Knelling before Pope Francis, one by one, at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica on November 28, 2020, eleven of thirteen senior churchmen, including two U.S. citizens, received their red biretta hat, cardinal ring and scroll, becoming new members of the College of Cardinals. Due to the travel restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic, the two missing men – Archbishop Jose Advincula of the Philippines and Apostolic Vicar Cornelius Sim of Brunei could not attend the ceremony. They, as well as others who could not attend, watched the live streaming video instead. But the two missing men were also officially made cardinals at the ceremony and will receive their hat, ring and scroll “at another time to be determined.” The two cardinal-designates from the U.S. were Wilton Gregory – Archbishop of Washington D.C. (becoming the first African American cardinal) and Silvano Tomasi, a former Vatican diplomat. Because of the pandemic, each cardinal designate was tested for the virus before flying to Rome and again upon arrival. Even after testing negative they were required to quarantine for 10 days and then were tested again. Meals, fresh linens and clean laundry were left outside their rooms to prevent the spread of the virus. The ceremony was unusually small and with no after-celebration. Only about 100 people attended, which included local existing members of the College of Cardinals, the cardinal’s priest-secretaries, a few guests from each cardinal-designate, and the pastors from 13 of the many churches of Rome. Each of the 13 new cardinals was assigned to one of those churches, just as the first cardinals had been, making the new cardinals members of the clergy of the diocese of Rome, whose bishop is the Pope. With the new 13 there are now 229 cardinals with 128 whom are under the age of 80 and eligible to elect a new pope. Of those 80, Pope Francis has appointed 57%. The red color of the cardinals clothes symbolizes their readiness to sacrifice themselves “to the point of shedding their own blood” in the service of the Pope. In Pope Francis’ homily at the prayer service he told the new cardinals that “the scarlet of a cardinal’s robes, which is the color of blood, can, for a worldly spirit, become the color of a secular ‘eminence’,” the traditional title of respect for a cardinal. If that happens, he said, “you will no longer be a pastor to your people. You will think of yourself only as ‘His Eminence.’ If you feel that, you are off the path.” For cardinals, the Pope said, the red must symbolize a wholehearted following of Jesus, who willingly gave his life on the cross to save humanity.
