A New Site to Introduce the Cardinals

Continuing his analysis, he stressed that the list of 163 cardinals created by Francis revealed “a lack of great figures, with their own light, – pastors, of course, but also powerful intellectuals, with a convincing and recognized philosophical, theological and canonical background.”

And he showed the danger that such a lackluster college of cardinals represents, during a conclave charged with electing the next pope. While many of them are mediocre, some are skilled and will know how to influence the hesitant.

He finally concluded that a conclave “with many minor figures, as is the case today, could allow control of the situation to be ensured. The risk is therefore great that in the end, in the Sistine Chapel, it will be three or four “kingmaker” cardinals who decide, weighing on the final result, in particular with the undecided, the perplexed and the opponents.”

A College of Cardinals in Serious Difficulty

This is the same idea illustrated by Sandro Magister in an article of December 23, estimating that Francis “has seriously harmed the ability of the cardinals to act as a ‘college,’”by limiting the opportunities for the cardinals to know each other. He believes that it is because of the disappointment experienced during the consistory of February 2014, which preceded the synod on the family.

Pope Francis thought he had everything sorted out to relax the ban on communion for the divorced and remarried. The consistory was held behind closed doors and the opening speech was entrusted to Cardinal Walter Kasper, a fervent defender of this relaxation, who preached in its favor. He - and he alone - had even received authorization to violate the secrecy of the consistory, which he did not deprive himself of. His report was published in the Italian newspaper Il Foglio on March 1, and by the Queriniana publishing house.

At the consistory, Cardinal Kasper's speech was criticized by a very large number of cardinals, and the most influential ones. And despite a new attempt by the Pope, who approved Kasper's report before the assembly, from the first intervention the next day, the criticism started up again with renewed vigor.

To combat Kasper's theses, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, chaired by Cardinal Gerhard Müller, had planned to publish in L'Osservatore Romano an op-ed written by a leading cardinal. The Pope vetoed the publication of this text.

That did not prevent a dozen eminent cardinals from intervening to defend the doctrine and practice of all time against communion for the divorced and remarried. Among them, "the Germans Müller and Walter Brandmüller, the Italians Carlo Caffarra, Angelo Scola, and Camillo Ruini, the Canadians Marc Ouellet and Thomas Collins, the American Raymond L. Burke and the Australian George Pell.”

In October 2015, some of them signed the “Letter to the Pope by Thirteen Cardinals" to protest against the approach given to the second session of the synod on the family. Three of them, as well as the Archbishop of Cologne, Joachim Meisner, filed their dubia at the end of the synod, making their protests public after having received only silence in response.

After the 2014 consistory, “Francis gave up calling any consistory worthy of the name, except for purely official ones organized for the naming of new cardinals,” notes Sandro Magister. But until 2016, the College of Cardinals showed vitality, with figures whose fame extended well beyond the restricted circle of specialists.

Over time, they reached the age limit of 80, which no longer allows them to participate in the conclave. And the new cardinals are, for the most part, illustrious unknowns, even to the other cardinals. The reason lies in Francis’s decision to promote ecclesiastics from the “peripheries” of the Church. 

Biographical Profiles Since the 18th Century

Sandro Magister notes that Cardinal Brandmüller, president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences from 1998 to 2009, “had recalled that from the 18th century onwards, detailed biographical profiles of each cardinal had been drawn up so as to distribute them to the electors on the eve of the conclaves.” This need is still relevant today.

But it is not easy to gather detailed information on all the cardinals. The Holy See website is rather stingy with information in the notice it devotes to each of them.

There already existed a website and a magazine intended for cardinals – and for all those interested in the College of Cardinals – maintained by a group of Vaticanists: Cardinalis. Translated into English, Italian, French, and Spanish so that each cardinal can read it without difficulty, the magazine is sent directly to the personal address of all the cardinals.

A new site has just been launched, in English for the moment: Cardinalium Collegii Recensio, detailing the in-depth and detailed profiles of each cardinal. It is the work of two Vaticanists: Diane Montagna and Edward Pentin. The initiative is supported by the Sophia Institute Press and the aforementioned Cardinalis magazine.

The new site describes in detail how each cardinal exercised his duties as bishop. It provides information on how he positions himself on the most controversial issues today: from the blessing of homosexual couples to women deacons, from communion to divorced and remarried people to the agreement between the Holy See and China.

The profiles of several dozen cardinals, starting with the papabili, are complete, and for the others, the essential elements are online, and constantly updated. A history of the cardinalate and the functioning of a conclave complete the information.