Whenever I'm in Rome, I would visit (and revisit) many churches. Among my favourites are the cardinal titular churches. So far I have visited 136 of them.
With a break from the General Congregations, on Sunday most cardinal-electors celebrated a mass in their titular churches. I travelled to the suburb of Sant'Onofrio, to the Church of Nostra Signora di Guadalupe a Monte Mario, of which Cadinal Timothy Dolan is the titular priest. In 2012 when he was created cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI, he was assigned this title because of the connection of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, to the United States.
The coat-of-arms of Cardinal Dolan hangs at the portal of the church.
As I arrived, I saw hundreds of people outside of the church (who apparently could not go inside the packed building). 40 reporters surrounded the entrance to the church property.
The church itself is very humble, simpler than most other titular churches in Rome. It can hold no more than 300 people (although probably a thousand people were packed in the church on this event), and lacks any sort of decorations within and without. It has a sizable Spanish congregation that is struggling with the Italian language (which I found out when I attended the next Mass).
The church is quite plain, and the only noteworthy "art" is the Jesus figure on top of the baptismal font, which I don't quite get.
Cardinal Dolan presided in the Laudate Sunday with the distinct rose vestments, and managed to make the Italian congregation laugh during the homily. When the Mass had ended, reporters were expecting the cardinal would exit from the front and address them. Instead he was led to the parish rectory next to the church through a passage from the sacristy. I saw him and quickly decided to go to a soccer field next to the back of the rectory, and occupied the spot closest to the entrance of the rectory. Later I overheard that the cardinal decided to address the reporters. Arrangements were made to lead the reporters to the backyard of the rectory.
To my joy, the spot where His Eminence would stand was just 2 metres away from me, although we were separated by a fence. All reporters were asking questions at once, and Dolan had to start with some jokes. He used his usual charm to make the reporters feel comfortable with him. Of the things that he said, the cardinals had started a novena to St. Joseph, to pray for the guidance from the Patron of the Church in the election process. He also joked that he would bring some candy bar into the conclave because he heard the food in the conclave would not be that good. Finally, he said he believed that the conclave would not last very long, and would be in time to travel back to the States for the Passion Sunday.
Following Black Friday, the busiest shopping day in North America, many bishops, pilgrims and reporters will flood the Vatican the next day to take part in a ceremony when redis the colour theme of the day. Symbolizing the blood of the martyrs, the scarlet colour is reserved for the vesture of the highest rank within the Church after the pope, that of the cardinals, otherwise known as princes of the Church.
When Pope Benedict announced on October 24 that he would create six cardinals on November 24, it came as a surprise to all, unlike consistories that took place in the last 20 years when they had always been predicted by Vaticanists. The primary reason why this is possible is the small size of the consistory. The preparatory work for the consistory, including its logistical, liturgical and tailoring aspects, has become much easier when only 6 cardinals are involved.
It has been no secret that Pope Benedict XVI favours more consistories for the creation of cardinals in shorter intervals and in small sizes. Part of the reason is to make the liturgy simpler and shorter. In the recent year, the rite of giving the cardinalatial rings and of canonizing saints have been moved outside of eucharistic liturgy, when in the past they took place after the Liturgy of the Word in a Mass. This is to make a distinction between sacraments and such ecclesial acts in the authentic spirit of liturgical renewal.
The six prelates to be inducted into the College of Cardinals are:
Pope Benedict expressed that he would appoint the American Cardinal-designate James Harvey as the Archpriest of St. Paul Outside the Walls. It remains unknown as to whether he will stay as the Prefect of the Papal Household. He has been the direct superior of the incarcerated ex-butler Paolo Gabriele who caused the Vatileaks scandal. If he leaves the post and becomes solely the Archpriest of San Paolo fuori le mura, which is mostly a ceremonial office for retired cardinals and does not have well-determined responsibilities, it will be an example of promoveatur ut amoveatur.(Update: At Roman noon on November 23, the pope has transferred Archbishop Harvey from the office of Prefect of Papal Household to that of Archpriest of St. Paul.)
