VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter
Joshua J. McElwee | Dec. 11, 2014
VATICAN CITY
For only the second time so far in his papacy, Pope Francis will name new cardinals of the Catholic church, giving him an opportunity to concretize his influence over who will be chosen as his successor one day.
Francis will name the new cardinals at a Feb. 14-15 ceremony, formally known as a consistory, Vatican spokesman Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi said at a briefing Thursday.
Cardinals, sometimes known as the “princes of the church” and for their wearing of red vestments, are usually senior Catholic prelates who serve either as archbishops in the world’s largest dioceses or in the Vatican’s central bureaucracy.
After a pope’s death or renunciation of the papal office, cardinals are also responsible for governing the church until they meet together in a secret conclave to elect the next pope.
The Vatican spokesman said the pope did not say which prelates would be named cardinals, but the names are expected to be made public in mid-January.
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