Of all the new cardinals named by Pope Francis yesterday, the only one I’ve known for years in Archbishop Pizzaballa, and to say I am delighted is an understatement! I very much love the Holy Land and have treasured every trip I have ever made there, especially when meeting Abp. Pizzaballa as the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem (I’ve met former Patriarchs Sabbah and Twal) whom I have interviewed on several occasions.. It is an even greater honor for me as a Dame of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre as the cardinal-elect became the Prior of the Order when he became Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem in October 2020.
(December 4, 2020, CNA news) Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa made a solemn entry into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre Friday as the new Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. “I cannot but experience feelings of fear in the face of a mission that exceeds my capacities. But I accept this new obedience, which I wish to fulfill with joy. It is certainly a cross, but a cross that bears fruit of salvation each time it is embraced in joy,” Patriarch Pizzaballa said Dec. 4.”The Cross of the Son of God, raised only a few meters away from here, has given meaning to all the crosses of the world.”
SIX CARDINALS-ELECT REACT TO PAPAL NOMINATION
PIZZABALLA: APPOINTMENT AS CARDINAL SHOWS JERUSALEM’S VOCATION TO DIALOGUE
The Latin Patriarch of the Jerusalem, Cardinal-designate Pierbattista Pizzaballa, speaks about his recent appointment as Cardinal by Pope Francis, calling it a recognition of the vocation to universality and dialogue of the Holy Land.
Cardinal-elect Pierbattista Pizzaballa was taken by surprise on Sunday when Pope Francis announced at the Angelus address that he would create the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem a Cardinal, along with 20 other Church leaders from various parts of the world.
As the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem since 24 October 2020, Patriarch Pizzaballa has expressed his astonishment at the “great surprise”. Speaking to Andrea Tornielli, the editorial director of Vatican Media, the cardinal-elect said he interprets the Pope’s decision to create him cardinal as “a sign of attention from the Church of Rome towards the Mother Church, the Church of Jerusalem.” Pizzaballa: Appointment as Cardinal shows Jerusalem’s vocation to dialogue – Vatican News
CARDINAL-DESIGNATE PREVOST SEES NEW ROLE AS A WAY TO “WALK TOGETHER”
Cardinal-designate Robert Prevost, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, believes his future responsibility as a Cardinal will allow him to offer new ways to carry out his mission of service to the Lord and the Church.
Archbishop Prevost is from Chicago, Illinois in the United States and a member of the Order of Saint Augustine (O.S.A). He served for a decade and half in the O.S.A. missions in Peru, followed by teaching in the US, leadership roles as Prior General of the entire Order for two terms, and later as Bishop of the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru. Pope Francis appointed him Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops in 2023.
Reacting to Pope Francis’ naming him a cardinal, Archbishop Prevost expressed his “incredible surprise” in an interview with Vatican News the day after the announcement, while entrusting to the Lord this new responsibility and all it entails.
Recalling words of Saint Pope Paul VI, he said that “being a cardinal is a mission of love with Christ, our Savior,” and that “a cardinal is called to give his whole life in service to the Church.” The color red of a cardinal’s vestements is associated with blood of the martyrs, he notes, and this means great responsibility. He expressed his “great trust in the Lord” that has been strengthened in his many experiences living among the people of Peru, serving in the different missions, and carrying out various leadership roles in his order and as a diocescan bishop. Cardinal-designate Prevost sees new role as a way to “walk together” – Vatican News
CARDINAL-ELECT BUSTILLO: A SPECIAL LINK WITH THE POPE FOR FAITHFUL OF AJACCIO
Among the 21 men to be created cardinals by Pope Francis on 30 September is Cardinal-designate François-Xavier Bustillo, the Bishop of Ajaccio in Corsica, who expresses his surprise and awareness that his duty will involve working closely with the Pope and the people of his French diocese.
“I was not at all prepared for this news.”
Cardinal-elect François Bustillo, the Bishop of Ajaccio on the French island of Corsica, was taken aback when he received the news by phone about his creation as a Cardinal, which Pope Francis revealed at midday on Sunday. “At first, I even thought someone might be playing a joke on me,” he says.
