Pope installs Cardinal Rosales, As one of 15 first cardinals of his pontificate Options

[Ek-ek]

Pope installs Cardinal Rosales
As one of 15 first cardinals of his pontificate
By Agence France-Presse, INQ7.net






VATICAN CITY -- (UPDATE) Pope Benedict XVI installed Manila's Gaudencio Rosales as among the first 15 cardinals of his pontificate in a colorful ceremony in St Peter's Square on Friday.

The thronged Vatican square was awash with color for the consistory, as the 78-year-old German pope began putting his own stamp on the make-up of the Roman Catholic hierarchy almost a year after his election as pontiff.





Heralded by joyous choral music, which echoed off the ancient stone of St Peter's, the Pope began the ceremony with a prayer, and then read out the names of the 15 cardinals-elect, each name greeted by cheers by flag-waving, festive crowd.
Rosales, 73, only recently succeeded the late, legendary Cardinal Jaime Sin as archbishop of Manila, the largest diocese in Asia. He has spoken out on social issues in the Philippines, saying the recent landslide in the country was due to de-forestation, and called on the government to address the issue.

Rosales is the sixth Filipino to become cardinal and the third still living. The two others are Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal and Emeritus of Rome Jose Cardinal Sanchez.

He is one of three Asian archbishops elevated to cardinal, along with Hong Kong's Joseph Zen Ze-Kiun and Nicholas Cheong Jin Suk of Seoul.

In his homily, Benedict described the College of Cardinals as "truly a kind of Senate, called to cooperate closely" with the pope.

On a gray March day, the massed ranks of crimson-robed cardinals sat to the right of the pontiff, their cassocks contrasting with the violet and black worn by hundreds of bishops seated behind them. To the Pope's left were seated hundreds of priests.

Sober-suited government representatives from the new cardinals' home countries, including Spain's Defense Minister Jose Bono and French Justice Minister, Pascal Clement, were seated in the front row of the thousands of pilgrims packing the square.

Benedict said the new cardinals should imitate Christ, and be servants to others.

"Total and generous availability to serve others is the distinctive mark of those in positions of authority in the Church, because it was thus for the Son of Man," he told them.

He said the demands of their new responsibilities would expose them to "suffering" in their role as advisors to the spiritual leader of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics, members of a Church buffeted by a swirl of social change.

In a curious juxtaposition, which underlined a key problem facing the Church, new US cardinal Sean O'Malley was seated close to the man he replaced in the Boston archdiocese in 2003, Cardinal Bernard Law -- forced to resign after a clerical sexual abuse scandal. Law is now archpriest at the basilica of St Mary Major in Rome.

US Archbishop William Levada, the most senior of the new "Princes of the Church," was first to receive the trappings of high office. Kneeling before the Pope, he received a red zucchetto, or skullcap, and a square, scarlet red biretta to wear over it.

Benedict then leaned forward on this throne to embrace the new cardinal, who succeeded the former Joseph Ratzinger as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith last year.

Cardinals traditionally wear red to show that they are ready to shed their blood in defense of their faith.

The new cardinals include Zen, an outspoken critic of religious restrictions in China.

Zen, 74, is seen as a key interlocutor in Benedict's tentative attempts to end a 55-year feud with Beijing.

Among the best-known new figures to receive his red hat was Krakow Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwicz, 66, the faithful private secretary of the late Pope John Paul II for more than four decades.

Underscoring the daunting challenges of their new high office, the Pope asked for their support in his quest for Christian unity, a reference to one of the themes of a day of "prayer and reflection" with his cardinals on Thursday.

"I am counting on you, venerable Brothers, I am counting on the entire College into which you are being incorporated, to proclaim to the world that "Deus Caritas Est' [God is Love], and to do so above all through the witness of sincere communion among Christians."

At the end of the ceremony, the newly-installed cardinals toured the ranks of their new colleagues, who greeted them with smiles, handshakes and embraces.

Twelve of the new cardinals elevated Friday are aged under-80 and thus eligible to elect Benedict's successor in an electoral college whose strength has now been brought to 120. The total number of cardinals, including 70 over the age of 80, is now 193.

Rosales will celebrate a thanksgiving Mass with Filipino migrants, priests and religious in Italy on Sunday at the Sta. Maria Maggiore church. He will be back in Manila on March 30.

Rosales took the place of the late Jaime Cardinal Sin as archbishop of the Philippines' biggest and oldest archdiocese of Manila on November 21, 2003.

During his term as archbishop of Lipa City, he was an influential voice in the people's fight against environmentally destructive firms in the province of Batangas. With Inquirer