cardinals

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Pope Names 21 Cardinals, Including a 99-Year-Old

Many come from 'the church's edges,' church historian says

(Newser) - Pope Francis named 21 new cardinals Sunday, significantly increasing the size of the College of Cardinals and further cementing his mark on the group of prelates who will one day elect his successor. They include a man who will be the oldest cardinal: Monsignor Angelo Acerbi, a 99-year-old retired Vatican...

In a First, Vatican Court Convicts a Cardinal

Angelo Becciu, who was a close adviser to Pope Francis, found guilty of embezzlement

(Newser) - Cardinal Angelo Becciu, a onetime adviser to Pope Francis who was touted as a potential successor, was convicted Saturday by a Vatican court of embezzlement. Cardinal Angelo Becciu was sentenced to 5½ years in prison, the BBC reports. He was charged after an investigation sparked by a losing property investment...

Pope's Top Critic Is About to Have to Find New Digs

Pontiff has apparently had it with Cardinal Raymond Burke

(Newser) - Cardinal Raymond Burke , an American who's led conservative resistance to Pope Francis' progressive moves since his election a decade ago, has apparently poked the pontiff one too many times. As the New York Times reports, Francis has "frequently demoted and stripped the American cleric of influence"—...

Pope Enters 'Crucial New Phase' for Church

Francis appoints 21 new cardinals to help him enact his reforms, cement his legacy

(Newser) - Pope Francis created 21 new cardinals at a ritual-filled ceremony Saturday, including key figures at the Vatican and in the field who will help enact his reforms and cement his legacy as he enters a crucial new phase in running the Catholic Church. On a crisp sunny day filled with...

Confederate Statues Aren't the Only Ones Coming Down

Homage to late German cardinal comes down days after new sex-abuse allegations

(Newser) - Confederate statues aren't the only ones being taken down: A statue of a deceased German cardinal was removed from its perch outside Essen Cathedral in western Germany on Monday, reports the AP , days after allegations of sexual abuse decades ago became public. The accusations against Cardinal Franz Hengsbach,...

Pope Adds to Group That Will Pick His Successor

New cardinals include choices for Hong Kong, Jerusalem

(Newser) - Pope Francis on Sunday announced he has chosen 21 new cardinals, including prelates from Jerusalem and Hong Kong—places where Catholics are a small minority—as he shapes the body of churchmen who will select his successor. The pope announced his picks during his weekly appearance in St. Peter's...

Vatican Cardinal Files Defamation Suit Against Accuser

Marc Ouellet says in countersuit that woman's sex assault claims 'tarnished' his global reputation

(Newser) - A Vatican cardinal sued a Canadian woman for defamation in a Canadian court on Tuesday after she accused him of sexual assault while he was archbishop of Quebec. Cardinal Marc Ouellet, head of the Vatican's bishops office, is seeking $74,000 in compensatory damages for "injury to his...

A Catholic First: Cardinal Admits Abusing Minor

78-year-old Jean-Pierre Ricard says he abused 14-year-old girl in 1980s, steps down

(Newser) - Jean-Pierre Ricard has become the first Catholic cardinal to publicly admit to abusing a minor, according to reports. The French cardinal said Monday that he "behaved in a reprehensible way with a young girl aged 14" as a priest in the archdiocese of Marseille in the 1980s and "...

Francis Installs 20 Cardinals
Francis Installs
20 Cardinals
Aug 27, 2022 3:40 PM CDT

Francis Installs 20 Cardinals

Pope has now chosen most of the men who will choose his successor

(Newser) - Pope Francis elevated 20 more churchmen to the rank of cardinal on Saturday, formally expanding the group eligible to vote for his successor in the event he dies or resigns—the latter a step he has said he'd consider if the need arises. Of the churchmen named new cardinals...

Once the Vatican's No. 2 Man, His Legacy Was Marred

Cardinal Angelo Sodano, 94, championed founder of religious order who turned out to be a pedophile

(Newser) - Cardinal Angelo Sodano, a once-powerful Italian prelate who long served as the Vatican's No. 2 official but whose legacy was tarnished by his support for the pedophile founder of an influential religious order, has died. He was 94. In its Saturday announcement of his death, the Vatican said Sodano...

