Italy: In a move that may have been anticipated because of his declining health, Pope John Paul II yesterday named 31 new cardinals, writes Paddy Agnew in Rome
It had been expected that the Pope might wait until next spring or summer before naming the latest members of the elite college that will one day elect his successor.
Speaking to the faithful in St Peter's Square and not without technical problems provoked by a nationwide Italian power blackout which also hit the Vatican, the tired-looking Pope read out the list of new cardinals.
Seven come from the Vatican Curia, 19 from dioceses worldwide, four are theologians and one was nominated in pectore, i.e. in secret and not named yesterday probably because his nomination could cause political problems in his homeland.
Reflecting the growing influence of the developing world in the College of Cardinals are the nominations for Brazil, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Nigeria and Sudan. The lion's share, however, went to Europe with new cardinals being named for Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Italy (six), Poland, Scotland and Switzerland. New appointments were also made in Australia, Canada and the US.
Before yesterday's nominations, the number of elector cardinals (those under the age of 80) had dropped to 109. Twenty-six of the 31 men named yesterday are under 80 and thus eligible to vote in a conclave, bringing the number of elector cardinals to 135. Canon law fixes the number of at 120 but, not for the first time, the Pope said yesterday that he intended to ignore this limit.
While several of the Curia and Italian appointments (e.g. new cardinals for Florence, Genoa and Venice) were "routine business", there are other intriguing nominations including Keith O'Brien, born in Ballycastle Co Antrim, of St Andrew's and Edinburgh in Scotland; Anthony Olubunmi Okigie of Lagos, Nigeria; Gabriel Zubeir Wako of Khartoum, Sudan; George Pell of Sydney, Australia; Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, US; Oscar Scheid of Rio di Janeiro, Brazil, and Jean-Baptiste Pham Minhh Man of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Missing from the list were the names of the Pope's long-serving private secretary, Stanislaw Dziwisz, and that of Archbishop Sean Patrick O'Malley, called in to replace Cardinal Bernard Law in the archdiocese of Boston. Many commentators had expected the Pope to reward his faithful secretary, while such is the importance of Boston that its archbishop is normally appointed a cardinal.
The new cardinals will be formally ordained by the Pope in the Vatican on October 21st. It is probable that he opted to make the appointments yesterday because the College of Cardinals is due to gather in Rome next month for celebrations held to mark both the 25th anniversary of his pontificate and also the beatification of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.