Overview: I (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT) & II (NY)

Region I (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT)

Boston

This province is composed of the metropolitan, Boston, plus its six suffragan dioceses: Burlington (VT), Fall River (MA), Manchester (NH), Portland (ME), Springfield (MA), and Worcester (MA).

The ordinaries are: Cardinal O'Malley (66), Bishop Matano (64), Bishop Coleman (71), Bishop McCormack (75), Bishop Malone (64), Bishop McDonnell (73), and Bishop McManus (59), respectively.

Manchester has one auxiliary: Bishop Christian (68). Boston has 5 active auxiliaries: Bishops Dooher (67), Edyvean (72), Hennessey (58), Kennedy (69) and Uglietto (59).

Bishop McCormack reached the normal retirement age mid-last year and is likely to retire and have a replacement named this year.

Bishop McDonnell is about 2 years from that retirement age.

Bishop Christian is at an age and length of service that he might be considered for other roles, but given his age, more likely this year than after that.

No other changes seem likely this year, but 2012 may be a different story with Bishops Malone and McManus reaching a length of service that makes them more likely to be considered for other roles.

Hartford

Hartford is the metropolitan with Bridgeport, Norwich, and Providence as its suffragans.

The ordinaries are: Archbishop Mansell (73), Bishop Lori (59), Bishop Cote (61), and Bishop Tobin (62), respectively.

Both Hartford and Providence have an auxiliary: Bishops Macaluso (65) and Evans (63), respectively.

Bishop Lori celebrates 10 years in this role last Sunday.

Given the ages and lengths of service of Bishops Macaluso, Lori, and Cote all are likely to be considered for other roles, including, perhaps, replacing Archbishop Mansell after he reaches the retirement age in Spring of 2012.

Region II (NY)

New York

The province is composed of New York, the metropolitan, and seven suffragan dioceses: Albany, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Ogdensburg, Rochester, Rockville Center, and Syracuse.

The ordinaries are: Archbishop Dolan (60), Bishop Hubbard (72), Bishop DiMarzio (66), Bishop Kmiec (74), Bishop LaValley (54), Bishop Clark (73), Bishop Murphy (70), and Bishop Cunningham (67), respectively.

New York has four active auxiliaries: Bishops Iriondo (72), Lagonegro (67), Sullivan (65), and Walsh (68).

Brooklyn has two auxiliaries: Bishops Caggiano (51) and Cisneros (65).

Buffalo has one auxiliary: Bishop Grosz (65).

Rockville Centre has three auxiliaries: Bishops Dunne (73), Libasci (59) and Walsh (73).

Bishop Kmiec reaches the normal retirement age in a few months, his retirement and the naming of a replacement is likely later this year.

Bishops Lagonegro and DiMarzio are both at an age and length of service that makes them likely to be considered for other roles.

2012 is likely to see 3 (Bishops Clark, Dunne, and Walsh) retirements, followed by another 2 (Bishops Iriondo and Hubbard) in 2013.

Archbishop Dolan and Bishops Iriondo and Lagonegro will all celebrate 10 years as bishops this year. Bishop Murphy will celebrate 10 years in his current role as well.

Predicting the Next Consistories to Create Cardinals

So the Consistory to create new cardinals in 2010 is now history. Its time to look ahead again and see if the next one (or three) can be predicted.

Lets take a quick look at the history of Pope Benedict XVI's cardinal creating consistories.

• 24 Mar 2006: Created 12 voting, 3 non-voting; before: 178 living, 109 voting
  
• 24 Nov 2007: Created 18 voting, 5 non-voting (plus 1 that died before the consistory); before: 178 living, 103 voting
  
• 20 Nov 2010: Created 20 voting, 4 non-voting; before: 179 living, 101 voting
  

In recent history, these consistories typically fall near (often the day before) a major feast. For Benedict, it has been the Annunciation of the Lord (2006) and Christ the King (2007, 2010). Pope John Paul II used Sts Peter & Paul (1979, 1988, 1991), Presentation of the Lord (1983), Pentecost (1985), Christ the King (1994), and the 25th Anniversary of his election to the papacy (2003).

So now for the serious guess-work. The numbers below assume no voting age cardinals die and that at each consistory the number of voting cardinals becomes 120.

