At the end of his Regina Coeli prayer on Pentecost Sunday, Pope Francis announced he would name 14 new cardinals in a June 29th consistory.
The new cardinals represent countries around the world, and include Pedro Barreto, Archbishop of Huancayo, Peru, and Thomas Aquinas Manyo, the Archbishop of Osaka, Japan. Iraqi prelate, Chaldean Patriarch Louis Raphaël I Sako and Joseph Coutts, from Pakistan will also be named cardinals. They represent the plight of persecuted Christians and those in the Middle East, which the pope mentioned in his prayer.
POPE FRANCIS
“Pentecost takes our hearts to Jerusalem. Last night I was spiritually united to the prayer vigil for peace that took place in that holy city, for Jews, Christians and Muslims. Today we continue to invoke the Holy Spirit to inspire good will and gestures of dialogue and reconciliation in the Holy Land and throughout the Middle East.”
One Vatican official to be named cardinal is Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, the Almoner of Papal Charities, who commonly helps the homeless in Rome. There are also two from the Roman Curia: Luis Ladaria, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Giovanni Becciu, who is the substitute of the Secretariat of State in the Vatican.
During the Regina Coeli, Pope Francis also mentioned the country of Venezuela, where Nicolás Maduro has won a second term as President.
POPE FRANCIS
“I wish to dedicate a special memory to my beloved Venezuela again. I ask the Holy Spirit to give to the whole Venezuelan population, everyone, including government leaders, wisdom. So they find the way of peace and unity.”
These sentiments were expressed after the pope spoke about how Christian holiness began 2000 years ago. He said it was all thanks to the Holy Spirit, the fount of holiness, who decended on the apostles on Pentecost.
