The Italian media is full of talk about a consistory to create new cardinals. This isn’t anything new—there’s been talk for months—but it’s reaching a fever pitch. Catholic World News provides some good analysis.
The current rumor is that the consistory would be announced on February 22 and would be held on March 25. This would be doubly unusual. The pattern under John Paul II was that consistories were announced during a Sunday angelus; February 22 would be a Wednesday general audience. And consistories are rarely, if ever, held during Lent, which March 25 is. On the other hand, March 25 is the Feast of the Annunciation, a solemnity, and suitable for this kind of celebration.
As for the red hat recipients, some are obvious. The heads of Vatican dicasteries who are not yet, would definitely become cardinals: Archbishop William Levada of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and Archbishop Franc Rode of the Congregation for Religious, as well as Archbishops Josef Cordes, the president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum; Stanislaw Rylko, the president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity; and Angelo Comastri, the archpriest of the Vatican basilica. It is likely that if there is going to be a shakeup of the curia, i.e. retirements and appointments, they will happen before the consistory so the new heads can be made cardinals sooner rather than later. It doesn’t mean the appointments will happen before the 22nd. Names are often added to the list after the initial announcement of the consistory.
Archdiocesan cardinals
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