D'Rozario becomes first Bangladeshi cardinal
Archbishop Patrick D'Rozario of Dhaka was promoted along with 16 other Roman Catholic prelates to the high rank of cardinal yesterday.
Pope Francis promoted them to the rank, including 13 who are under 80 years old and thus eligible to succeed him one day, reports Reuters.
The 73-year old cardinal from Bangladesh was born on October 1, 1943 at Padrishibpur in Barisal in a Catholic family. He professed member of Congregation of Holy Cross at the age of 18 and became ordained priest there in 1972, according to Catholic Hierarchy.
Later in 1990 and 1995, he was appointed as Bishop of Rajshahi and Chittagong respectively. He joined as Coadjutor Archbishop of Dhaka in 2010 and succeeded to Archbishop in the next year.
Cardinals, who wear red hats and are known as "princes of the Church," are the most senior members of the Roman Catholic hierarchy after the pope and serve as his principal advisers around the world and in the Vatican.
Naming new cardinals is one of the most significant powers of the papacy, allowing a pontiff to put his stamp on the future of the 1.2-billion-member global Church.
Cardinals under 80, known as cardinal-electors, can enter a secret conclave to choose a new pope from their own ranks after Francis dies or resigns.
Francis, the former cardinal-archbishop of Buenos Aires, was elected in a conclave on March 13, 2013.
The other cardinal-electors come from Italy, the Central African Republic, Spain, the United States, Brazil, Venezuela, Belgium, Mauritius, Mexico and Papua New Guinea.
Significantly, Francis said the current Vatican ambassador in Syria, Italian Archbishop Mario Zenari, would be elevated but remains in his post to show the Church's concern for "beloved and martyred Syria" - an allusion to the devastating civil war there, the news agency reports.
The pope has made numerous appeals for an end to Syria's war and last month he urged forces to stop bombing civilians in Aleppo, warning them they would face God's judgment one day.
ALBANIAN EX-PRISONER
The four new cardinals over 80, who got the position as a symbolic honour to thank them for long service to the Church, include Father Ernest Simoni, 88, an Albanian priest who spent many years in jail and forced labour during the communist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha, who died in 1985.
Francis, making the surprise announcement during his weekly Sunday address, said the ceremony to elevate the prelates, known as a consistory, would be held on November 19.
With the current batch, Francis has named 44 cardinal-electors, slightly more than a third of the total of 120 allowed by Church law.
It will be his third consistory since his election in 2013 as the first non-European pontiff in 1,300 years and he has used each occasion to show support for the Church in far flung places or where Catholics are suffering.
The Central African Republic, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia and Lesotho will have a cardinal for the first time, underscoring Francis' conviction that the Church is a global institution that should become increasingly less Euro-centric.