Pope installs new cardinals
VATICAN CITY — In an elaborate ceremony filled with symbolism, Pope Benedict XVI installed his first group of cardinals today, promoting 15 prelates, including two Americans, to the elite club that chooses his successor.
The beaming new "princes" of the church processed onto the steps of St. Peter's Basilica to applause from a crowd of thousands in the square below, decked out for the first time in their crimson robes.
Benedict opened the ceremony by reading out each of the new cardinals' names in Latin, drawing applause after he pronounced each one.
Archbishop Sean O'Malley of Boston was among them, along with William Levada, formerly the archbishop of San Francisco and Portland, Ore. Levada took over Benedict's old job as prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican's new chief doctrinal watchdog.
Hong Kong's bishop Joseph Zen, an outspoken critic of China, and Pope John Paul II's longtime private secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, were some of the other more familiar faces.
Security was tight around the square, with uniformed and plainclothes police ringing the area.
Levada delivered introductory remarks to the pope on behalf of all the new cardinals, saying they gave Benedict their unconditional loyalty.
Benedict announced Feb. 22 that he was naming the new cardinals, 12 of whom are younger than 80 and thus eligible to vote in a conclave. After the consistory, there will be a total of 193 cardinals, 120 of whom can vote.
While electing a pontiff is the primary task of cardinals, they are also called on to advise the pope on running the Catholic Church.
On the eve of the consistory, Benedict summoned the entire College of Cardinals, including its newest members, for a daylong retreat and asked them to give him advice on pressing issues.
Cardinal George Pell of Australia said at the end of the day that he hoped the meeting would "become something of a tradition."
