New Cardinals?... possibly in the fall of 2010?

So this is Rumor #2 that is floating around the inter-tubes-of-web.

Rocco Palmo of Whispers in the Loggia posted about several top level 'Vaticanist' reporters that have conveniently "leaked" a report that claims that the Pope will elevate around 19 Bishops to Cardinal this fall.  The report also speculates that this could be the first of several elevations which will occur in the next year.

The logic behind this "leak" is deeper than pure speculation. Although a Pope does not set-up his successor, there are practices and traditions in place to maintain a continuity. This continuity is accomplished through a uniformity in procedure more than in thought; at least this is true on a theoretical level.

Rocco Palmo explains it, but for those unfamiliar with the process it can be quite confusing. He also goes into great detail on WHO the next Cardinals might be.

For a more basic explanation, and ramifications, here is some of the reasoning behind the rumor:

First, the "full voting compliment" of the College of Cardinals is 120. That number is the maximum. Once a Cardinal hits 80, they are no longer eligible to vote, but they may participate in Conclave. Pope Benedict is committed to keeping the number of Cardinals near 120 should the need arise for a Papal Conclave.

Second, the current number of "voting" Cardinals currently is at 111. That number gets down to 101 by November due to 10 more Cardinals reaching the age of 80. Another 12 reach 80 between January and April of 2011. That means by Easter-ish of 2011, the number of voting eligible Cardinals could be around 89. The number used to be 70, but after 1975 it was increased to 120.

Third, there are some discrepancies in the ratio between the number of Cardinals from certain areas/countries and their "rank" in terms of the number of Catholics from that area. In other words, the representation is currently askew in some places. For example there are currently 12 voting age Cardinals from the United States. This number is second only to the Italians, although the US ranks 4th in terms of the number of Catholics it purports to have. Therefore, a "thinning" of sorts might be logical, which points to the fact that if Cardinals were to be appointed, they would likely hail from lesser represented places like Asia and Africa.

Fourth, these rumors could spell the end of the "large" US contingent of Cardinals. While such places like St. Louis, Baltimore, and Detroit were once seen as "Red Hat" assignments, these places may be on the chopping block, so to speak - this is due to a combination of the Bishops being "newer" and these cities declining somewhat in their "influence" in the Catholic world if for no other way than in population. Ironically though, these are "hot-beds" of Traditional Catholicism. [For more on this situation please see: Te Deum laudamus - Red Hat Rumor Mill]

On the list of SURE things from the US seems to be Raymond Burke, ArchBishop and prefect of the Apostolic Signatura.

There should be more to come on this later....


-Posted by: Joe