The five Latin Americans whom Pope Francis will create cardinals on December 8 expressed their gratitude to the Holy Father and renewed their commitment to continue serving the Catholic Church, not only in their dioceses and countries, but throughout the world, as members of the College of Cardinals.
This is Mons. Carlos Gustavo Castillo Mattasoglio, Archbishop of Lima and Primate of Peru; the Archbishop of Santiago del Estero and Primate of Argentina, Mons. Vicente Bokalic Iglic; the Archbishop of Guayaquil (Ecuador), Mons. Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera OFM; Mons. Fernando Natalio Chomalí Garib, Archbishop of Santiago (Chile); and the Archbishop of Porto Alegre (Brazil), Bishop Jaime Spengler OFM.
Receive the main news from ACI Prensa by WhatsApp and Telegram
It is increasingly difficult to see Catholic news on social media. Subscribe to our free channels today:
The five will have the right to vote in an eventual conclave for the election of a future Pope, since none of them has passed the age of 80.
Listening, discernment and great decisions
Mons. Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera stated: “I accept this new task with great peace and humility because I know that it is not an honor nor a recognition of any merit, but rather an expression of closeness and trust of Pope Francis,” according to Infobae.
His new task, the future cardinal considered, is “a service that I will have to learn little by little together with each one of you in the light of the word of God that makes us more brothers and friends.”
“May Mary, the mother of Jesus and the Church, accompany us on this path of listening, discernment and great decisions to continue fulfilling the mission that her beloved son has entrusted to us,” he expressed.
Mercy, joy, and work for a better society
Mons. Fernando Chomalí Garib, for his part, manifested in a video published on his Instagram account on October 7: “I would like to thank the Holy Father for the appointment he has made me as cardinal of the Catholic Church, I assume it as a great responsibility to work for the evangelizing task, which is ours.” first priority, and also work and especially for those who feel alone.”
“I hope to transmit the mercy of God, I hope to transmit the joy of living and I hope to collaborate for a more just, better society and also for the good of our country. “I am very grateful for the possibility that they have given me to be able to serve as a cardinal of the Church,” he concluded.
Visibly moved, the prelate pointed out that “I have given my entire life to the Church” and, reiterating that it is “a service,” he anticipated: “I’m not going to get upset.”
“I become an elector, when there is a new election of Pope”, explained to the local press Bishop Chomali, although he clarified that he hopes “it will not be soon, so that we will have Pope Francis for a long time.”
“The gift is always a task, and now what corresponds is to put myself at the service of the Pope with greater force, and also put myself at the service of the poorest, we are very indebted in that,” he noted.
Union between the Pope and the people
In press conference On October 7, Peruvian Archbishop Carlos Castillo first thanked the Holy Father for this new responsibility within the Church, which represents “the union between the Pope and the people.”
“What we hope is simply to help the effective transition of the Church to be a synodal Church, it can also have our contribution, our help, our service,” he hoped.
This appointment is for the prelate “a gift, it is an even undeserved gift, because it is always greater than what one has done.”
“It is a great joy for me to continue the succession of the cardinals of the Church of Lima, because we are associated with this meeting of communion of a missionary Church, which is called to continue being missionary,” he stated.
Walk together in communion
Bishop Jaime Spengler is in Rome participating in the Synod. Upon hearing the news, according to Vatican Newssaid: “I was surprised today by the appointment of the Holy Father for a new mission or the continuity of the mission in the Church.”
“At this moment, I would like in a very special way to address the clergy and people of the Archdiocese of Porto Alegre, and in a very special way to those who have been marked by the scourge of the climate tragedy that has hit Rio Grande do Sul. But not only Rio Grande do Sul, the Center-West with the fires, the drought in the Amazon. I would also like, in a very special way, to address the bishops of Brazil and, of course, the bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean,” he mentioned.
“Let us walk together in communion so that we can promote, among ourselves, the kingdom of God and his justice,” he exhorted.
Do the will of God
Bishop Vicente Bokalic spoke with Radio Maria and admitted: “I still haven’t realized it, all of this is so unexpected, so unforeseen.”
“These are the things that Pope Francis does,” he acknowledged. “They are the things of God.”
“When the Lord calls us to new things, sometimes one feels very limited… What can I give? But one day we said: ‘I am here to serve,’” he said.
“With that same spirit, I am here to do the will of God,” he assured. “Obviously, God has his ways and sometimes they are unfathomable and at times it is difficult for us to interpret them, but we know that this is a request, something that comes from the Lord in the person of Pope Francis, I have no doubt about this and I abide by it, I assume it and I also trust that if God asks us for more, he will also give us the grace to be able to respond,” he said.
Juliet Villar
I am a journalist, with a degree in communication from the National University of La Matanza in Argentina. I have work experience in non-governmental organizations. Since 2016 I have been dedicated to Catholic journalism, first at the Argentine Catholic Information Agency (AICA) and, since 2022, as ACI Prensa correspondent for Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Bolivia.