As was widely expected, the Archbishop of Armagh, Dr Sean Brady, was not among the 22 new cardinals named by Pope John Paul II in St Peter's Square yesterday. Announcing a consistory for February 21st, the Pope named cardinals from Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Mexico, Poland, Spain, Tanzania, Taiwan and the United States as well as two in pectore or secret nominations.
Vatican insiders had been predicting for some time that the Archbishop of Armagh would not be named in this consistory, the ceremony in which cardinals are consecrated. Two factors ruled against Archbishop Brady's nomination: his predecessor in Armagh, Cardinal Cahal Daly, is still alive and well; and eight Vatican curia nominations, as well as vacancies in important seats such as Belo Horizonte, Chicago, Genoa, Lyons, Madrid, Mexico City, Toronto and Vienna, all rendered the nomination of another Irish cardinal a secondary priority.
With this seventh consistory of his 20-year pontificate, the 77year-old Pope has put a very definitive stamp on the College of Cardinals, the body whose most important function, obviously, is the election of the Pope.
With yesterday's appointments, the college now numbers 168 but the number of cardinal electors, those cardinals under the age of 80 and thus still eligible to vote in a papal election, has risen to 123, three above the normal limit allowed by church rules.
Of the 123 cardinal electors, 106, or approximately 88 per cent, have been appointed by Pope John Paul.
It is no secret that throughout this pontificate the Pope has appointed cardinals who, if not in his own theologically and doctrinally conservative image, are at least orthodox in their teaching of the faith. Yesterday's appointments, therefore, further add to the possibility that Pope John Paul's successor will reinforce the most controversial aspects of his teaching, such as the church's ban on abortion, contraception, homosexuality, woman priests and a married priesthood.
Inevitably, the appointment of two in pectore cardinals will generate much speculation. Traditionally, the Pope makes such secret appointments, thus protecting the newly named cardinals' identity, only in a country where a public announcement could in some way endanger the prelate or the local church. Given that premise, informed speculation yesterday was suggesting that the two secret cardinals may come from China, where, of course, Catholic Church activities are severely restricted.
Another intriguing new appointment is that of Archbishop Adam Kozlowiecki of Poland, currently a missionary in Zambia and someone who survived five years in the infamous Nazi concentration camp of Dachau. Africa and Asia are all represented in the new appointments in the figures of Archbishop Polycarp Pengo of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, and Archbishop Paul Shan Kuo-Hsi of Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
One curious aspect of this seventh consistory of the first non-Italian pontificate since 1522 is the fact that six of the 22 nominations have been made to Italians. Of the six Italians, both Archbishop Dionigi Tettmanzi of Genoa and the experienced Vatican diplomat, Archbishop Francesco Colasuonno, could be considered papabili, or a possible future Pope.