Vatican City, Oct 5, 2019 / 09:15 am
Pope Francis created 13 new cardinals Saturday, encouraging each of them to ask for the grace to have a compassionate heart like Christ.
"The readiness of a cardinal to shed his own blood – as signified by the scarlet color of your robes – is secure if it is rooted in this awareness of having been shown compassion and in the ability to show compassion in turn," Pope Francis said at the consistory Oct. 5.
"Today, let us implore, through the intercession of the apostle Peter, the grace to have a compassionate heart, in order to be witnesses of the One who has looked with favor upon us, who chose us, consecrated us and sent us to bring to everyone his Gospel of salvation," he said in St. Peter's Basilica.
The new cardinals come from Africa, Europe, North and Central America, and Asia. Pope Francis said in the announcement of their selection Sept. 1 that the diverse origins of these cardinals "expresses the missionary vocation of the Church, which continues to proclaim the merciful love of God to all people on earth."