Pope Francis wasn’t the first pontiff to appoint to the College of Cardinals bishops from non-European, non-traditional locales in terms of Catholicism. He did, however, globalize the college in a way that far exceeds anyone who came before him.
Currently, there are 252 cardinals, with 114 from Europe and the rest coming from Asia, South America, Africa, North America, Central America, and Oceania. Pope Francis has appointed 149 cardinals, more than any other pope, with 60 being European and 89 non-European. Of those appointments, 25 are from Asia, 24 from South America, 18 from Africa, 12 from North America, six from Central America, and four from Oceania. Additionally, more than 20 of his cardinal appointments are from countries that had never before been represented in the college.
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“It’s been very intentional because he sees the role of the periphery, particularly the Church in the global south, which is growing at a much faster rate than the Church in Europe, the global north,” David Lantigua, co-director of the University of Notre Dame Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism told The Tablet.
“That’s the present, that’s the future,” he said, “And that’s where he thinks we need to have more of that perspective on the life of faith and the life of the Church from that periphery.”
By comparison, Pope Benedict XVI appointed 62 cardinals who are still in the college, 34 of whom were European, nine from North America, nine from Asia, six from South America, and four from Africa. Pope St. John Paul II appointed 41 cardinals who are still in the college, 20 of whom were European. Of the 21 non-European appointees, seven were from Africa, seven were from North America, three were from Asia, two were from Central America, and two were from South America.
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Christopher Bellitto, a professor of history at Kean University in New Jersey, said Pope Francis simply elevated the globalization of the College of Cardinals, which began with Pope St. John XXIII in the mid20th century.
“It’s really [Pope St. John XXIII] and [Pope St. Paul VI] who start to internationalize the college, and [Pope St. John Paul II] opens that up, [Pope Benedict XVI] not so much, and then it’s just kind of natural for [Pope Francis] to do so because he’s a pope from the peripheries, he’s a pope from Latin America,” Bellitto said.
He noted, however, that the “peripheries” description isn’t entirely accurate. “It’s very deceptive because Latin America, Africa, Asia, these are not peripheries of the Church,” Bellitto explained. “The Church is flourishing in the global south and faltering in the global north, but the voices that represent those to the degree cardinals represent their people really needed to be dialed up.
“So that’s what [Pope Francis] did because he wants the periphery to speak to the center. He wants the center to learn from the periphery.”
Lantigua also noted that Pope Francis’ appointments align with his emphasis on reform, which means carrying out the task of the Second Vatican Council, which was globalizing the Church. He said Pope Francis’ election was also a step in that direction, as he was the first non-European pope since the eighth century.
“That is crucial,” Lantigua said. “I think that already will shift the course of the papacy in the 21st century because he is the realization of the culmination of Vatican II’s attempt and desire to look beyond the Euro-centric Church and really become a global Church.”