Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Catholic News

Home

Home
Catholic
Religion News
Pope Francis’ call to new cardinals: be captivated by truth

Pope Francis’ call to new cardinals: be captivated by truth

Last updated on: February 14, 2015 at 4:20 pm by CNA Daily News

Pope Francis’ call to new cardinals: be captivated by truth 2015-02-14T16:20:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Vatican City, Feb 14, 2015 / 09:20 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis welcomed the Catholic Church’s newest cardinals on Saturday, encouraging them to center themselves in Jesus Christ as they lead the faithful in patience, justice, and docility to the Holy Spirit.

“The man of God is someone captivated by truth, one who encounters it fully in the word and flesh of Jesus Christ, the inexhaustible source of our joy,” the Pope said in Saint Peter’s Basilica at a ceremony creating the 20 newest members of the College of Cardinals.

The Pope stressed the importance of charity, noting that “those who abide in charity are not self-centered” and concerned with their own interests. Rather, charity draws us away from self-centeredness “in order to set ourselves in the real center, which is Christ alone,” whereby we can “be persons who are respectful and attentive to the good of others.”

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who personally knows many of those being received into the college, attended the consistory. Many family members of the new cardinals were in attendance.

Pope Francis described the cardinalate as an “honor,” but one which “is not honorific.” The word “cardinal” originates from the Latin word for hinge, “cardo,” and the Pope’s remarks played on this origin.

The Pope, quoting Lumen Gentium, said to the cardinals: “You are ‘hinges’ and are ‘incardinated’ in the Church of Rome, which ‘presides over the entire assembly of charity’.”

Three of the newest members to the college of cardinals hail from countries which have never before been represented by a cardinal: Archbishop Charles Bo of Yangon (Burma); Bishop Soane Mafi of Tonga; and Bishop Arlindo Gomes Furtado of Santiago de Cabo Verde.

Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, recently-appointed prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, also received his red hat on Saturday. Speaking near the beginning of the ceremony on behalf of all the new cardinals, he expressed “gratitude” to Pope Francis, assuring him of their “loyal and sincere collaboration” in support of his mission of guiding the Church, according to Vatican Radio's translation.

Out of the new cardinals, 15 are currently eligible to vote in the next papal election. Newly-created Cardinal José de Jesús Pimiento Rodriguez of Colombia, 96, was unable to attend, citing age.

The Pope’s address to the cardinals drew its guiding theme from the reading from Saint Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. The Pope stressed the importance of presiding over the Church “in charity.”

Pope Francis began by invoking the Virgin Mary’s intercession to “help us to listen” to God’s word and “assist us by her humility and maternal tenderness, because charity, as God’s gift, grows wherever humility and tenderness are found.”

Taking the congregation step-by-step through St. Paul’s “hymn to charity,” the Pope explained that patience “is in some sense synonymous with catholicity.” This means “to love without limits,” he said, including that which “is great without neglecting what is small,” and knowing “how to love through acts of kindness,” including “those unfriendly to us.”

Reflecting on St. Paul's words that charity “is not jealous or boastful,” nor “puffed up with pride,” Pope Francis observed that persons at “every stage” of life are susceptible to this temptation, including “Church dignitaries.” However, it is for this reason that “the divine power of love, which transforms hearts, can be all the more evident in us, so that it is no longer you who live, but rather Christ who lives in you.”

The Holy Father said charity is neither “irritable” nor “resentful,” but rather “frees us from the risk of reacting impulsively,” as well as “from the mortal danger of pent-up anger, of that smoldering anger which makes us brood over wrongs we have received.” Such sentiment “is unacceptable in a man of the Church.”

Charity, moreover, “does not rejoice at the wrong, but rejoices in the right.” Pope Francis stressed the importance of “a strong sense of justice” on the those in Church governance, who must also “rejoice in the right.”

Finally, St. Paul’s description of love as that which “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” offers “a spiritual and pastoral program of life,” the Pope said.

Playing once again on the word “cardinal,” Pope Francis concluded by saying that “the more we are “incardinated” in the Church of Rome, the more we should become docile to the Spirit, so that charity can give form and meaning to all that we are and all that we do.”

After the close of the consistory, Pope Francis announced the canonizations of three new saints: Maria of the Crucified Jesus, a professed religious of the discalced Carmelites; Maria Alfonsina Danil Ghattas, founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Rosary; and Giovanna Emilia de Villeneuve, the French founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception.

The three will be canonized on May 13.

Vatican

Previous Post

February 14, 2015

Marriage is what brings us together today, bishop says

Next Post

February 14, 2015 Archbishop Chaput applauds Penn. governor for halt to death penalty

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which epistle focuses on joy and is addressed to believers in Macedonia?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Philippians Colossians Ephesians Galatians