Briefs around the World

New cardinals
VATICAN CITY (CNS) –– Pope Francis announced he will appoint 13 new cardinals Nov. 28, including Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Washington. The pope made the announcement at the end of his Angelus address Oct. 25, telling the crowd in St. Peter’s Square the names of the nine cardinals under the age of 80, who will be eligible to vote in a conclave, and the names of four elderly churchmen whose red hats are a sign of esteem and honor. In addition to Cardinal-designate Gregory, who will be the first African American cardinal from the United States, the pope chose as cardinal electors two officials of the Roman Curia and bishops from Italy, Rwanda, the Philippines, Chile and Brunei. Speaking soon after the announcement with the Catholic Standard, Washington’s archdiocesan newspaper, Cardinal-designate Gregory said he was “deeply humbled” and he knows that “I am reaping a harvest that millions of African American Catholics and people of color have planted. I am deeply grateful for the faith that they have lived so generously, so zealously and with such great devotion.”

Image of God
VATICAN CITY (CNS) –– Being indifferent to or hating others is to deny the existence of God’s presence in one’s neighbor, Pope Francis said. “This is practical atheism,” the pope said Oct. 21 during his weekly general audience. “To not recognize the human person as an image of God is a sacrilege, an abomination, the worst offense that can be directed toward the temple and the altar,” he said. Arriving in the Paul VI audience hall, the pope once again observed social-distancing measures by taking his seat immediately rather than going to greet members of the crowd up close. He also apologized and explained that mingling with them would increase “the danger of infection for you. I am sorry for this, but it’s for your safety,” he said. “But please know that I am close to you in my heart. I hope you understand why I do this.”

Supreme Court Justice
WASHINGTON (CNS) –– A divided Senate, in a 52-48 vote, confirmed Amy Coney Barrett as a justice for the Supreme Court the evening of Oct. 26 and soon afterward she was sworn in by Justice Clarence Thomas at a White House ceremony. “The oath that I’ve solemnly taken tonight, means at its core that I will do my job without any fear or favor and that I will do so independently of both the political branches and of my own preferences. I love the Constitution and the democratic republic that it establishes and I will devote myself to preserving it,” Barrett said after the outdoor ceremony. The 48-year old, who has been on the Chicago-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit since 2017, said it was a privilege to be asked to serve on the Supreme Court. She said she was “truly honored and humbled” to be stepping into this role, which is a lifetime appointment. Barrett is now the 115th justice for the court, replacing Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Sept. 18. She is the sixth Catholic justice on the current bench. Barrett is now the first Notre Dame Law School graduate on the Supreme Court. She graduated summa cum laude in 1997 and also met her husband, Jesse, there. The Barrett family lives in Indiana. The oldest child of the couple’s seven children is a current student at the University of Notre Dame.

Reparation in San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) –– To rid the site of a toppled statue of St. Junipero Serra of evil, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone performed an exorcism rite outside St. Rafael Mission Church in San Rafael Oct. 17. Just the saint’s feet are left after the statue on church property was vandalized and desecrated five days earlier by what the archbishop had described as a “small, violent mob.” Before reading the rite in Latin, Archbishop Cordileone addressed the crowd gathered with him, telling them: “We come together in prayer and in reparation for this act of blasphemy. This sacred site has been desecrated and so we know there’s the presence of evil here. We pray that God might purify this place of evil spirits, that he might purify the hearts of those who have perpetrated this blasphemy, that he might envelop them in his love so their hearts might be softened and turned toward him,” the archbishop said. “And let us ask him as well for purification of our own hearts that we might be ever more faithful to living the way he calls us to and to be his agents of peace,” he added.