Pope Francis will preside over a consistory next month at which 17 new red hats will be presented to their chosen recipients, 13 of whom are eligible to take part in papal elections. Their selection is a highly political act in the present state of the Catholic Church – an assertion of leadership that makes it more likely that Francis’ successor would continue his policies rather than reverse them, as many of his more conservative critics would wish. These appointments also shift the centre of gravity of the Catholic Church further away from Europe towards the South.

Particularly welcome is the rare appointment as cardinal of a serving nuncio, Archbishop Mario Zenari, who represents the Holy See in war-torn Syria. It is a clear sign that regardless of whoever else has given up in despair over that conflict, Pope Francis is not one of them. It is a pastor’s message of solidarity not just to Syrian Christians who have suffered so much, but to all the millions of victims of this devastating multi-sided civil war. Indeed the pastoral theme runs through this list, men close to their people rather than church bureaucrats or canon lawyers who know the rules but not the “smell of the sheep”.