THE CHURCH CELEBRATES 20 NEW CARDINALS

THE CHURCH CELEBRATES 20 NEW CARDINALS

At Saturday’s consistory for the creation of cardinals, Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, spoke on behalf of the newly-created Princes of the Church, Cardinals, and expressed gratitude, loyalty and generosity of spirit in service to the Church. (JFL photo)

(via CTV – in case you missed it!)

He said, in part: “In the letter your Holiness sent us the day you announced your decision to call us to the College of Cardinals, you reminded us first and foremost that we have been called to a new service which is that of ‘assisting, sustaining and being close to the person of the Pope, and for the good of the Church’. We are grateful for having chosen us from all over the world to share your ministry is a special way, recalling that every ecclesial vocation is, above all, one of service to our brothers and sisters and to the Church.

Cardinal Mamberti added: “Becoming part of the College of Cardinals places us in a special way in the life and history of the Church of Rome which, in the lovely expression of St Ignatius of Antioch, presides in love. But we are invited to move beyond ourselves, our habits and comfort zones, in order to serve the mission of this Church, aware that this means having broader horizons. The whole world is truly present here as the new Cardinals are expressions of all the continents. Belonging to the Church of Rome means serving the communion of the universal Church. This communion is constantly nourished by the love of Christ – that obliges us to live no longer for ourselves but for Him who dies and rose again for us – and is fertilized by the blood of many martyrs who gave their lives here. May their example and their intercession give us the strength and the courage necessary to be witnesses of the Risen Lord until the ends of the earth and to bend over the wounds and sores of humanity today, bringing His mercy.”