UNITED STATES
Washington Post
By Sarah Pulliam Bailey October 9
Pope Francis has named new members of the Catholic Church’s elite College of Cardinals, the group of church leaders who elect a new pope and tend to be his closest advisers.
Of Francis’s 17 new cardinals, the highest-ranking officials in the Catholic Church after the pope, three are Americans: Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich, Indianapolis Archbishop Joseph Tobin and Kevin Farrell, the outgoing bishop of Dallas.
Tobin 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 joined dozens of governors in objecting to the federal government’s program to resettle refugees from Syria in the Unites States, citing security risks. The governors were met with open challenges from bishops, including Tobin.
Francis’s choice of cardinals reflects his emphasis on the global church. The bulk of the new cardinals come from outside Europe, with Francis choosing cardinals from Africa, Asia, South America and Oceania. The one Italian elector was named is Francis’s ambassador to Syria, Cardinal-elect Mario Zenari.
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