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Tony Gentle / Reuters
New Cardinal James Michael Harvey of U.S. (right) is congratulated by another cardinal during a consistory ceremony in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Saturday.
Update at 7.20 a.m. ET on Nov. 24: Milwaukee Archbishop James Harvey and five others were made cardinals by Pope Benedict Saturday, Reuters reports. He reminded them that they wear red vestments because they must be ready to defend the faith "even to the shedding of your blood" in a ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica.
Published on Nov. 23, 2012: ROME — The red, or rather scarlet, carpet will be rolled in St. Peter's Basilica on Saturday for the elevation of six cardinals. The new so-called "princes of the church" will receive their ring, scarlet skullcap and the traditional biretta, a four-cornered hat, in a solemn ceremony presided by Pope Benedict XVI.
The ceremony won't only be a rare insight into one of the oldest and most colorful traditions in the Catholic Church, which with 1.1 billion adherents worldwide, represents more than half of the world's Christian population. It will also redefine the balance of power in the Catholic Church, and further increase the United States' influence in the election of the next pope.
Among the six cardinal-elects is James Harvey, an archbishop from Milwaukee who will become the 11th cardinal elector from the U.S., strengthening the country's position as the Vatican's second-largest voting bloc after Italy. Cardinal electors are the members of the College of Cardinals who have not reached their 80th birthdays on the day the pope dies and are thus able to vote for the new prelate.
But as American author and John Paul II biographer George Weigel explains, the fact that American cardinals will represent almost 10 percent of worldwide electors in the next Conclave (the election of the pope), does not necessarily mean one of them will become the next Holy Father.
"The prominence of American cardinals in the current college reflects the vitality of the Catholic Church in the United States," Weigel told NBC News. “But I don't think it likely that any American will be elected pope for as long as the United States remains the world's pre-eminent power."
What the selection of an American to be one of the new cardinal electors might show however, is that Pope Benedict XVI is acutely aware that the Catholic Church is swiftly ceasing to be predominately European religion. After all, with 134 million followers, Brazil alone has more Catholics than Italy, France and Spain combined, according to a major study released in 2011. Even the United States, with 75 million or 24 percent of the world's Catholics, is far ahead of any European country.
Harvey, 63, is a well-known and respected figure in the Vatican. He was named prefect of the papal household in 1998, and has since arranged daily meetings and engagements for Pope John Paul II first, and Benedict XVI later. Having lived for the past 30 years in the Vatican, he may be more familiar with the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica than the "Domes" at the Mitchell Park Conservatory, but he never severed his ties with his native city.
Once he receives his ring, skullcap and hat on Saturday, Harvey will become the third American to be elevated to cardinal this year, after Edwin Frederick O’Brien and Timothy Michael Dolan received the honor back in February.
External link: Cardinals by country
While chances of an American to be elected Pope are still slim, American cardinals are undeniably a force in the Vatican.
Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, has quickly become the superstar among American cardinals. His charismatic personality and quick wit made him an instant hit with the media, who have been waiting for a camera-friendly cleric since the death of Pope John II, arguably the greatest Catholic communicator in the age of mass media.
Spencer Platt / Getty Images
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, speaks with people waiting for free Thanksgiving groceries at the Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Memorial Community Center in Harlem on Tuesday.
"Cardinal Dolan is definitely a candidate and enjoys a lot of name recognition — which helps in a global church," Alessandro Speciale, Vatican correspondent at the Religious News Service, told NBC News.
"But two factors might weaken his chances: coming from the world's only superpower could still be seen as a negative factor in a global church, and he has never held a leadership position in the Roman Curia," he said, referring to the Holy See's administrative body.
In any case, the choice of non-Europeans to high office in the Vatican is a way for the Holy See to shift the balance of power towards other continents and prove the “universality of the church.”
"There was considerable criticism of the last group of cardinals being too European, too Italianate, and too Curial. I think it's fair to read this group as a response to that criticism," Weigel said.
