Pope Benedict XVI said Saturday that
his surprise appointment of six
non-European cardinals next
month showed that the
Roman Catholic Church was
“not the Church of one
continent”.
The College of Cardinals, the
elite body that advises the
head of the Roman Catholic
Church and elects his
successor upon his death, is
currently heavily weighted in
favour of Europe.
“By convening this little
consistory (on November 24) I
wanted to complete the one
held in February in the context
of a new evangelism …
showing that the Church
belongs to all peoples, speaks
all languages,” he said.
“It is not the Church of one
continent but a universal
Church,” he added, rebuffing
some critics who claim he was
being too Eurocentric, after
naming 22 new cardinals in
February, 16 of whom are
Europeans.
While nearly half of the world’s
Catholics are in Latin America,
there was only one new
cardinal appointed from “the
Catholic continent”.
Vatican watchers had not
expected there to be another
consistory until next year and
the surprise announcement
sparked concern that the 85-
year-old pope’s health may be
worse than thought.
The consistory follows the
death of several cardinals in
recent months and will bring
the number of those eligible to
vote back up to the maximum
of 120.
Cardinals must be under 80
years old to take part in a
papal election.
The German-born Benedict
said on Wednesday he would
be appointing cardinals from
the United States, Lebanon,
India, Nigeria, Colombia and
the Philippines on November
24.
After next month’s consistory,
there will be 62 European
cardinals eligible to vote
(compared to 67 in February),
14 North Americans, 21 South
Americans, 11 Africans and 11
Asians.
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