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s® r^e s; © jo s® o S cog Sq§ ^ CL co ☆ The ☆ Sou Diocese of Savannah mm ☆ hern Ooss Vol. 81, No. 4 Thursday, January 25, 2001 $.50 PER ISSUE Pope names record 37 cardinals from 22 countries, including 3 from U.S. Ill——I 1 1—1— III I nil Jesuit Father Avery Dulles, 82 (left), was among those named cardinals by Pope John Paul January 21. Cardinal-designate Dulles is the first U.S. priest-theologian to be so honored. Other Americans named cardinals were recently-installed Washington Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, 70 (center), and New York Archbishop Edward M. Egan, 68 (right). File photos from CNS. By John Thavis Vatican City (CNS) ope John Paul II named a record- high 37 new cardinals from 22 countries Jan. 21, including three from the United States: Cardinals- designate Edward M. Egan of New York, Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington and Avery Dulles, an 82- year-old Jesuit theologian. The new cardinals, who will for mally accept their position at a con sistory at the Vatican February 2T, include 12 Vatican administrators and nine residential archbishops from Latin America—by far the largest such group from any continent. The biggest surprise was the size of the pope’s list. Once again, the pope waived the church’s technical limit of 120 cardinals who are under age 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a papal conclave. He named 33 new voting-age cardinals, which means that, barring any deaths, the total will be 128 by the time of the February 21 consistory. With the new appointments, Pope John Paul will have left an even stronger personal mark on the Col lege of Cardinals, having named 118 of the 128 elector-cardinals and 154 of the 178 cardinals overall. The 178 total was a record-high for the col lege, which has grown rapidly in recent decades. Additionally, the pope said he planned to divulge soon the names of two cardinals he created in pectore or in secret in 1998. Speculation has focused on prelates working in . Russia and China. Announcing the list at his Sunday blessing above Saint Peter’s Square, the pope said many of the new cardi nals were pastors who spend their time and energy “in direct contact with the faithful.” “These new prelates come from various parts of the world. Their ranks well reflect the church’s uni versality and multiplicity of min istries,” he said. The pope said many others might have merited the appointment and that he hoped he could name them in the future—an oblique response to those who have suggested that, hav ing set a full roster for a potential conclave, the 80-year-old pontiff might choose to retire. The new appointments included three voting-age cardinals from Asia, two from North America and one from Africa. Largely because of the Vatican nominations, Europe picked up 15 under-80 cardinals, which will leave the continent with 60 potential mem bers of a conclave—about half the total. Italy alone would account for 24 voting-age cardinals; seven of the new nominations are Italian. Latin America added 10 voting members with the new appointments, strengthening its position with 26 electors. By comparison, North America and Asia would have 13 each, Africa 12, and Oceania 4. The Latin American residential archbishops who will become cardi nals come from eight different coun tries, representing archdioceses with an average Catholic population of 3.5 million. They include Cardinal- designate Juan Luis Cipriani Thome of Lima, Pern, the first cardinal member of the Opus Dei personal prelature, and Honduran Cardinal- designate Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, 58, who has emerged as an important regional church leader. The appointments of Cardinals- designate Egan, McCarrick and Dulles will bring to 13 the number of U.S. cardinals; all but Cardinal-des ignate Dulles and retired Cardinal James A. Hickey of Washington, 80, would be eligible to vote in a con clave. Only Italy and the United States would have more than 10 vot ing-age cardinals. The pope continued the recent tra dition of naming elderly theologians cardinals as a sign of gratitude and prestige. Cardinal-designate Dulles, the son of former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, is considered by many the dean of American theolo gians and in recent years has been a strong defender of the papacy. The pope also named three other 80-year-old cardinals: a German monsignor-theologian, Leo Scheff- czyk, who has advised the Vatican on family issues; Jean Honore, retired archbishop of Tours, France; and Stephanos II Ghattas, Coptic patri arch in Egypt. Two of the new cardinals were clearly chosen with future positions in mind: -Cardinal-designate Walter Kasper, 67, secretary of the Pontifical Coun cil for Promoting Christian Unity, who is widely expected to head the council after the retirement of Cardinal Edward I. Cassidy, now 76. —Cardinal-designate Crescenzio Sepe, secretary-general of the now- dissolved Committee for the Great (Continued on page 11) Ministry to prisoners of WWII Reflections for Christian Unity Week Year of the Snake —see page 3 —see page 4 —see page 6