Those who oppose the papacy of Francis will have been dismayed by his announcement that he is naming 14 new cardinals, 11 of whom will be eligible to elect his successor. They include bishops from Iraq, Pakistan, Portugal, Peru, Madagascar and Japan – and the papal almoner, Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, who works among the poor people of Rome. They are all pastoral shepherds who know “the smell of the sheep”.

Francis has now created 47 per cent of the voting cardinals – those under 80 – which should more or less guarantee that the next pope will continue on the course this one has set.