Pope names 6 new cardinals with world wide flavor.

Pope Benedict XVI appointed six new cardinals in a ceremony at st. Peter's Basilica on Thursday, all of them coming from countries outside Europe.

One of those elevated to the Higher education of Cardinals was Us Archbishop James M. Harvey, who currently serves as prefect of the papal household, according to Vatican Radio.

The other folks were Bechara Boutros Rai, a Maronite patriarch from Lebanon; Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, an Indian archbishop and head of the Syro-Malankara Church; Archbishop Bob Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria; Archbishop Ruben Salazar Gomez from Bogota, Colombia; and Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle from Manila, Philippines.

During the ceremony each received the more common red hat, or "biretta, " gold ring as well as a document with the name of the cardinal's titular church throughout Rome.
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The red of the cardinals' hats is viewed as symbolic of the ultimate sacrifice they'd make if required, that is certainly, shedding their blood because of their faith.
The pontiff's address devoted to the diversity of the particular church and how it belongs to every one the world's peoples, based on Vatican Radio.

"What makes the Church Catholic is the fact Christ in his protecting mission embraces all humankind, " he is offered as saying.

"Situated from the context and the perspective of the Church's unity and universality is the College of Cardinals: it presents a range of faces, because it expresses the face of the universal Community center. "

The College involving Cardinals was established throughout 1150. Its main role is always to advise the pope and also pick his successor.

The modern cardinals are all reportedly younger than 80, meaning they could are likely involved in picking the up coming pope.

Once a cardinal reaches 80, he is no longer able to participate in the election of the particular pope or enter the trick conclave where cardinals gather when the time comes to select the next pope, typically upon the prior pope's death.

The pope hired another 22 cardinals throughout February. Of those, many were European, with a number from further afield.

They included New york Archbishop Timothy Dolan, Baltimore Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien and Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins, as well because Bishop of Hong Kong, Bob Tong Hon, and Major Archbishop George Alencherry coming from India.