No Italians (actually no Europeans) are named this time, due to criticisms that the last consistory created 7 Italian cardinals. In the February consistory, 6 of the new Italian cardinals were heads of various Roman dicasteries and so it should not have been a surprise. Rather, the liberals took an opportune attack on the Italian Cardinal Bertone, whom the pope entrusted with the most "powerful" office of Secretariat of State, who not only deals with states of the world but also coordinates and mediates the work within the Roman Curia. While the Patriarch of Venice, the Archbishop of Turin, and 3 other heads of different curial departments (Paglia, Celli and Fisichella) are expected to receive a red hat among the Italians, they will have to wait.
By November 23, when Cardinal Martino reaches the age of 80, there will remain 114 cardinals under the age of 80. On the next day, the 6 new additions will happily fill up the College of Cardinals with 120 electors, the maximum stipulated by the apostolic constitution Romano Pontifici eligendo in 1975. The total number of cardinals will reach 211.
Here are some interesting facts about this Red Saturday consistory:
(Correction) The only other consistory to create only non-European cardinals was held in 1924.
The last consistory with no Italian cardinals was held in 1927.
The last time there were multiple consistories within the same year was 1929.
The last consistory with 6 or fewer cardinals created was Paul VI's consistory in 1977 of 4 cardinals.
The last consistory with no "honorary cardinals" (prelates who had reached the age of 80 when created cardinal) was in 1998.
Since 1991, before most consistories for the creation of cardinals, the pope has also taken the opportunity to invite all cardinals to discuss certain topics in the context of an extraordinary consistory. Because of an extraordinary and ordinary consistory that were held earlier this year, the pope decides not to hold an extraordinary consistory this time. The last time such has not happened was in 2003 when Pope John Paul II's health was failing.
Like the last consistory in February, the order of cardinals created in this consistory follows the liturgical precedence (except the first cardinal). A curial prelate, Archbishop Harvey, will be the first one to be created and will address the pope on behalf of the new cardinals (and would become the Cardinal Protodeacon in February 2022), followed by a Patriarch, a Major Archbishop, and 3 Archbishops in order of the dates of their episcopal ordination.
When Major Archbishop Thottunkal becomes a cardinal, the Syro-Malankar Church (recently raised to major-archepiscopal rank in 2005) will be the last patriarchal Church that has a member in the College of Cardinals to share the governance of the catholic Church.
Because of the small number of cardinals to be created, the lack of an extraordinary consistory, and the intensive Synod of Bishops in October, I expect that the number of cardinals taking part in this consistory will be a record low in the last 30 years. (Update: From live television, I counted 102 out of 205 cardinals who were present at the creation of the 6 cardinals. The attendance ratio fell just short of half of the total number, as I predicted.) The religious fervour of the faithful will definitely not.
Two months ago before the consistory took place, I posted on this blog about the coat-of-arms of the cardinals-elect. Now it's time to update the coats-of-arms of these prelates since their elevation. I found 17 of them and photoshoped the arms of Francesco Coccopalmerio from his former one. (I also have João Bráz de Aviz's former arms as archbishop of Brasilia, but he would have changed his shield when appointed to the Roman Curia.) If anyone can find the coat-of-arms of the the 4 remaining cardinals (João Bráz de Aviz, Domenico Calcagno, Lucian Mureşan and Julien Ries), please write to me.
Cardinals employ the insignia of a red galero with a cord and 15 red tassels on each side of their shield in their arms. (Read also my summary of the insignia of prelates of other ranks.) The shield identifies the person or the family. It is customarily changed whenever this primary office changes (say from auxiliary to ordinary or from ordinary of a see to another).
A few notes about the coats-of-arms of the other cardinals: Cardinal George Alencherry can use a different design in his arms because of his affiliation in the Eastern rite, although this style is not shared by his predecessors or other Syro-Malabar bishops. Thomas Collins and Timothy Dolan could have included a pallium in their arms because they are archbishops of metropolitan sees, like Dominik Duka, Willem Eijk, Giuseppe Betori and Rainer Woelki. John Tong is the only cardinal with the office of a bishop and so uses a single-bar cross instead of a double-bar archiepiscopal cross. (The design of the Hong Kong bishop's shield regrettably breaks every rule in heraldry, just like his predecessor Cardinal Joseph Zen's. They were ordained bishop on the same occasion prior to Hong Kong's return to China. Their coats-of-arms were probably designed by the same novice.)
