Pope Francis announced that he will create thirteen new Cardinals next month. Eight of the red hats will go to the following men, who will be Cardinal-electors:

  • Archbishop Mario Grech, recently appointed Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops;
  • Archbishop Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints;
  • Archbishop Antoine Kambanda of Kigali, Rwanda;
  • Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Washington, DC;
  • Archbishop Jose Fuerte Advincula of Capiz, Philippines;
  • Archbishop Celestino Aos Braco of Santiago de Chile; Archbishop Cornelius Sim, Vicar Apostolic of Brunei;
  • Archbishop Paolo Lojudice of Siena, Italy;
  • Fra Mauro Gambetti OFM Conv., custos of the Holy Convent of Assisi.

Five men above the age of 80 years are also to be created Cardinals: Archbishop Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel, emeritus of San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico; Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, a long-time diplomat; Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa OFM Cap., long-serving Preacher of the Papal Household; Msgr Enrico Feroci, parish priest of the Shrine of Our Lady of Divine Love (La Madonna del Divino Amore) in Rome.

Pope Francis announced the Consistory for the Creation of new Cardinals will be held on November 28th, the vigil of the First Sunday of Advent.

The announcement comes in the midst of a worldwide controversy sparked by remarks from Pope Francis that aired in a screening of a new documentary film, Francesco, by director Evgeny Afineevsky, in which the pope is heard to voice support for same-sex civil unions. The controversy quickly turned into something of a mystery last week, after allegations of footage-manipulation leveled at the director and the Vatican followed early attempts by unofficial papal explainers to parse the remarks, impugn the translation of them, and blame papal critics for the kerfuffle.

Meanwhile, the Vatican has issued no clarification, but did allow an award ceremony to proceed Thursday on Vatican grounds, in which Mr Afineevsky received the 2020 Kieno “Cinema for Humanity” Prize in the Vatican Gardens. There have been reports of an official media blackout in the Vatican. Those reports cite an internal memo from the communications discastery. The Catholic Herald has been unable as yet to authenticate the memo independently. Our repeated requests for clarification have not received any substantial reply.

*This is a developing story

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