Dear St. Columba Family,
Last Sunday Pope Francis announced that on September 30th there will be a consistory in Rome where twenty-one new cardinals will be appointed. The word consistory means "to stand together" and can be either ordinary or extraordinary. An ordinary consistory is where important though routine decisions are made while an extraordinary is an assemblage of cardinals from all over the world. They are all expected to attend an extraordinary consistory due to the importance of the matters being discussed. The consistory where new cardinals are created is considered ordinary. As Pope Francis has done with his nine previous consistories is continuing to make it a more international body. Hong Kong, Malaysia, Tanzania, and South Sudan will all have cardinals after the September consistory. Seventy-three percent of all the cardinal-electors who will convene to eventually elect Pope Francis' successor were chosen by him. Since a two-thirds majority is all that is required for election almost certainly one of Francis' appointments will follow him on the chair of Peter. Every cardinal has a vote until his 80th birthday. Each cardinal is given a parish church in Rome where they are a type of honorary pastor. Cardinal Dolan's is Our Lady of Guadalupe since New York has a growing Latino population. In the ancient church the priests of a diocese would choose their bishop which is why the cardinals, though from all over the world, have a parish in Rome and thus elect the bishop of Rome. Let us pray for the twenty-one new cardinals and all the members of this august college. May they be truly open to the prompting and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Fr. Chris
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* For those of you who are unable to come to church, the Sunday Mass is live streamed on the YouTube channel. In order to receive updates and notifications, please subscribe to our channel located on St. Columba’s web-site. Dear St. Columba Family, Last Sunday Pope Francis announced that on September 30th there will be a consistory in Rome where twenty-one new cardinals will be appointed. The word consistory means "to stand together" and can be either ordinary or extraordinary. An ordinary consistory is where important though routine decisions are made while an extraordinary is an assemblage of cardinals from all over the world. They are all expected to attend an extraordinary consistory due to the importance of the matters being discussed. The consistory where new cardinals are created is considered ordinary. As Pope Francis has done with his nine previous consistories is continuing to make it a more international body. Hong Kong, Malaysia, Tanzania, and South Sudan will all have cardinals after the September consistory. Seventy-three percent of all the cardinal-electors who will convene to eventually elect Pope Francis' successor were chosen by him. Since a two-thirds majority is all that is required for election almost certainly one of Francis' appointments will follow him on the chair of Peter. Every cardinal has a vote until his 80th birthday. Each cardinal is given a parish church in Rome where they are a type of honorary pastor. Cardinal Dolan's is Our Lady of Guadalupe since New York has a growing Latino population. In the ancient church the priests of a diocese would choose their bishop which is why the cardinals, though from all over the world, have a parish in Rome and thus elect the bishop of Rome. Let us pray for the twenty-one new cardinals and all the members of this august college. May they be truly open to the prompting and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Fr. Chri
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