While both Prosper Grech and Karl Becker were only priests when the consistory was announced, the former received episcopal consecration while Karl Becker asked for dispensation from episcopal ordination out of humility, and so does not employ a cross on top of his shield. Note also the different shapes of the shields that are used, which are allowed in heraldry.
Everyone should appreciate how beautifully the heraldic artists designed and drew these coats-of-arms. Some of the illustrations were taken from Araldica Vaticana, Marco Foppoli and Giuseppe Quattrociocchi. (I'd be happy to acknowledge other designers if they were missed.) Ecclesiastical heraldry is indeed a great treasure of the Church.
The excitement began when Pope Benedict XVI announced on the Solemnity of the Epiphany the list of 22 cardinals that he would create today. I planned to write several articles on different aspects of the cardinals, but time did not permit me to do so. While anxiously awaiting the live TV/internet coverage of the consistory in a few hours, I can afford to write on an interesting topic.
The order in which the cardinals are created in a consistory is significant and determines their ecclesiastical precedence. Within the Church, regulations governing precedence are historically defined. In formal liturgical celebrations, the precedence determines the celebrant and the order of procession. As an example, when a higher-ranking prelate is present in a Mass in another diocese where the Bishop is the celebrant, he does not concelebrate, which would be liturgically incorrect, but rather presides or participates in choir.
Within the College of Cardinals, the Cardinal-Bishops are accorded the highest precedence, followed by the Cardinal-Priests and then Cardinal-Deacons. When promoted to Cardinals, residential Bishops become Cardinal-Priests, while others are made Cardinal-Deacons (see the Cardinals created by John Paul II and by Benedict XVI). Within the Order of Cardinal-Priests (or Cardinal-Deacons), the cardinals who were elevated in an earlier consistory precede the ones in later consistories. Within the same consistory, the precedence is governed by the order in which the cardinals were created in that consistory. This is precisely what I want to comment on regarding the consistory of 2012. See the full list of precedence.
Only since 1994, it has been the custom for (1) bishops serving in the Roman Curia to appear first in the biglietto, followed by (2) local Pastors, and then (3) those who are over 80 of age or older. Within each category, the Latin-rite Patriarchs and Archbishops go first, followed by Bishops. (The order of Eastern-Rite Patriarchs is in effect irrelevant, as they become Cardinal Bishops and outrank the rest.) This is more or less the order in which cardinals are created. But more interestingly, it is only in this year's consistory that the precise order in the list is most logical.
Except for Cardinal-designate Filoni, for the first time, the order in the 3 categories follows exactly the ecclesiastical precedence of the prelates at the time of announcement. In Category 1, except for Filoni, the order is determined by the date of episcopal consecration. In Category 2, the Syro-Malabar Major Archbishop is first, followed by the Archbishops in order of their dates of episcopal ordination, followed by the Bishop of Hong Kong. In Category 3, the Romanian Major Archbishop goes first, followed by Monsignor Julien Ries (Prelate of Honour), Father Prosper Grech (ordained in 1950) and lastly Father Karl Becker (ordained in 1958). This orderly sequence, which is predictable and does not exhibit favouritism, is indeed desirable.
In each consistory, the first Cardinal to be created is given the responsibility of addressing the Pope. The choice of Fernando Filoni as the first Cardinal and deviation in the order is not surprising. Informally known as the "red pope", the President of the Congregation of the Evangelization of Peoples is often reckoned to hold the fourth most important position in the Roman Curia (after the Secretary of State, the President of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, and the President of the Congregation of Bishops), responsible for selecting bishops in missionary dioceses (i.e. half of the world). Fernando Filoni also enjoys the trust of Pope Benedict, having acted as Apostolic Nuncio to many countries and the informal delegate to China and served as the #3-official in the Secretariat of State.
