Bangladesh gets its first Cardinal
Pope Francis announced the nomination of Archbishop Patrick D’Rozario of Dhaka as one of 17 new cardinals on Sunday address on 9th October 2016. Archbishop D’Rozario, is Bangladesh’s first cardinal.
Archbishop Patrick D’Rozario was born in 1943 at Padrishibpur Parish. He was ordained priest in 1972. In 1990 he was consecrated Bishop of Rajshahi and in 1995 transferred to Chittagong.
In 2010 he was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Dhaka and in the following year succeeded Archbishop Paulinus Costa.
Archbishop Patrick D’Rozario have been serving as the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Bangladesh, Chairman of the Bangladesh Catholic Education Board and Chairman of the Office of Laity and Family of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences.
Archbishop Patrick D’Rozario will participate in the next consistory to be held on 19th November 2016 on the occasion of the closing of the Year of Mercy.
Nominees from far-flung places include 13 cardinals under 80 years old who could potentially succeed present pontiff.
Pope Francis has promoted 17 Roman Catholic prelates from around the world to the high rank of cardinal, including 13 who are under 80 years of age and thus eligible to succeed him one day.
Francis, making the surprise announcement during his weekly address, said on Sunday that the ceremony to elevate the prelates, known as a consistory, would be held on November 19.
“Their provenance from 11 nations expresses the universality of the church that announces and is witness to the good news of the mercy of God in every corner of the world,” Francis said.
The new cardinal-electors, those under 80, come from Italy, the Central African Republic, Spain, the US, Brazil, Bangladesh, Venezuela, Belgium, Mauritius, Mexico and Papua New Guinea.
Only one of the 13 cardinal-electors will take on a Vatican job. The others would remain in their posts around the world.
Significantly, Francis said the current Vatican ambassador in Syria, Italian Archbishop Mario Zenari, would be elevated but remain in his post to show the Church’s concern for “beloved and martyred Syria” – an allusion to the devastating civil war there.
It was believed to be the first time in recent history a Vatican ambassador, known as a nuncio, would have the rank of cardinal.
Focus on mercy
Three of cardinal-electors are American moderates, including Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich and Indianapolis Archbishop Joseph Tobin, a clear signal to the conservative US church hierarchy that he values pastors focused more on mercy than morals.
The four new cardinals over 80, who get the position as a symbolic honour to thank them for long service to the Church, include Father Ernest Simoni, 88, an Albanian priest who spent many years in jail and forced labour during the communist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha, who died in 1985.
In addition to Simoni, the other three cardinals over 80 come from Malaysia, Italy and Lesotho.
Cardinals, who wear red hats and are known as “princes of the Church,” are the most senior members of the Roman Catholic hierarchy after the pope and serve as his principal advisers around the world and in the Vatican.
Naming new cardinals is one of the most significant powers of the papacy, allowing a pontiff to put his stamp on the future of the 1.2-billion-member global Church.
Cardinals under 80, known as cardinal-electors, can enter a secret conclave to choose a new pope from their own ranks after Francis dies or resigns.
Francis, the former cardinal-archbishop of Buenos Aires, was elected in a conclave on March 13, 2013.
With the current batch, Francis has named 44 cardinal-electors, slightly more than two-thirds of the total of 120 allowed by Church law.
It will be his third consistory since his election in 2013 as the first non-European pontiff in 1,300 years and he has used each occasion to show support for the Church in far-flung places or where Catholics are suffering.
The Central African Republic, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia and Lesotho will have a cardinal for the first time, underscoring Francis’ conviction that the Church is a global institution that should become increasingly less Euro-centric.
Courtesy: Vatican Radio and Aljazeera
