Personally I am doubly delighted that Hong Kong, my native city, will receive its first native-born cardinal and the much deserved Thomas Collins in my current home town will also receive a red biretta. The inclusion of Timothy Dolan of the "capital of the world" (I personally followed his elevation from national seminary rector to bishop to archbishop to USCCB president and now to cardinal) and Prague's Dominik Duka in Benedikt's List also broke the rule of only one voting cardinal per see, although their predecessor will reach the age of 80 shortly. From quick Google searches, I can see the phenomenal contributions by the 3 scholars over the age of 80 named to the College of Cardinals.
Out of my 15 predictions made earlier in the day, 12 are to be elevated into the cardinalate. Toledo, Tokyo and Antananarivo will need to wait. I suppose 80% accuracy is not too bad for me!
Here are some statistics of the College of Cardinals after the consistory on February 18:
Electors (under 80 of age)
|
All
| |
|---|---|---|
| Europe | 67 (19 countries) | 119 (23 countries) |
| North America | 19 (3 countries) | 26 (3 countries) |
| Central America | 4 (4 countries) | 6 (6 countries) |
| South America | 14 (8 countries) | 22 (8 countries) |
| Asia | 9 (6 countries) | 20 (12 countries) |
| Oceania | 1 (1 country) | 4 (2 countries) |
| Africa | 11 (10 countries) | 17 (16 countries) |
| Total | 125 (51 countries) | 214 (70 countries) |
Pray and give thanks to God for the new Princes of the Church.