The cardinal-elect, a Franciscan Franco-Spaniard, has been Bishop of Ajaccio for two years. Having received a call to inform him of his recent election as Cardinal in Pope Francis’ upcoming consistory on 30 September, he tells Vatican News’ Xavier Sarte that he feels the full weight of the responsibility that now falls on him. He admits that, for the moment, he does not really know what becoming a Cardinal will mean in concrete terms, but he already knows that this responsibility is synonymous with “fidelity and closeness to the Holy Father.” Cardinal-elect Bustillo: A special link with the Pope for faithful of Ajaccio – Vatican News
HONG KONG’S NEWLY APPOINTED CARDINAL STEPHEN CHOW SAYS ELEVATION HAS GIVEN HIM ‘NEW MISSION’, CALLS FOR GREATER RECONCILIATION IN CITY
Hongkongers need ‘chance to take a break, reconcile and calm down’, which will require ‘cooperation of many parties’, Chow says. Crucial to give young people hope, particularly those who have committed offences, he adds.
Hong Kong’s newly appointed Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-yan has said the elevation has given him a “new mission” and called for greater reconciliation in the city. Chow, who remains a Catholic bishop pending his appointment by the papacy at the end of September, said he felt a sense of responsibility with his new role. “It feels like this is a mission given to me by God through the Pope,” he said.
Chow, widely seen as politically neutral, also highlighted the importance of healing divisions in society. “I think Hong Kong should have more reconciliation, so Hong Kong people can have a chance to take a break, reconcile and calm down. This is what I hope to do,” he said. “This will require the cooperation of many parties to happen.” Hong Kong’s newly appointed Cardinal Stephen Chow says elevation has given him ‘new mission’, calls for greater reconciliation in city | South China Morning Post (scmp.com)
“QUITE CONFUSED, BEWILDERED”: SOUTH AFRICAN ARCHBISHOP ON BEING NAMED CARDINAL
By Jude Atemanke (Cape Town, 09 July, 2023 / 9:05 pm (ACI Africa).
Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town in South Africa, one of the three Africans named Cardinals on Sunday, July 9 says he is “surprised” by his naming.
“I have been taken by surprise and to be honest I feel quite confused and bewildered at the moment,” the South African Cardinal-elect says in an audio message shared with the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC). “Quite confused, bewildered”: South African Archbishop on Being Named Cardinal (aciafrica.org)
PORTUGUESE CARDINAL-ELECT REACTS TO NEWS, SPEAKS OF LISBON’S WYD EVENT IN AUGUST
An English-language news site in Portugal had this to say on the naming of Lisbon Auxiliary Bishop Americo Aguiar as a cardinal (most unusually, Lisbon will have two cardinals): Bishop Américo Aguiar, who will be created cardinal by Pope Francis on September 30, said today that his appointment “is a tribute to Portuguese youth” and admitted he was surprised by the news.
“I think it’s a tribute to Portuguese youth,” the auxiliary bishop of Lisbon said in statements to journalists at the Setubal Logistics Warehouse, where volunteers are preparing for World Youth Day (WYD), which will take place in Lisbon and Lourdes in the first week of August.
“I read [the decision] as a gesture of Pope Francis in relation to young people and to what he tells us insistently, of young people standing up and taking the lead in their lives. […] We are merely intermediaries who will help to encourage this even more among young people,” said Américo Aguiar, who is also the head of the Portuguese Church in charge of organizing WYD.
The auxiliary bishop of Lisbon admitted he was surprised by the news, considering that the position of cardinal represents an added responsibility and that the Pope’s decision had nothing to do with his competencies, but rather with the dedication of the young people involved in the preparation and realization of WYD. “Nobody dreams of being a cardinal, I guess, only if they have no sense,” Américo Aguiar pointed out, with humor.
From WYD website: “It is a tribute to Portugal, a tribute to the Portuguese, a tribute to Portuguese youth: this is what I truly feel” – Bishop Américo Aguiar, Auxiliary Bishop of Lisbon and President of the WYD Lisbon 2023 Foundation: Pope Announces D. Américo Aguiar as Cardinal (lisboa2023.org)
There was also this report: Bishop Américo Aguiar, said yesterday on Portuguese TV RTP about WYD (In Lisbon in August): “We don’t want the young people to become Catholics or Christian. We want that a Catholic, or a Muslim, or a Jew, or a non-believer can say that he is what he is and be ok. The difference is good and the world will be better with it.” Here is the link to the video where, at minute 19:31, he speaks of World Youth Day: https://www.rtp.pt/noticias/pais/d-americo-aguiar-espera-atingir-400-mil-inscritos-na-jmj_v1498290 .
Bishop Aguiar’s words seem to echo Pope Francis’ words as he started his 2023 series of catecheses on apostolic zeal: Quoting Benedict XVI, Francis said: “The Church grows not by proselytism, it grows by attraction.”
Joan's Rome 