In due time (in November 2020 to be exact), when the 2010 class of Cardinals opt for the class of Cardinal-Priests, he will become the Cardinal Protodeacon, the Cardinal-Deacon who holds the highest precedence. By Canon 355, this senior Cardinal-Deacon will have the privilege to announce "Habemus Papam" and the name of the new pope to the world following a papal election. The Protodeacon will also have the power to confer the pallium on metropolitan archbishops or to their proxies. His office of course will not last long, for in February 2022, he too will be promoted to the presbyteral order. If a papal conclave happens during this short 15-month window, Filoni will be announcing the name of Benedict XVIII or Pius XIII or Paul VIII from St. Peter's balcony just like Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estévez announced about the Ratzingerian papacy:
It seems that it is only since the pontificate of Benedict XVI that Cardinal-Deacons have restored the practice of wearing dalmatics when assisting the Pope (but not concelebrating). The dalmatic is the proper liturgical vestment of deacons, a sign of service, dedication to the Gospel and to others. Bishops are required to wear the dalmatic underneath their chasuble in pontifical Masses. (How many bishops follow this rule?) If Cardinal-Deacons are concelebrating, they should wear the chasuble instead, the vestment proper to priests.
It is a venerable tradition in the Roman Catholic Church for bishops (and even priests and deacons) to adopt a coat-of-arms. The pattern in the shield is chosen personally by the prelate, while the elements around the shield indicate the prelate's rank and possibly even the office, as determined by rules of ecclesiastical heraldry. Ordained ministers have a right to an ecclesiastical hat or galero, and tassels are hung from the galero on the two sides of the shield. In recent centuries, it is also customary to add a motto below the shield. (Eastern-rite prelates may use a different design such as a mantle below the shield.)
As a summary, the number of tassels on each side of the shield tells the rank of the prelate: 0 for Deacons, 1 for Priests, 2 for Vicars Forane and Vicars Episcopal, 3 for Canons, 6 for Monsignors, Abbots and Bishops, 10 for Archbishops, 12 for Major Archbishops, 15 for Primates, Patriarchs and Cardinals. The colour of the galero usually matches that of tassels: black for Priests and Abbots, violet for Prelates of Honour, green for Bishops, Archbishops and Patriarchs, and red for Cardinals (except for Protonotaries Apostolic who use violet galero and red tassels, and Chaplains of His Holiness who use a black galero and violet tassels). A Bishop uses a golden cross above the shield; an Archbishop uses a golden archiepiscopal cross (two-barred cross); and Abbots uses a crozier. Archbishops who are Metropolitans can use a pallium in the arms.
When the prelates change their office and rank, they adjust their coat-of-arms accordingly. For the 22 prelates to be elevated Cardinals, they may simply change the colour of the galero, cords and tassels to red and the number of tassels becomes 15 on five rows on each side of the shield, while usually leaving the shield unchanged. Below are the existing coat-of-arms of half of the 22 Cardinals-designate.
Note that Versaldi's coat-of-arms was that of his former office as Bishop of Alessandria, and Fr. Grech's coat-of-arms will be used only from his episcopal consecration on February 8 until February 18 when he is created cardinal.
These 11 prelates choose the following mottoes (the mottoes of the others can be seen here):
Fernando Filoni: Lumen gentium Christus (Christ is the light of the world)
Joseph Cardinal Zen, Bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, turned eighty yesterday. During his episcopacy, he brought the prestige of the Catholic Church to a new height in the cosmopolitan city, where only 5% of its citizens belong to the faith but many of the best schools and charitable institutions are run by the Catholic Church thanks to the work by missionaries since the Great Britain began to rule Hong Kong in 1842.
With his experience as provincial superior of the Salesians and later Dean of Philosophy of the diocesan seminary, Father Zen followed Don Bosco's dream of serving in Mainland China. For seven years he served as guest professor in the major seminaries of Shanghai, Wuhan, Xi'an, Shijiazhuang, Beijing and Shenyang. Just before Hong Kong was to be handed over to Chinese rule, he was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of the world's gateway city to China in 1996. Six years later he succeeded John Baptist Cardinal Wu as Ordinary of Hong Kong. Pope Benedict XVI made him the sixth Chinese Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church in 2006, a news that went on the front page of many local newspapers.