Pope: I Actually Was at Meeting on Priest Accused of Abuse

Benedict had originally said he hadn't attended, blames discrepancy on 'editing' mistake

(Newser) - Update: Pope Benedict XVI has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in the Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal, but there's been a shift in at least one story. Per the Catholic News Agency and CNN , the pontiff had originally told investigators he hadn't attended a January 1980 meeting of archdiocesan...

Cardinal Known for Vaccine Misinfo on Ventilator With COVID

Raymond Burke, ex-archbishop of St. Louis, put on oxygen support just days after testing positive

(Newser) - A former archbishop of St. Louis who's publicly expressed wariness about the coronavirus vaccine has been placed on a ventilator, just days after he announced he had the virus. "I wish to inform you that I have recently tested positive for the COVID-19 virus," Cardinal Raymond Burke...

First Cardinal Charged With Sex Abuse of a Minor

Theodore McCarrick, now defrocked, accused of molesting 16-year-old boy

(Newser) - The Catholic Church's sexual abuse scandal just reached its highest level yet inside the church. Defrocked Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has been charged with molesting a 16-year-old boy decades ago in Massachusetts, reports NBC News . He is the first cardinal, former or otherwise, to be so charged. McCarrick is 91,...

Pope Orders Cardinals to Take a Pay Cut

Pandemic has hit Vatican finances hard

(Newser) - Pope Francis, who worked as a bar bouncer and a janitor as a young man in a working-class family in Argentina, has ordered cardinals and other clerics to take a pay cut in order to save the jobs of ordinary workers at the Vatican. The Vatican says cardinals, who are...

Vatican Report: John Paul II to Blame for McCarrick's Rise

Probe into disgraced cardinal lets Pope Francis off the hook, blames other bishops, cardinals, popes

(Newser) - A Vatican probe into ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has found that a series of bishops, cardinals, and even popes downplayed or dismissed reports he slept with seminarians, and determined that Pope Francis merely continued his predecessors' naive handling of the predator until a former altar boy alleged abuse. The Vatican took...

Pope Francis Announces a Surprise First

Names DC Archbishop Wilton Gregory a new cardinal, the first Black American in a red hat

(Newser) - Pope Francis on Sunday named 13 new cardinals, including Washington, DC, Archbishop Wilton Gregory, who would become the first Black US prelate to earn the coveted red hat. In a surprise announcement from his studio window, Francis said the churchmen would be elevated to a cardinal’s rank in a...

Cardinal Abruptly Steps Down: 'Why Are You Doing This to Me?'

Giovanni Angelo Becciu says Pope Francis forced him to step down amid financial scandal allegations

(Newser) - An abrupt resignation shook Rome Thursday, with a high-ranking Vatican official who was involved in a controversial luxury real estate deal stepping down. "The Holy Father accepted the resignation from the office of Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and from the rights connected to the...

Francis Makes Move to Reshape the Church

The pope adds 13 new cardinals who reflect his views

(Newser) - Pope Francis added 13 new cardinals to the top of the Catholic hierarchy on Saturday, telling them they must show God's compassion to those who suffer to be faithful to their ministry, the AP reports. Francis presided over the ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica, elevating churchmen who share...

Cardinal's Lawyer Sorry for Referring to Rape as 'Vanilla'

Robert Richter issues apology after 'sleepless night'

(Newser) - The defense lawyer for the man who was once the third highest-ranking official in the Catholic Church—and who's now awaiting sentencing for attacks on two 13-year-old choirboys in Australia—is apologizing for referring to the crimes as "plain" and "vanilla." The assaults by George Pell,...

Pope Makes 'Almost Revolutionary' Move Against Ex-Cardinal

Theodore McCarrick has been defrocked by Pope Francis

(Newser) - Cardinal Donald Wuerl may have forgotten about sexual abuse allegations against his predecessor, but Pope Francis didn't. The New York Times reports that word has been handed down from the top: Theodore McCarrick, the former cardinal of Washington, DC, has been defrocked. "The Holy Father has recognized the...

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