Pope renews cupboard of cardinal advisers, provides new members

Nevertheless, the Jesuit pope clearly appreciated the common alternatives to seek the advice of with a small variety of hand-picked cardinals representing the church on practically each continent, and determined to maintain the cupboard alive, albeit with some new members.

Two are vital Holy See officers: the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin; and the top of the Vatican City State, Cardinal Fernando Vergez.

Other members who had been renewed are Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, the archbishop of Kinshasa, Congo; Cardinal Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Mumbai, India and Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley, archbishop of Boston.

New members embrace Cardinal Juan José Omella Omella, archbishop of Barcelona, Spain; Cardinal Gérald C. Lacroix, archbishop of Quebec; Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, archbishop of Luxembourg and Cardinal Sérgio da Rocha, archbishop of São Salvador da Bahia, Brazil.

The cardinals meet each few months for 2 or three days on the Vatican. The subsequent assembly is scheduled for April 24.

A cardinal’s major job is to advise a pope, and to elect a brand new one. Past pontiffs often met with cardinals one-on-one or in occasional huge conferences, often known as consistories. The novelty of Francis’ Council of Cardinals was that he formalized an everyday, intimate group session with representatives of the worldwide church.