Since becoming bishop, Zen has been outspoken against social injustice and against the Chinese regime, when the Communist government exerted increasing influence on affairs in Hong Kong. Whereas the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law guarantee "a high degree of autonomy" in this special administrative region in the People's Republic of China, the Communist government interfered in Hong Kong through judicial rulings and penetration of the Hong Kong government by pro-Communist politicians. Publicly participating in peaceful protests or prayer events for the democratization of China every year and bluntly criticizing the Hong Kong government and the Communist Party before reporters time after time, he became known as the "voice of Hong Kong". He brought the Church to record-high popularity when he successfully influenced the defeat of a critical legislative motion. However, later when he strongly advocated for the right of the children of Chinese immigrants to live in Hong Kong (the Basic Law gave them this right and the Final Court of Appeals in Hong Kong ruled in favour, but the Court of China made a surprise overrule), he gradually lost the support of most Hong Kong non-Catholics who are in general antagonistic towards immigrants. Even some priests publicly criticized him for interfering in politics and criticizing China.
However, his biggest concern is always for the Church in China. He always says that his cardinalate was a gift by the Pope to China. It is not a secret that he has been financially supportive of priests and seminarians from either the underground and the open Churches in China. Of particular concern to him has been the quality of bishops consecrated in China, with or without papal mandate. Last year after the illicit consecration of bishops of Jinzhou, Leshan and Shantou, he went to ten cities in the United States and Canada and gave countless interviews, talks and press conferences on the pitiful state of the Catholic Church in China, when he for the first time expressed his criticism of the policy of Propaganda Fide for China under the rule of the just retired Prefect Cardinal Ivan Dias who excessively gave in to China and caused great dismay to bishops loyal to the Holy Father. To his delight, since then, a new Prefect who well understands the Church of China has been appointed and a new Secretary from Hong Kong has been installed in the dicastery, who will no doubt take a hard-line policy for the integrity of apostolic succession in China.
His successor, John Tong, with his soft-spoken nature, does not hold a high profile to the general public of Hong Kong. While some compare him to Cardinal Zen and criticize him of not speaking out enough, Tong is wise and prudent, and the most courteous priest whom I know, embodying the best of the Confucian manner and personally replying to all letters. With his elevation to the College of Cardinals on February 18, Tong will most likely be the second Chinese Cardinal ever to vote in a conclave (after Cardinal Thomas Tien did so in 1968), should the papal see become vacant within the next eight years. While there are rumours that the Diocese of Hong Kong may soon be promoted to Archdiocese (with Macau as suffragan?), this will not affect the rank of Cardinal-designate John Tong other than requiring a tiny change on his coat-of-arms (from the bishop's cross to a metropolitan cross).
Effective today Cardinal Zen lost the right to elect a new pope should His Holiness pass away this day. The 1996 law stipulates that cardinals on their eightieth birthday lose the right to take part in papal election should the Apostolic See become vacant the next day. The extra one day is probably added to account for time-zone difference. As an example, suppose the Cardinal of Toronto celebrates his 80th birthday on November 3, and if the Roman Pontiff dies at 3 a.m. (Italy time) on November 3 (which is 9 p.m., November 2 in Toronto, when the Cardinal was 79 years old), on paper the Cardinal is 80 on that day but he should still have the right of elect the new Pope. (Those who are well versed in canon law, feel free to correct me if necessary.)
Personally I have met and talked with the eminent Prince of the Church in more than ten occasions in Hong Kong, Toronto and Chicago. When he paid a pastoral visit to Chinese parishes in Toronto a few years ago, I was honoured to be his chauffeur for two days! I was struck by his frankness and transparency, and his tireless work for the Church despite his old age. After his retirement from the office of the Bishop of Hong Kong in 2009, he continued to speak out against injustices. Three months ago, with the decision of the Court of Final Appeal rejecting the Church's appeal against the new government's attempt of undermining the Catholic school system, he went on a hunger strike for three days, fasting only on water and Holy Communion. Even though his hearing has worsened in recent years, he will continue to be the voice for the Church in Hong Kong and China.
My last thought before I close on my first long post... To my delight, Hong Kong, with its role as the Bridge Church to China, has unofficially become a "cardinalatial see".
Pope Benedict XVI announced the creation of 22 cardinals in the consistory to be held on February 18. I am honoured to be the first person (according to Twitter) to post the complete list (with hyperlinks) on the web, 2 minutes before the Vatican Bulletin posted its version... thanks to the technology of live TV streaming.
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.
The announcement of the consistory that will be held on 18-19 February is happening later today, a bit sooner than I expected. I'm going to join in the fun of predicting who will be the new Princes of the Church. Here are 14 bishops under the age of 80 and another one above 80 (my prediction):
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