Pope Francis appointed 14 new cardinals in a ceremony at St Peter’s Square on Thursday, while warning the newly named dignitaries against internal wrangling within the church.
“What does it profit us to gain the whole world if we are living in a stifling atmosphere of intrigues that dry up our hearts?” the pope said. “We might think of all those palace intrigues that take place, even in curial offices.”
During his address, the pope also encouraged cardinals not to engage in a “quest of honours, jealousy, envy, intrigue, accommodation and compromise.’’
Among the new dignitaries are men from Iraq, Pakistan and Latin America who were previously relatively unknown, and Francis emphasised the need for the Catholic Church to reach out to the “margins” of the world.
Among those appointed cardinals was Konrad Krajewski, a Polish archbishop known for his commitment to the poor, having set up showers for the homeless at the Vatican.
Other appointees include the Spanish Jesuit Luis Ladaria Ferrer, and Toribio Ticona Porco of Bolivia.
Porco comes from the country’s indigenous Quechua people.
The College of Cardinals in Rome is tasked with choosing a new pope in a Papal Conclave.
However, three of the new cardinals are over the age limit of 80 years, and thus would not be allowed to vote in a papal election.
