POPE FRANCIS CELEBRATES HOLY MASS WITH THE NEW CARDINALS

Pope tells cardinals they are servants, not courtiers

Celebrating Mass with the newest members of the College of the Cardinals one day after their elevation, Pope Francis urged them to regard their new role not as one of worldly honor but of humble service and sacrifice.

"A cardinal enters the church of Rome, not a royal court," the pope said in his homily Feb. 23, during morning Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. "May all of us avoid, and help others to avoid, habits and ways of acting typical of a court: intrigue, gossip, cliques, favoritism and preferences."

"May our language be that of the Gospel: 'yes when we mean yes; no when we mean no,'" he said. "May our attitudes be those of the beatitudes and our way be that of holiness."

Pope Francis celebrated the Mass with 18 of the 19 men he had raised to the rank of cardinal the previous day in the same basilica. Cardinal Loris Capovilla, who at age 98 is now the oldest member of the college, was absent on both occasions for reasons of health.

The list of new cardinals was announced by Pope Francis last month and they represent 12 different countries from around the world.  Eight of them are from Europe; seven from the Americas; and two each from Africa and Asia.  No new cardinals were named from the United States.

Besides some expected names, such as Archbishops Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State; Lorenzo Baldisseri, general secretary of the Synod of Bishops, Gerhard Mueller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; and Beniamino Stella, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy, the list includes several men from the far reaches of the globe.

Archbishop of Ouagadougou, Philippe Nakellentuba Ouedraogo, will join the College of Cardinals from Burkina Faso in west Africa, as will Bishop Chibly Langlois of Les Cayes, Haiti: both will be the only Cardinals from their countries.

Fr. Federico Lombardi of the Holy See's Press Office noted that the Pope's choice of these two men especially "shows concern for people struck by poverty."

Three new Cardinals from Pope Francis' own South America are on the list, including the current Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Mario Aurelio Poli, who replaced the then- Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio when he was elected Pope last spring.

The Pontiff also named Cistercian Archbishop Orani Joao Tempesta of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, who hosted Pope Francis for his first World Youth Day in July of 2013.  When Archbishop Tempesta's name was read, Pope Francis looked up to acknowledge the cheers coming from St. Peter's Square.  "There are a lot of Brazilians here, eh?" he said.

Three of the 19 men named are over the age of 80 and will be therefore ineligible to vote in the next papal election: Archbishop Loris Francesco Capovilla, Archbishop Fernando Sebastian Aguilar, and Archbishop Kelvin Edward Felix.

Archbishop Capovilla served as the secretary of Pope John XXIII, who will be canonized in April.

I would strongly recommend finding time to watch the entire Mass.  But if not, then skip to 50:00 and start from there.