by NZ Catholic staff
Cardinal-designates John Dew and Sione Mafi of Tonga and 18 others from all corners of the world will become members of the College of Cardinals tonight.
Cardinal John Dew
Since Pope Francis’ announcement in early January of Archbishop John Dew of Wellington as a Cardinal-designate, Catholics in New Zealand have been looking forward to the Consistory ceremony at the Vatican that will see Archbishop John join the College of Cardinals.
The College of Cardinals is the Church body that acts as close advisers to the Pope. A new Pope is usually elected by the members of this Conclave who are under the age of 80, on the resignation or death of a Pope.
The announcement of Archbishop John Dew as Cardinal has captured the imagination of people throughout the Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington. The announcement has also been welcomed by people from around New Zealand and the world.
On hearing of the announcement Archbishop John Dew, a self-described “fairly ordinary kiwi sort of a bloke” said, “Although we are geographically far from much of the world, Pope Francis has gone to the periphery of the globe to name new Cardinals. I’m honoured and humbled to be given this new task in my priestly vocation and in representing the people of Aotearoa New Zealand along with Tonga’s Cardinal-designate Mafi to represent Oceania in the global Church”.
This Saturday evening people can watch in the Consistory in Rome on a live feed on the Vatican’s website. The following morning in Rome (10pm on Sunday NZ time) the Pope will celebrate Mass with the newly created Cardinals. The Mass will be live-streamed online. The events will be available for people to view on-demand. (Instructions on how to watch the events are below).
A booklet with the Consistory proceedings is on the Vatican’s website at: www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/libretti/2015/20150214-libretto-concistoro-creazione.pdf. It is in both Latin and Italian with an English translation on opposite pages.
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