Just over a year ago, I wrote a post on this topic, and my opinion is not substantially different today.
Today there are 116 Cardinal Electors and a total of 191 Cardinals overall. Assuming no one dies, 4 cardinal elector slots will open up over the next year. But that still leaves only 8 elector slots open at the end of 2009. If Pope Benedict XVI creates new cardinals in the coming year, he will almost certainly go past the 120 limit on cardinal electors.
In 2010, however, the situation changes – with 11 additional slots opening up. That would be a grand total of 19 open slots by the end of 2010.
In the end, my prediction remains the same: the next consistory to create cardinals will be held in 2010 after the end of March with mid-summer or fall being the most likely.
5 comments:
You may be right. Any ideas on who his picks will be?
ahh, I'll try to put together a list.
I'd put Arch Bishop Raymond Burke at the top of mine. He's been posted to the position of to Prefect of the Signatura. While in the past non-Cardinals have held the post, never have they not been elevated. I think he's a shoe-in.
Just to start some debate pending David's upcoming list, here are some suggestions. There are currently 111 voting age Cardinals; and 10 of them turn 80 this year. So the Pope could pick 19 new Cardinals to reach the 120 limit. How about these?:
Holders of senior Curia offices who are invariably made Cardinals:
1) Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints
2) Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature
Other senior Curia officials:
3) Antonio Maria Vegliò, President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants
4) Francesco Coccopalmerio, President of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts
5) Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture
Archbishops of important dioceses:
6) Kazimierz Nycz, Archbishop of Warsaw
7) Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich
8) Braulio Rodríguez Plaza, Archbishop of Toledo
9) Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster
10) Paulo Romeo, Archbishop of Palermo
11) Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington DC
Some more Latin Americans:
12) Orani João Tempesta, Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro OR José Cardoso Sobrinho, Archbishop of Recife
13) Raúl Vela Chiriboga, Archbishop of Quito OR Antonio Arregui Yarza, Archbishop of Guayaquil
14) Fernando Sáenz Lacalle, Archbishop of San Salvador
15) Alberto Giraldo Jaramillo, Archbishop of Medellin
16) Carlos José Ñáñez, Archbishop of Cordoba
A couple from under-represented countries with large Catholic populations:
17) Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, Archbishop of Kinshasa
18) Fernando Capalla, Archbishop of Davao
And an Eastern Rite Patriarch:
19) Antonios Naguib, Patriarch of Alexandria (Coptic) OR Michel Sabbah, Patriarch of Jerusalem
Plus perhaps two or three new Cardinals over the voting age, such as:
20) Luigi Di Magistris, ex-Penitentiary of the Tribunal of the Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary
21) Karel Otcenášek, ex-Bishop of Hradec Králové
22) and a respected academic theologian
Maybe some of the above who have been promoted to their current poisitions comparatively recently (Vegliò, Marx, Rodríguez Plaza, Nichols) may have to wait until the next time; and maybe it will be felt that a couple more African archbishops should receive the red hat (Souraphiel of Addis Ababa, Tonyé Bakot of Yaoundé, Henry of Cape Town, Razanakolona of Antananarivo).
Anyway, I hope this generates some discussion!
What about Arch Bishop Dolan? My thought is that he'll be elevated, but not yet. 2 reasons - one, he's new to New York, secondly, Cardinal Eagan is still under 80. I don't think there would ever be 2 voting Cardinals from the same Dioceses, especially not from the US.
Any thoughts on Arch-Bishop Myers?
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