New crop of cardinals cements Pope Francis’ legacy of diversity and global dialogue

VATICAN CITY (RNS) – In a solemn Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday (Dec. 7), Pope Francis welcomed 21 new cardinals supporting the pope’s diverse vision for the church.

“Today, in a particular way, I would like to say to you, dear brothers who are being made cardinals: make every effort to walk in the path of Jesus,” the pope told the prelates in his homily, urging them “to be builders of communion and unity.”

The new cardinals, representing the diversity of the global church, will join a College of Cardinals whose members already hail from 90 countries.  Throughout his pontificate, Francis has been fixed on refashioning its hierarchical and often opaque structure into a more transparent and welcoming organization that is closer to the people, a program of reform known in Catholic circles as synodality. 

In a three-year long synod that summoned bishops and lay leaders to the Vatican in October 2023 and 2024, Francis attempted to democratize decision making, reach out to LGBTQ Catholics and offer more leadership opportunities for women in the church. He also prodded church leaders to listen to the demands of the people in the pews.

Many of the new cardinals Francis made on Sunday attended the two Vatican summits, which provided them time get to know one another and discuss the future of the church.

Among them was newly made Cardinal Jaime Spengler, president of the Latin American Episcopal Conference. “We can no longer go back from the road that that Pope Francis has tried to build. We must advance it. What does Pope Francis want from the church through his magisterium in these years? A church that is closer to the people, a church that is simpler, a poorer church,” Spangler told Vatican reporters on Saturday.

Spangler, a Brazilian, is one of five new cardinals from Latin America, Francis’ native continent, which is second only to Europe in its number of cardinals. 

Latin Americans will have an important role to play in the conclave that will elect Francis’ successor.  Spangler called his and the other nominations to the College of Cardinals, “a sign of acknowledgement from the pope, but also a sign of hope or a greater call to responsibility.”

The Brazilian prelate believes the church must find a balance between safeguarding its traditional teaching and listening to the needs of the people, especially the next generation. Asked who he would like to see become the next pope, Spangler said that the next pontiff should be a man of “simplicity, transparency, objectivity and holiness.”

Francis has consistently shifted the focus of the church toward the global south and the peripheries of an institution historically oriented toward the West. The new Cardinal Ladislav Nemet, Archbishop of Belgrade in Serbia and another participant at the Synod on Synodality, oversees a region which is only 5% is Catholic. Of a polyglot Hungarian background, he is the first ever cardinal from Serbia, and his elevation highlights the pope’s desire to promote ecumenical dialogue.

“I hope that our existence as Catholics in Serbia will show to the majority orthodox population that we would like to live with them in peace and dialogue,” he told journalists on Saturday.

At a time when the Russian Orthodox Church, led by Patriarch Kirill, has become deeply intertwined with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s party line, Nemet said the church must avoid severing its ties with the Orthodox community. Francis himself has attempted to toe the line between being a mediator for peace in Russia’s Ukrainian war and standing up against violations of human rights or international law.

Eleven of the new cardinals are members of religious orders and some have decided to keep wearing their plain habits instead of donning scarlet cardinal robes. This is not only a return to ancient Catholic customs, they said, but a symbol of humility. U.S. Cardinal Sean O’Malley has long worn his Franciscan habit, and the newly made Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe has also decided to keep his white Dominican robe, pointing to a new trend among the cardinals. 

“It’s a return to the freedom of the person and what you feel inside,” said the Dominican Archbishop Jean-Paul Vesco, adding, “the pope also gave us his blessing.”

Vesco runs the archdiocese of Orano, in Algeria, and wears a very small wooden cross over his chest, a humble symbol in a country where fewer than 10,000 Christians reside among a Muslim majority population.

“We have to learn how to be Christians in a situation of minority,” Vesco said. “Since the beginning, Christianity has been a minority faith, it’s in our DNA. When the church is too powerful it is not when she gives her best.”

He hopes his becoming a cardinal he allow him to speak with more authority about the issues he holds dear, including protecting migrants and the role of women in the church. Six of the eight leaders of his diocese are women, Vesco said, adding that he hopes to hear women preach at Mass soon.

With this new crop of cardinals, Francis has successfully remade the college that will elect his successor, having personally handpicked nearly 80% of its members. The almost 88-year-old pope has ensured that his vision for a welcoming, diverse and synodal church outlives his pontificate.