There’s been a lot written about Francis I and the impact he’s been making in terms of changing the Roman Catholic Church’s focus. This article isn’t about that. Instead I want to take a look at the way Francis I can begin to ensure the change of focus he’s begun can be made lasting.
Bright red wonketry below...
As nearly everyone knows, the Pope is elected by the College of Cardinals, more specifically, the Cardinal Electors (a somewhat smaller group). Cardinal Electors, simply put, are Cardinals who are less than 80 years old at the time a new Pope must be chosen. At the time of this writing there are 205 Cardinals and 110 Cardinal Electors. On December 25th another cardinal will have “aged out” with 2 more by the end of January. Ten more will celebrate their 80th birthdays in 2014, five in 2015, and 13 in 2016.
Why is this important? On October 31, 2013, the Holy See announced that Pope Francis would hold his first Consistory to create new Cardinals on February 22, 2014. Now, the maximum number of Cardinals is more or less fixed at around 200, however, the number of Cardinal Electors is limited to 120. 81 votes (2/3 + 1) are required to elect a new pope.
Obviously, least 81 current or former Cardinal Electors chose Cardinal Bergoglio as the future Pope Francis I. No doubt some of these will age out by the time of the next Papal Conclave. As tome goes by Francis I will have many opportunities to appoint new Cardinal Electors in the next decade (by birth date; over a decade some deaths among the College at large may well also occur):
02/22/2013 - 13
12/31/2014 - 10
12/31/2015 - 5
12/31/2016 - 13
12/31/2017 - 5
12/31/2018 - 7
12/31/2019 - 7
12/31/2020 - 3
12/31/2021 - 4
12/31/2022 - 7
12/31/2023 - 9
Total - 83
Of course there has been a lot of more or less informed chit-chat. Most commentators seem to feel Francis will begin working to bring some proportionality to the distribution of Cardinals geographically. Most obvious is the dearth of Cardinals in South America with half the world’s Catholics but only 12% of the Cardinals and in the Philippines where 70 million Catholics have a single representative. Others also expect that the number of positions assigned to officials of the Holy See itself may also be reduced.
Whatever the exact make-up of the first group, we may expect them to be men who are more or less in accord with Francis I's philosophy. (A few extreme optimists point out that Cardinals need not be priests and suggest that there may be a hint of a whiff of a suggestion of a possibility that someday a woman might join the College.)
Clearly, Francis I will have the opportunity to make a strong case for the continuation of his focus after his passing. We won't know their names until a few weeks before the Consistory, but the men who will be created Cardinals on February 22, 2014 will be the first major clue as to whether Francis I’s approach will last beyond his papacy.