Eyeing Catholic demographics, and maybe his successor, Pope Francis shakes up his cardinals

[rug]

Cardinals attend a consistory led by Pope Francis as he names 20 new cardinals at the Vatican on Feb. 12, 2015. Photo courtesy of Reuters/Alessandro Bianchi

By Christopher Lamb | 12 hours ago

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Throughout his papacy, Pope Francis has been appointing cardinals from far-flung parts of the world — choosing men who appear to be toiling away at pastoral work with little or no interest in becoming “princes of the church.”

Next month, during their council, or consistory, Francis will formally induct five more of them into the exclusive club, meaning that he will have appointed close to half of those who will elect his successor.

It is these prelates who, at an unspecified date in the future and providing they are under the age of 80, will process into the Sistine Chapel during the next conclave. Dressed in their scarlet robes and in front of the dramatic frescoes of Michelangelo’s “Last Judgment,” they will cast their ballot about who should be the Catholic Church’s next leader.

Critics have pointed out that the college is unrepresentative of a rapidly globalizing church. The group that elected the first Latin American pope in 2013 was 52 percent European (and even they are overwhelmingly Italian), even though less than a quarter of Catholics came from the continent.

http://religionnews.com/2017/05/25/eyeing-catholic-demographics-and-maybe-his-successor-pope-francis-shakes-up-his-cardinals/

[rpannier]

1. Needs more appointments

And people like Burke to be over 80 or whatever else will disqualify him from voting