Archbishops Burke, Wuerl to become cardinals

Pope Benedict XVI named 24 new cardinals today, among them two from the United States: Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, head of the Vatican's highest tribunal, the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signatura, and Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, D.C. The pope will formally install the cardinals during a special consistory November 20 at the Vatican.


From the CNS story by John Thavis:

The new cardinals come from 13 countries on five continents, and their number included 10 Italians. The pope named 10 Roman Curia officials -- a higher number than expected -- along with 10 residential archbishops and four prelates over the age of 80. One unusual aspect of the pope's list was that two of the residential archbishops were retired.

The November ceremony will mark the third time Pope Benedict has created cardinals since his election in April 2005. After the consistory, he will have appointed about 40 percent of the cardinals currently under the age of 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope.

The elevation of Cardinal-designates Burke and Wuerl will bring the number of U.S. cardinals to 18. Of that number, 13 are voting-age -- matching a historically high number for the United States.

Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York was not on the list of new cardinals; his retired predecessor in New York, Cardinal Edward M. Egan, is still under 80, and tradition generally holds against two voting-age cardinals from the same diocese.

Read the full story HERE.