Scenario A:

1. Corpus Christi, 2012 (10 Jun): 15 open voting slots
   
2. Christ the King, 2013 (24 Nov): 16 open voting slots
   
3. Christ the King, 2015 (22 Nov): 19 open voting slots
   

Scenario B:

1. Corpus Christi, 2012 (10 Jun): 15 open voting slots
   
2. Pentecost, 2014 (19 May): 21 open voting slots
   
3. Pentecost, 2016 (15 May): 20 open voting slots
   

Scenario C:

1. Christ the King, 2012 (25 Nov): 21 open voting slots
   
2. Pentecost, 2014 (19 May): 15 open voting slots
   
3. Pentecost, 2016 (15 May): 19 open voting slots
   

Scenario D:

1. Christ the King, 2012 (25 Nov): 21 open voting slots
   
2. Christ the King, 2014 (23 Nov): 21 open voting slots
   
3. Christ the King, 2016 (20 Nov): 21 open voting slots
   

I think that Scenario A is the most likely. Followed by C, B, and D. Of course, I could be wrong about all of them.

Pre-Pope John Paul II Bishops

With the year almost complete, its time to revisit the listing the pre-Pope John Paul II bishops. So here is a fresh list - with 6 fewer entries than the last.

So on to the question: How many active bishops were appointed to their current post before Pope John Paul II became Pope?

The answer is Twenty Five ordinaries and Three auxiliary bishops.

The ordinaries are: (Date of Appointment, Date of Birth, Name, Title)

• 24 Mar 1944, 12 Oct 1906, Bishop Francis Hong Yong-ho of P’yong-yang, Korea (North)
  (Originally named Vicar Apostolic, Elevated to Bishop on 10 Mar 1962)
  
• 23 May 1966, 12 Apr 1919, Archbishop Hovhannes Tcholakian of Istanbul (Armenian), Turkey
  
• 13 Apr 1973, 16 Jun 1936, Anthony Olubunmi Cardinal Okogie, Archbishop of Lagos, Nigeria
  (Elevated to Cardinal on 21 Oct 2003)
  
• 25 Jun 1973, 11 Dec 1936, Archbishop Nikólaos Fóscolos of Athenai {Athens}, Greece
  
• 26 Nov 1973, 7 May 1937, Bishop Nestorius Timanywa of Bukoba, Tanzania
  
• 1 May 1974, 15 Mar 1939, Archbishop Hanna Zora of Archbishop of Ahwaz (Chaldean), Iran
  
• 27 Jun 1974, 5 Dec 1936, Bishop Franghískos Papamanólis, O.F.M. Cap. of Syros e Milos and Santorini {Thira}, Greece
  
• 5 Oct 1974, 24 Jun 1938, Archbishop Felix Alaba Adeosin Job of Ibadan, Nigeria
  (Originally named Bishop, Elevated to Archbishop on 26 Mar 1994)
  
• 20 Nov 1975, 10 May 1942, Bishop Gilbert Guillaume Marie-Jean Aubry of Saint-Denis-de-La Réunion
  
• 4 Mar 1976, 25 Sep 1933, Bishop Ulises Aurelio Casiano Vargas of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
  
• 10 Apr 1976, 28 Apr 1933, Archbishop Petero Mataca of Suva, Fiji, Pacific (Oceania)
  
• 28 Oct 1976, 12 Feb 1936, Archbishop Michael Kpakala Francis of Monrovia, Liberia
  (Originally named Vicar Apostolic, Elevated to Archbishop on 19 Dec 1981)
  
• 3 Dec 1976, 26 Nov 1936, Archbishop Jaime Pedro Gonçalves of Beira, Mozambique
  (Named Coadjutor 19 Dec 1975, Succeeded to the See on 3 Dec 1976, elevated to Archbishop on 4 Jun 1984)
  
• 1 Feb 1977, 31 Oct 1938, Bishop Howard James Hubbard of Albany, New York, USA
  
• 26 Feb 1977, 5 Aug 1937, Archbishop Hieronymus Herculanus Bumbun, O.F.M. Cap. of Pontianak, Indonesia
  
