Church in the World

New cardinals given Vatican assignments

Rome

It has taken the unusually long time of nearly seven months, but Pope Benedict XVI has finally appointed his most recently created cardinals to be members of key Roman Curia offices, writes Robert Mickens. Among the new appointments, published on 12 June, Cardinal Seán Brady of Ireland was assigned to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Pontifical Commission for the Church's Cultural Heritage. Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai was the only one of the 18 men who received red hats at the 24 November 2007 consistory not to be named to any of the various Vatican congregations, pontifical councils and other commissions.

The Vatican gave no explanation for the long delay in the appointments, which usually come several weeks after a consistory. In 1998 it took Pope John Paul II only seven days to name his newly created cardinals to Curia membership.

Bishops and cardinals appointed members to these Vatican bureaux maintain their primary functions in dioceses or other offices. They meet in Rome regularly and vote on documents or other major initiatives promulgated by the offices of which they are members.

Traditionally, membership to the Vatican's Secretary of State advisory board and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) and the Congregation for Bishops are considered the most influential and coveted appointments. Pope Benedict did not appoint any of the new cardinals to the CDF this time, but he did name four to the Congregation for Bishops - Cardinals André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris; Angelo Bagnasco, Archbishop of Genoa and head of the Italian Episcopal Conference; Stanislaw Rylko, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity; and Giovanni Lajolo, governor of Vatican City.

Among English-speakers, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Houston - home to many Catholic Hispanic immigrants - was appointed to the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerants, while Cardinal John Foley, former head of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications and now Grand Master of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, was named a member of the Congregations for Divine Worship and the Evangelisation of Peoples. Cardinal John Njue, Archbishop of Nairobi, was appointed to Evangelisation of Peoples and the Congregation for the Clergy.