Vatican view:Senior Vatican figures yesterday suggested that Archbishop Seán Brady's positive contribution to the Northern Ireland peace process will have weighed heavily in Benedict XVI's decision to make him a cardinal.
Although his position as Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All-Ireland might traditionally lead to an "automatic" red hat, senior church commentators pointed out yesterday that, without a telling contribution to the peace process, the archbishop might have been overlooked.
The pope has gone out of his way to praise the peace process twice in the last six months. When meeting President McAleese in the Vatican last March, the pope said Northern Ireland was offering a "powerful Christian witness to the world", adding that the peace process offered the positive example of "Christians working out their problems in a very reconciliatory way".
When meeting with the new Irish Ambassador to the Holy See, Noel Fahey, last month, the pope again praised the peace process, expressing the hope that it might become an inspiration for political and religious leaders in the world's troubled zones.
In that context, the archbishop's good work in improving cross-community relations may have proved crucial to the decision to make him a cardinal.
Ireland's small clerical community in Rome greeted the news of the archbishop's appointment with satisfaction yesterday, with many suggesting that the honour was well deserved. As a former rector of Irish College between 1987 and 1993, he is well known in Rome. The college's current rector, Msgr Liam Bergin, told The Irish Timesit was a proud day for Ireland and the college. Msgr Bergin said the archbishop is the second rector of the college, following cardinal Paul Cullen in 1850, to be made cardinal. Many church commentators had considered it more a possibility than a probability that the archbishop would be nominated. For many, the fact that Ireland already had two cardinals, Cardinal Cathal Daly and Cardinal Desmond Connell, might have been expected to block any further Irish nominations.
At first glance, it might appear that the pope has followed an in-house, civil service-type logic with the 23 appointments announced yesterday. For example, seven senior Vatican Curia figures were made cardinals, whilst of the 18 "elector cardinals" (under the age of 80) named yesterday, 11 are European, three North American, two African and only one comes from Asia and Latin America.
One senior Vatican commentator suggested that the appointments again underlined the extent to which this is a pontificate of restoration. The heavy predominance of Curia and European appointments suggests that the pope has no desire to open up the College of Cardinals.
One of the most significant appointments yesterday was that of Emmanuel III Delly, an Iraqi who is Patriarch of the Babylon of the Chaldeans. Although he is over 80 and not entitled to vote in a papal conclave, his appointment seems to be an attempt to express papal support for the Christian minority in Iraq and the Middle East. Patriarch Delly has frequently warned the Middle East, the birthplace of Christianity, could be emptied of Christians since so many have emigrated to escape violence there.
Commenting in St Peter's yesterday, the pope said: "The new cardinals come from many different parts of the world. Their ranks well reflect the universality of the church and the multiple nature of its ministries."
Yesterday was the second time since his election in 2005 that the pope has named new cardinals. In March 2006, he appointed 15 new cardinals. The ceremony marking the new cardinals' appointment will be held in the Vatican on November 24th.