VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis has announced that he will make 14 new cardinals next month, among them his chief aide for helping homeless people.
In a surprise announcement to pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter’s Square Sunday, Francis said he will raise the 14 to the rank of cardinal in a ceremony on June 29. They include Monsignor Konrad Krajewski, who is known for taking homeless people in Rome on excursions and distributing sleeping bags to the needy during cold spells. The choice highlights this papacy’s priority in helping those on society’s margins.
Other cardinal red hats will go to the head of the Vatican office on doctrinal orthodoxy and another top Holy See official, and prelates in Osaka, Japan, and L’Aquila, Italy, which is still trying to rebuild after a 2009 earthquake.
Pope Francis asperges holy water as he celebrates a Pentecost mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican, Sunday, May 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
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