Pope Francis with Bishop Kevin J. Farrell
By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis will conclude the Year of Mercy by creating 17 new cardinals, including three from the United States: Archbishop Blase J. Cupich of Chicago; Bishop Kevin J. Farrell, prefect of the new Vatican office for laity, family and life; and Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin of Indianapolis.
Announcing the names of the new cardinals Oct. 9, Pope Francis said, “Their coming from 11 nations expresses the universality of the church that proclaims and witnesses the good news of God’s mercy in every corner of the earth.”
The new cardinals — 13 of whom are under the age of 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope and four over 80 being honored for their “clear Christian witness” — will be inducted into the College of Cardinals Nov. 19, the eve of the close of the Year of Mercy.
The next day, Nov. 20, they will join Pope Francis and other cardinals in celebrating the feast of Christ the King and closing the Year of Mercy, the pope said.
Bishop Farrell left Dallas on Oct. 6 to take up residence in Rome where he will serve as the new Prefect for the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. He had served as the Bishop of the Diocese of Dallas since March of 2007.
From Rome on Oct. 9, Bishop Farrell said, “I am humbled by the news this morning that our Holy Father Pope Francis has named me to the College of Cardinals. I ask all in the Diocese of Dallas to please pray for me that I may to the best of my ability fulfill this sacred duty to our Church.”
Bishop Greg Kelly, Apostolic Administrator in the Diocese of Dallas, on Oct. 9 announced the news to the priests of the Diocese saying, “It is with great joy that I share the news that Bishop Farrell will be made a cardinal in the next Vatican consistory on Nov. 19, 2016. Please pray for him during this important moment in his priesthood and let us once again thank God for his nine years of service here with us.”
The first of the new cardinals announced by the pope was Archbishop Mario Zenari, who, the pope explained, “will remain apostolic nuncio to the beloved and martyred Syria.”
The last of the cardinals he named was Albanian Father Ernest Simoni, an priest of the Archdiocese of Shkodre-Pult, who will turn 88 Oct. 18. He had moved Pope Francis to tears in 2014 when he spoke about his 30 years in prison or forced labor under Albania’s militant atheistic regime.
Ordained in 1956, he was arrested on Christmas Eve 1963 while celebrating Mass and was sentenced to death by firing squad. He was beaten, placed for three months in solitary confinement, and then tortured because he refused to denounce the church.
He was eventually freed, but later arrested again and sent to a prison camp, where he was forced to work in a mine for 18 years and then 10 more years in sewage canals.
In creating 13 cardinal-electors — those under the age of 80 — Pope Francis will exceed by one the 120 cardinal-elector limit set by Blessed Paul VI. The number of potential electors will return to 120 Nov. 28 when Cardinal Theodore-Adrien Sarr of Dakar, Senegal, celebrates his 80th birthday.
In addition to Cardinals-elect Cupich, Farrell, Tobin, Zenari and Simoni, the other new cardinals announced by Pope Francis Oct. 9 are:
* Dieudonne Nzapalainga of Bangui, Central African Republic.
* Archbishop Carlos Osoro Sierra of Madrid.
* Archbishop Sergio da Rocha of Brasilia, Brazil.
* Archbishop Patrick D’Rozario of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
* Archbishop Baltazar Porras Cardozo of Merida, Venezuela.
* Archbishop Jozef De Kesel of Malines-Brussels, Belgium.
* Archbishop Maurice Piat of Port-Louis, Mauritius.
* Archbishop Carlos Aguiar Retes of Tlalnepantla, Mexico.
* Archbishop John Ribat of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
* Retired Archbishop Anthony Soter Fernandez of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
* Retired Archbishop Renato Corti of Novara, Italy.
* Retired Bishop Sebastian Koto Khoarai of Mohale’s Hoek, Lesotho.