• 26 Feb 1977, 13 Sep 1936, Bishop George Punnakottil of Kothamangalam (Syro-Malabarese), India
  
• 26 Feb 1977, 25 Sep 1940, Bishop Jean-Claude Bouchard, O.M.I. of Pala, Chad
  
• 4 Mar 1977, 4 Dec 1934, Bishop Frederick D'Souza of Jhansi, India
  
• 30 May 1977, 20 Mar 1937, Bishop Anthony Lee Kok Hin of Miri, Malaysia
  
• 10 Nov 1977, 11 Sep 1929, Bishop Sebastian Koto Khoarai, O.M.I. of Mohale’s Hoek, Lesotho
  
• 27 Feb 1978, 23 Sep 1939, Bishop Armando Umberto Gianni, O.F.M. Cap. of Bouar, Central African Republic
  
• 27 Feb 1978, 5 Jul 1942, Archbishop Zacchaeus Okoth of Kisumu, Kenya
  (Originally named Bishop, Elevated to Archbishop on 21 May 1990)
  
• 28 Feb 1978, 15 Aug 1937, Bishop Philip Sulumeti of Kakamega, Kenya
  
• 5 May 1978, 12 Jan 1939, Bishop Reinaldo Ernst E. (Heribert) Pünder of Coroatá, Maranho, Brazil
  
• 12 Sep 1978, 8 Jun 1936, Bishop Joseph Dao of Kayes, Mali
  

and the Auxiliaries:

• 20 Nov 1973, 10 Jan 1935, Bishop Pawel Socha, C.M., Auxiliary Bishop of Zielona Góra-Gorzów, Poland and Titular of Thunigaba
  (Original name of Diocese was Gorzów)
  
• 12 Jul 1975, 7 Sep 1930, Bishop Roland Aboujaoudé, Auxiliary of Antiochia {Antioch} (Maronite), Lebanon and Titular of Arca in Phoenicia dei Maroniti
  
• 28 Nov 1977, 25 Nov 1936, Bishop Kenneth Donald Steiner, Auxiliary of Portland in Oregon, USA and Titular of Avensa
  

Bishop Francis Hong Yong-ho was named by Pope Pius XII. Although he is still officially listed as "missing" it seems unlikely that he remains alive.

Bishop Joseph Dao was named by Pope John Paul I.

All of the others were named by Pope Paul VI.

You'll notice that many of them are at or near the retirement age. Before they do retire, let us take a moment to thank them for their many years of service!

View of Rome from the Dome of St. Peter′s Basilica

A panorama created from some photos that I took today from the Dome of St. Peter's Basilica.

Pope Benedict XVI

From this evening:

Random Facts about the 2010 class of Cardinals

When the new 24 Cardinals-Designate join the college, it will lower the average age by 0.7 years to 77.85 (0.5 years among just the electors to 72.50).

The average age of the new voting members is just under 70. (Compared to 66.8 in 2007 and 67.6 in 2006.)

The number of voting members will total 121 on 20 November, but it will fall back to 120 toward the end of January 2011. At the last consistory to create cardinals (2007), Pope Benedict XVI intended to make the number of voting members total 121, but Stephen Fumio Cardinal Hamao died before the consistory.

Cardinal-Designate Reinhard Marx (Archbishop of München und Freising {Munich}, Germany) will become the youngest member of the college at age: 57.2. He is taking the spot from Péter Cardinal Erdõ (Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, Hungary) currently age 58.3.

In an unusual move, two of the cardinals-designate are retired residential bishops: Medardo Joseph Mazombwe (Archbishop Emeritus of Lusaka, Zambia; Age: 79.2) and Raúl Eduardo Vela Chiriboga, (Archbishop Emeritus of Quito, Ecuador; Age: 76.9).

Cardinal Electors, by the Numbers, an update

As of today, there are 106 Cardinal Electors out of 179 total living Cardinals.

In the month of September, three more Cardinals will turn 80 and lose their vote. An additional Cardinal loses their vote in each of October and November.

By mid-November, the Cardinal Elector count will be down to 101.

From there, the number is stable until late January, then in a period of 4 weeks, 4 more Cardinals turn 80.

A List of Cardinal Electors by Age.