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“It’s a surprise from the Pope … Let’s see how I can serve him!” This is what Father Fabio Baggio reportedly exclaimed after learning that the Pope had decided to create him a cardinal, according to a Spanish media outlet.
As head of the Vatican’s Migrants and Refugees section, the Italian priest was visibly surprised by the Pontiff’s decision (as were quite a few of the other picks!)
Like him, two future “porporati” are not bishops: Fr. Timothy Peter Joseph Radcliffe, a renowned Dominican theologian who is currently in Rome as the preacher of the Synod, and Fr. George Jacob Koovakad, a “mere official” in the Secretariat of State who has been in charge of organizing the Pope’s travels since 2021.
Francis, like John Paul II and Paul VI, has on several occasions entrusted non-bishop priests with the cardinal’s biretta – the famous red hat presented at a consistory. Canon law authorizes this, stating that any man who has been ordained “at least into the order of the presbyterate” can become a cardinal (can. 351). This rule dates only from 1917.
Before that, even a deacon or layman could theoretically be a cardinal. The last case was the Italian Teodolfo Mertel (1806-1899), a deacon and jurist who worked in the Roman Curia, whom Pius IX created a cardinal in 1858. However, the cardinalate has never been open to women.
In some cases, a man can also be created a cardinal without anyone knowing about it. He is then a cardinal “in pectore.” This means that the pope decides, often for reasons of political situations such as in places where the Church is persecuted, not to reveal his name.
Not necessarily ordained a bishop
Canon law now requires that priests designated to become cardinals receive episcopal consecration. The ordination date for Fr. Biaggio, Fr. Radcliffe, and Fr. Koovakad should therefore be announced in the coming weeks. This was the case in 2020 for Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, a Franciscan priest who has since been appointed archpriest of St. Mary Major.
But there are also exceptional cases where a cardinal does not receive episcopal ordination. This is the case for cardinals over the age of 80. The latest is Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, created cardinal on November 28, 2020. At the time, per his request, the Pontiff exempted him from becoming a bishop.
“The function of a bishop,” explained the Italian Capuchin, “is to be a pastor and a fisherman. At my age [86 at the time, editor’s note], there is very little I could do as a ‘pastor’; on the other hand, what I could do as a ‘fisherman,’ I can continue to do by proclaiming the word of God.”
Cardinal Cantalamessa has for many years been the Preacher of the Pontifical Household, meaning among other things that he gives Advent and Lenten sermons to the pope and members of the curia, so his role as preacher is notable indeed.
Cardinal Cantalamessa is not the only one to not become a bishop. Jesuit Albert Vanhoye was exempted for a similar reason when Benedict XVI elevated him to the cardinalate in 2006, as was Albanian Franciscan Ernest Simoni, created a cardinal in 2016 by Pope Francis for his courage in the face of persecution endured under the regime of Communist Enver Hoxha.
Other selection criteria
Canon law recognizes the pontiff’s complete freedom in choosing cardinals. They must, however, be “outstanding in doctrine, morals, piety, and prudence in action” (Can. 351). It was probably on the basis of this last criterion that Pope Francis agreed to cancel in 2022 the elevation to the cardinalate of Bishop Emeritus Luc Van Looy of Ghent, when the latter requested to be allowed to decline, due to criticism of his handling of abuse cases in his diocese.
Lastly, cardinals are created “by a decree of the Roman Pontiff which is made public in the presence of the college of cardinals.” Cardinal Cornelius Sim, the first cardinal of Brunei, was raised to the cardinalate during the COVID-19 pandemic in November 2020, without being able to come to Rome. He died on May 29, 2021, without being able to meet the Pope. He is therefore a cardinal — unlike the Swiss theologian Hans-Urs von Balthasar, who was designated a cardinal by John Paul II but died two days before the decree was signed during the consistory of June 28, 1988.
And today we celebrate...