BishopAccountability.org

Former Dallas Bishop Kevin Farrell named cardinal by Pope Francis

By Caleb Downs
Dallas Morning News
October 9, 2016

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/dallas/2016/10/09/former-dallas-bishop-kevin-farrell-named-cardinal-pope-francis

[with video]

Pope Francis named former Dallas Bishop Kevin Farrell a cardinal Sunday at the end of his Angelus prayer at the Vatican.

Farrell and 16 other newly chosen cardinals — including American archbishops Blaise Cupich of Chicago and Joseph Tobin of Indianapolis — will be elevated at a consistory on Nov. 19, the eve of the close to Pope Francis' Holy Year of Mercy.

It was a clear signal to the conservative U.S. church hierarchy that Francis wants moderate pastors at the helm of the U.S. church, as well as like-minded prelates to elect his successor.

Farrell, 69, will be eligible to vote in a conclave to elect the pope's successor because he is under 80 years old.

"I am humbled by the news this morning that our Holy Father Pope Francis has named me to the College of Cardinals," Farrell said in a written statement. "I ask all in the Diocese of Dallas to please pray for me that I may to the best of my ability fulfill this sacred duty to our Church."

Farrell was recently chosen by Francis to lead the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life, a new Vatican department focused on the lives of ordinary Catholics around the world. It is part of the Roman Curia, an administrative body that advises and helps the pope carry out the church's affairs worldwide.

The appointment began Sept. 1 and made him the highest-ranking American clergyman serving in the Vatican, according to the Diocese of Dallas.

Farrell became Dallas' bishop in 2007 after serving for 24 years in the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. 

His successor, who has yet to be named, will become the spiritual leader to more than 1 million Catholics in Dallas and the surrounding area.

Bishop Greg Kelly, an administrator with the Diocese of Dallas, shared the news with his fellow priests.

"Please pray for him during this important moment in his priesthood," Kelly said, "and let us once again thank God for his nine years of service here with us."

The 14 other men to be elevated to cardinals hail from all over the world. In total, Francis selected men from 11 nations, seven of which have never had a cardinal chosen from their country.

"Their provenance from 11 nations expresses the universality of the church that announces and is witness to the good news of the mercy of God in every corner of the world," Francis said, according to KXAS-TV (NBC 5).

Tobin, the archbishop from Indianapolis, said he was "shocked" by his appointment.

He made headlines last year when he openly defied Indiana Gov. Mike Pence's decision to try to block Syrian refugees from the state.

After the 2015 attacks in Paris, Pence, now the Republican vice presidential nominee, joined dozens of governors in objecting to the federal government's program to resettle refugees from Syria in the U.S., citing security risks. The governors were met with open challenges from bishops, including Tobin.

Cupich, from Chicago, was Francis' first major U.S. appointment. It solidifies the pope's planned direction of the church, given Cupich's emphasis on mercy.

"These appointments of cardinals is one of those moments where you see Pope Francis is changing the face of the church," said Massimo Faggioli, historian and theologian at Villanova University. "He is continuing his plan to make the church less dependent on Europe and, in general, less dependent on the past."

The other priests selected by Pope Francis for elevation to cardinal are:

Archbishop Mario Zenari, Italy

Archbishop Dieudonné Nzapalainga, Central African Republic

Archbishop Carlos Osoro Sierra, Spain

Archbishop Sérgio da Rocha, Brazil

Archbishop Patrick D'Rozario, Bangladesh

Archbishop Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo, Venezuela

Archbishop Jozef De Kesel, Belgium

Archbishop Maurice Piat, Mauritius

Archbishop Carlos Aguiar Retes, Mexico

Archbishop John Ribat, Papua Nuova Guinea

Archbishop Anthony Soter Fernandez, Archbishop Emeritus of Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

Archbishop Renato Corti, Archbishop Emeritus of Novara Italy

Archbishop Sebastian Koto Khoarai, Bishop Emeritus of Mohale's Hoek Lesotho

Father Ernest Simoni, presbytery of the Archdiocese of Shkodrë-Pult, Scutari - Albania

Contact: cdowns@dallasnews.com




.


Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.