Ignoring quotas, pope confirms his priorities with new cardinals

Published: 2007-10-17

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- With his latest batch of cardinal appointments, Pope Benedict XVI has confirmed some important directions and priorities of his pontificate. First, the pope's picks have once again boosted the European and U.S. presence among voting-age members of the College of Cardinals. The list of 23 new cardinals, announced Oct. 17, included 18 under the age of 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a conclave. Two are Americans, which will leave the United States with 13 under-80 cardinals, matching a historically high number. The pope's choice of Cardinal-designate Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston was particularly significant because it went outside the group of U.S. dioceses traditionally headed by cardinals, instead looking to the South, where the Catholic Church has grown most rapidly in recent years. Cardinal-designate DiNardo, 58, will be the first head of a Texas archdiocese to wear the red hat, and he comes with a bonus feature that could enhance his influence -- several years of experience as an official of the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops.

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