Council of Cardinals: five new members

Pope Francis is renewing part of the team of cardinals called to advise him in governing the Church: he is appointing five new members to the Council of Cardinals, including two French-speaking ones – Cardinals Gérald Lacroix, Archbishop of Quebec (Canada), and Jean-Claude Hollerich, SJ, Archbishop of Luxembourg (Luxembourg). The mandate of the previous C9 has expired, according to a press release from the Holy See dated Tuesday, March 7, 2023.

Card. Lacroix says he is “touched by the confidence of the pope”. He wrote on his Twitter page: “I am very touched by the confidence of the Pope inviting me to join the Council of Cardinals. A great responsibility that I want to assume with generosity. My first responsibility remains the Archdiocese of Quebec. It is my family, I want to serve it well. Thank you for your prayer.”

Among the nine members of the new council are three cardinals who have been working since the beginning in this advisory group instituted by the pope on April 13, 2013, one month after his election: they are Cardinal Pietro Parolin, secretary of state; Card. Oswald Gracias, metropolitan archbishop of Bombay (India) and Card. Seán Patrick O’Malley, O.F.M.Cap., Metropolitan Archbishop of Boston (United States of America).

A complete list of the new Council is as follows: Cardinals Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State; Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, L.C., President of the Governorate of Vatican City State; Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Kinshasa (DRC); Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay (India); Seán Patrick O’Malley, O.F.M. Cap, Archbishop of Boston (USA); Juan José Omella, Archbishop of Barcelona (Spain); Gérald Lacroix, Archbishop of Quebec (Canada); Jean-Claude Hollerich, SJ, Archbishop of Luxembourg (Luxembourg) and Sérgio da Rocha, Archbishop of San Salvador de Bahia (Brazil).

The cardinals will be assisted in their work by Archbishop Marco Mellino, secretary, who had already held this position in 2020.

The next Council meeting will be held on April 24 at 9:00 a.m. at St. Martha’s House.