New advisors to Pope Francis will be officially “created” or appointed on Saturday (Sep. 30) during a ceremony inside St. Peter’s Basilica.
During the event known as consistory, picked clergymen will receive the cardinal’s red three-cornered biretta hat from the Pope.
Three of the 21 new cardinals named last July serve in Africa. Among them is the Archbishop of Cape Town who who spoke, Thursday (Sep. 28), ahead of the consistory .
“I think the church in Africa is young, it’s vibrant, it’s alive and I think we can bring that sense of joy and that sense of hope to people because Africa is a continent of hope. It is quite true that we suffer from many difficulties and many problems, many challenges but our people are people of great hope.”
“Coming particularly from South Africa where we have come through the Apartheid area and where I personally expected in those years that the country would just descend into a civil war, we were able to achieve a democratic country and a peaceful settlement. And I think that, that was a miracle that was given to us and I think that in itself is a sign of hope as well.”
The co-adjutor archbishop of Tabora in Tanzania and the archbishop of Juba, South Sudan will also be appointed on Saturday.
Cardinals serve as advisers to the pontiff on matters of teaching and administration.
Most importantly, they elect the next Pope.
