.

Another of the important numbers is that among the cardinal electors, those who have been appointed by Francis became the majority today: 48, versus 47 chosen by Benedict XVI, and 19 still nominated before 2005 by John Paul II.

Of course, not all those who are chosen by a Pope are of their line or follow their guidelines: there are nominations (especially with the predecessors of Francisco) that are made for historical or traditional reasons, for The importance of a certain city and diocese … The case of Lisbon helps to understand this: traditionally, that the diocese of Lisbon has become known as patriarchy (a more important degree in the hierarchy of places), l & # 39; Bishop of Lisbon is named Cardinal.

With Francisco, this type of reason – historical, traditional, importance of cities – is pbaded to be secondary education. The current bishop of Paris, for example, appointed at the end of the year 2017, is not yet cardinal

The group of closest

The Current pope, it is evident in the figures that shape their choices, prefers universality to historical weight.

Some choices made by the group of 14 new cardinals who, on Thursday afternoon, will receive the respective insignia – and where is included D. António Marto, bishop of Leiria-Fátima, indicate the priorities of Francisco , choosing the group of his closest collaborators.

This is the case of Louis Sako, Patriarch of the Chaldeans in Iraq, or Joseph Couts, Archbishop of Karachi (Pakistan), who bring to the College of Cardinals the reality of Christian minorities

There are also the case of the choices made by Pedro Barreto, archbishop of Huancayo (Peru) and vice-president of the Pan-Amazon Ecclesial Network. The pope has convened a synod of bishops on the Amazon, and this choice only confirms the idea that Francis gives indigenous peoples a prominent role that the church and the organization politics of various countries have denied.

The Archbishop of Toamasina (Madagascar) and Archbishop Tomas Aquinas Manyo Maeda, Archbishop of Osaka (Japan), add to the list two other names of realities which, without being at the center of Catholicism, are more and more the translation of its universality – it is in Africa and Asia that Catholicism develops the most and, with such appointments, the Pope only expresses this greater universality and its expansion to the South and East.

Franciscan

Another important geography for the Pope is that which brings the most deprived realities to the decisive center of Catholicism: in the case of the new cardinals this afternoon, with the choices of the Polish poet Konrad Krajewski, the apostolic crusader – that is, the one who, in the name of the Pope, takes charge of the support of the poor, the beggars, the homeless … This is Krajewski who organizes the shower service (19659007) Also the choice of Giuseppe Petrocchi, Archbishop of L & # 39; Aquila (Italy), is the most important of all, translates this same Franciscan concern; This is not the issue of strict poverty, in the first place, it is the culmination given to a population that was very affected by the severe earthquake of 2009 and which in many cases , continues to wait for the support of the Italian administration

The composition of the consistory reflects at every moment concrete choices of the Pope who is in the exercise of power. Today 's one also reflects Francisco' s choices for the composition of his closest council. The pope defends a decentralization of the Catholic Church and the greater universalisation of the College of Cardinals seems to respond to this option.

There is, however, another important factor: in choosing the names of those who become cardinals, a pope also determines the group from which, in principle, his successor will depart. In the last pontificates, at least since the second half of the twentieth century, choices have not always resulted in the most obvious election, in an oscillating movement of continuity and discontinuity

* Originally published in Público.pt