Speciale agrees: "The previous Consistory in February had been criticized for being overly skewed towards Italy (and more in general Europe) and, again, the Curia. With this quite unusual second batch of red hats in a year, Benedict wanted to show his attention to the rest of the world."
Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. Look back at his life from childhood through his papacy.
Whatever the reason for the choice of non-European Cardinals, the selection plays in favor of the American grouping, which will have one more elector in their ranks.
"The power of Americans in the Vatican has grown significantly in the last few years: not just because of the star power of Cardinal Dolan but also thanks to the organization, economic resources and boldness in the defense of Catholic values in front of a perceived hostile society is admired by many in the Vatican," Speciale said.
"But it remains to be seen whether this numerical weight will actually translate into influence at the Conclave: though national links are powerful, many other factors — the strongest being whether one is part on not of the Roman Curia — play into the secret voting in the Sistine Chapel."
When the time comes, all Cardinals-electors from all over the world will "lock" themselves in the Sistine Chapel in order to vote for a new Pope. While it is unclear who will emerge from it as the new leader of the world's Catholics, one thing is certain: that American influence in that choice went up a notch.
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Leave a Comment:
I am not real big on the Idea of an American Pontiff. Given the Fact that both Brazil and Mexico have larger Catholic Populations than the US, and that the US Primatical See has issues that need cleaned up.
Who cares?
Well, a lot of people care, but the question is, why care?
who cares people who believe in the constitution..the way it is
I vote to horsewhip all of them and then run 'em out of town on a flat car.
In a world with all the issues we have - who the hell cares which one of these punks gets to wear the royal dress??? They have nothing in their hands other than fear and coin.
My only hope is that the 'smoking gun' that proves it is all a fraud is found soon. Until then, it would be best to keep your kids away from the whole lot of them.
Remember how Glenn beck ..help evangelicals hold hands with the catholic Church...put them all together..and power ....that's there plan...
Yeh but EVERONE knows Glen Beck is a moron! That means nothing.
he has his own TV show now..I cant believe it..
In the slide show, where is the picture of him in his cute little Hitler youth outfit?
the Evangelicals are the one we have to worry about..but they need a leader..remember the tea party folks..catholic Church is not a cult anymore..they are all holding hands now folks...yes Glenn Becks tea party...have you notice glenn beck is not gone??
He IS gone to everyone with half a working brain!
no he is on TV again..called blaze
your are right about that
And we should care about because of...WHY??????????
the blue law in the future..google it..blue law
Eventually, the first American pope would be the first openly gay pope, and very proud of it.
really?..are all american men gay now??
How about Bernard Cardinal Law from Boston. Ya, he is the one who kept transferring pedophile priest from parish to parish. When it was discovered before he could be prosecuted, the vatican flew him to Italy. He remains there under their protectionl. That my friends is called the honorable catholic religion. LOL Hide your children from any catholic priest !
he should be sharing a cell with roger mahoney...........two birds of a feather......such a shame for the catholic church...i was raise a catholic and this is painful...not that i remained a good catholic...
Good to see that you aren't a total loon on EVERY subject Paddy...
we are going to get an America pope...for the sins they have caused on our children
i was born and raised a catholic..............anyway now i eliminate the middle man.....
And we need clout with the head pedophile protector.....why????
and what the hell......since i am here...obama still sucks....always will!!!
Now THAT'S the Paddy we know and love!
Wow the vitrol and fear displayed by so many haters here is quite telling! Most of the haters here appear to be moral relativists, so what does it matter what other people do with their time?
If you are an American relativist who believe in nothing other than yourself, change the first amendment and remove freedom of religion. Then you can jail and kill all the Catholics to your heart's content.
To those who mock these Catholic men as homosexuals is that meant to be a put down? I thought for the moral relativist that all sexuality was the same? Why would you make fun of them for being sodomites?
