Philip Pullella, Published October 25, 2020 for Reuters News Service

Gregory, who will become the first African-American to hold the rank, is known for opining on racial tension following the death of George Floyd as well as clashing with the U.S. presi- dent Donald Trump

Pope Francis, leaving his mark on the Roman Catholic Church into the future, named 13 cardinals from eight countries on Sunday, including nine who are eligible to enter a conclave to elect his successor after his death or resignation.

The nine new cardinal electors, whom the pope listed in a surprise announcement while addressing pilgrims from his window overlooking St. Peter’s Square, include Arch- bishop Wilton Gregory of Washington D.C.

Gregory, who will become the first African-American to hold the rank, has become a national figure in recent months.

An outspoken civil rights advo- cate, he has addressed the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes in May.

In June, he blasted Trump’s visit to a Washington shrine honoring Pope John Paul II, a day after police and armed soldiers used tear gas and rubber bullets to clear protesters so Trump could be photographed in front of a historic Washington church holding up a Bible.

“I find it baffling and reprehensi- ble that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people, even those with whom we might disagree,” Gregory said in a statement before Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrived at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine.

Trump supporters later denounced Gregory.

Gregory also has been a leader in aggressively addressing the Roman Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandals and shoring up the church’s zero-tolerance policy.

Leading Catholic organizations cheered the choice and noted Pope Francis was sending a clear message “in the midst of our nation’s reckon- ing in systemic racism, as millions assert that Black Lives Matter,” said Johnny Zokovitch, executive director of Pax Christi USA, a national Catholic peace and justice organiza- tion based in Washington, D.C.

The 13 new cardinals were elevated to the high rank at a cere- mony known as a consistory at the Vatican on Nov. 28, and the selection of more cardinal electors increases the possibility that the next pope will be someone who will continue Francis’ policies.

Francis has now appointed about 57 per cent of cardinal electors, whose number rises to about 128 with the naming of the new cardinals. The others were appointed by Francis’ two more conservative predecessors, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II.

Church rules usually limit the number of cardinal electors to 120 but popes have bent that limit by naming more, factoring in that some will turn 80 in the coming year.

The nine new electors come from Italy, Malta, Rwanda, the United States, the Philippines, Chile, Brunei and Mexico.

Two of the new cardinals, Arch- bishop Antoine Kambanda of Kigali, Rwanda, and Bishop Cornelius Sim of Brunei appear to be part of Francis’ policy of giving more prestige to the Church in far-flung places, often where Catholics are a tiny minority.

His elevation of Archbishop Celestino Aos Braco of Chile to the rank of cardinal is significant because

it is part of Francis’ attempt to heal the country still reeling from a sexual abuse crisis.

The new cardinal’s predecessor as archbishop of Santiago, Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati, was the highest- ranking member of the Chilean Church to be caught up in the scandal. The appointment  of  Aos  Braco was particularly stinging to Chileans because he is Spanish and not a native, signaling the pope’s convic- tion that an outsider was needed to

clean up the situation.

LONG SERVICE

The four non-electors, who will not be allowed to enter a conclave because they are over the age of 80, are being elevated to the high rank because of their long service to the Church. They come from Italy and Mexico.

They include Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, an Italian who has worked around the world and is one of the Church’s top experts on immigration.

The nine new cardinal electors under the age of 80 are:

• Archbishop Mario Grech, 63, Maltese, Vatican-based Secretary of the Synod of Bishops.
• A rchbishop M arcello Semeraro,73, Italian, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
• Antoine Kambanda, Rwandan, 61,Archbishop of Kigali.
• Wilton D. Gregory, American, 72, Archbishop of Washington D.C.
• Jose F. Advincula, 68, Filipino, Archbishop of Capiz.
• Celestino Aos Braco, 75, Spanish, archbishop of Santiago, Chile.
• Archbishop Cornelius Sim, 69, Brunei, apostolic vicar of Brunei
• Augusto Paolo Lojudice, 56, Italian, archbishop of Siena, Italy.
• Father Mauro Gambetti, 54, Italian, custodian of the Franciscan convent of St. Francis in Assisi.