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February 28, 2001
In largest consistory, Pope creates 44 new cardinals
Cardinals represent Church's global presence in the 21st Century, Holy Father says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Presiding over the largest consistory in history, Pope John Paul II created 44 new cardinals and asked them to "shine in wisdom and holiness'' as they guide the church around the world.
Gazing over a panorama of red vestments and pilgrims' flags in St. Peter's Square Feb. 21, the pope said that, in elevating the new cardinals, the church was not celebrating earthly power but a sense of service and humility.
"Whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant,'' the pope said at the start of his sermon, quoting Christ's words to his apostles.
The new cardinals included the heads of major archdioceses, Vatican officials, eminent theologians and one longtime personal friend of the pontiff, as well as several church leaders who were persecuted or hindered by authorities during their pastoral careers.
They came from 27 countries and five continents — a geographical mix that the pope said highlighted the church's global presence in the 21st century.
Three Americans were among those cheered by friends, family and faithful as they knelt before the pope and received the cardinal's traditional "red hat'': Cardinals Edward M. Egan of New York, Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington and Avery Dulles, a Jesuit theologian.
The pope, dressed in gold vestments that glimmered in the sunshine, read the formula of creation and the names of all 44 cardinals at the start of a Liturgy of the Word. He asked them to be "fearless witnesses'' of the Gospel in every corner of the earth.
Later, the new cardinals knelt one by one before the pope and accepted the red biretta and a warm embrace from the pontiff. Three Eastern-rite prelates, however, declined the red hat because they felt it was inconsistent with their own traditions. It was the first time such an exemption had been granted, and the Vatican said it showed the pope's respect for the Eastern churches.
At Mass the next day in St. Peter's Square, Pope John Paul gave each of the new cardinals a gold ring as a "sign of dignity, of pastoral concern and of an even greater communion with the See of Peter.''
"Receive the ring from the hand of Peter and know that your love for the church is reinforced with the love of the Prince of the Apostles,'' the pope said as he placed the ring on a finger on each cardinal's right hand.
The Feb. 21-22 ceremonies marked the induction of the largest group of cardinals ever named, bringing total membership in the College of Cardinals to 183. Of these, 135 were below age 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a papal conclave.
The newcomers included two prelates whom the pope named cardinals secretly, or "in pectore,'' in 1998, revealing their names only in January. One was an old personal friend of the Polish-born pontiff, Cardinal Marian Jaworski, the Latin-rite archbishop of Lviv in Ukraine. The other was Cardinal Janis Pujats of Riga, Latvia.
The theme of the Feb. 21 liturgy echoed from the first reading, in which St. Peter counseled pastors to tend their flocks with humility and told them: "Do not lord it over those assigned to you, but be examples to the flock.''
The pope developed that point in his sermon, saying the church was not based on "earthly power and calculation'' but on Jesus' spirit of service. He said he was counting on the new cardinals to be trusted advisers who could help ease the burden of his own ministry.
"Together with (the pope) you should be vigorous defenders of the truth and custodians of the patrimony of faith and customs that have their origin in the Gospel. In this way you will be sure guides for all,'' he said.
At the Feb. 21 consistory and again at Mass the next day, the pope said the special bond that links each cardinal to Rome and the pope should be used above all to foster church unity.
