44 new ‘princes’ reflect church’s geographical diversity

Pope John Paul II, putting a lasting stamp on the elite group that will choose the next pope, created 44 new cardinals on Wednesday and greatly increased the probability that his successor will be another non-Italian. THE POPE created the largest group ever of new ‘princes’ of the Roman Catholic Church during a solemn ceremony on the sunlit steps of St. Peter’s Basilica. “Today is a great day for the universal Church,” the pope, wearing resplendent gold vestments and speaking in a sometimes hoarse, trembling voice, said in his homily. After praying in Latin, the pope read the names of the candidates. NBC’s Keith Miller reported that some 40,000 spectators at St. Peter’s Square cheered, especially when he said the names of the new U.S. cardinals, theologian Avery Dulles and Archbishops Edward Egan of New York and Theodore McCarrick of Washington. Another U.S. citizen in the group is Ukrainian-born Lubomyr Husar. In naming a record number of cardinals this time around, the pontiff ignored the age limits set by his predecessor Paul VI. Forty of the new cardinals are under 80 years old and thus qualify to enter a secret conclave to elect the next Pope from among themselves after the death of the Polish-born Pontiff, who is suffering from a series of ailments.