Anyway these hate-filled posts make very little sense from a logical perspective. I wish more of you haters would act less like deluded men and women of scientific rhetoric and more like the educated people you claim to be.
Freedom of religion is very important, as is the freedom of speech and of opinion. Human have the phenomena of religion as part of their consciousness. I dont think its a particularly healthy thing to believe in, but thats my opinion.
Good grief, Anaxagoras. You talk about logic and make strawman arguments for whatever reason ("jail and kill all the Catholics to your heart's content"). And you also use the term "sodomites." I don't even know where to start!
You're right about the vitriol, wrong about the fear. It's mockery.
I don't want to jail and kill Catholics, or any other denomination. I just want them to shut the hell up. Like you want me to shut the hell up.
You stop shoving your god in our faces and we'll stop telling you what a foolish waste of time religion is. If you want to evangelize in public, you'd better be prepared to hear that you and your god are full of sh!t.
Fair enough?
Having gay or black Pope will have to wait longer.....lol...It is 2012, and this nonsense still has relevance.....
I suppose I should care about all this, but the bridge between the Roman Catholic church and me is pretty much burnt to ash. Pope Ratzinger has alienated so many people during his tenure, and Pope JPII paved the way for him to do so. Without a return to Vatican II philosophies the church is pretty much dead to me, which is not easy for me to say given it is my childhood church and I was hoping to become a priest one day.
Having grown up catholic, I find that thing about Catholics fascinating! You can be a devout catholic and still think the church is full of sh1t on various topics (birth control, meat on Friday, etc). Pretty rebellious bunch!
Andrew,
I was just going off of about 2/3 of these posts which kept making the claim that this Church is comprised of homosexuals, pedophiles and lunatics. If all these men are such things then the only thing protecting them from prosecution or institutionalization is the first amendment. It should be repealed if these posts are even partially true so we can prosecute (and jail/execute if warrented) those who have committed and continue to commit these crimes.
I thought sodomite was a better word than queer but you might be right about that, sodomite does have negative historical conotations.
Andrew,
I don't understand how you think the Church is turning away from Vatican II. Pope Benedict XVI has declared this to be a "Year of Faith" and all Catholics are encouraged to study both the Catechism of the Catholic Church as well as the documents from Vatican II. Have you ever read the documents of Vatican II? How do you know that the Church is trying to return to pre-Vatican II? I believe that there was a misunderstanding by many (including many priests) as to what Vatican II actually meant back in the 60s, and just now the Catholic Church is fully realizing those ramifications. The Church wants Vatican II to be meaningful, and it is going about how best to do that - including making sure that Catholics actually understand the purpose of Vatican II.
I wish people who criticize the Church would at least research and really KNOW what they are criticizing. More often than not, people's criticism relates to what they *think* the Church teaches than what it actually does. Often those criticisms regard priests and other leaders in the Church - that is something distinct from the Catholic Church itself. Every group of people or organization (in this matter, the Church) has some bad apples who do horrible things. Agreed - you will not get any argument from me there. However, to let the actions of a few color your opinion of the entire Church is wrong. Those individuals were CLEARLY not following the teachings of the Catholic Church.
I believe this quote from Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen sums it up quite nicely: "There are not a hundred people in America who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions of people who hate what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church."
So long as the Vatican protects, embraces and gives comfort to Bernie Law, they will have no moral validation.
They may as well give themselves their rewards and accolades here on earth because there will none in heaven!
agreed! Because there is no such thing as 'heaven'.
Is to. Heaven is a disco!
Obama got the Catholic vote. And the Jewish. He also slightly increased his evangelical stats from 2008. He did lose the Mormon vote, go figure.
You'd think he'd try to curb the sexual abuse within the church (which IS under his control) as opposed to trying to dictate the private lives of citizens of the US (which REALLY has nothing to do with him whatsoever)...
Not happening for a looooong time.
We don't need to elect an American Pope, we have a Messiah who was just re-elected for another term. Take him to Rome please and convert him. PLEASE