VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis has announced a December 8 consistory where he will create 21 new cardinals from all around the globe, though none from the U.S. Synod on Synodality preacher and LGBT advocate Father Timothy Radcliffe is among the new cardinal voters.
Ending his Sunday Angelus October 6, Pope Francis made a surprise announcement regarding the creation of new cardinals. In a consistory on December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, Francis will create 21 new cardinals for the Church, of whom 20 will be cardinal-electors upon the day they are created – due to being under the age of 80.
The full list is:
- Archbishop Angelo Acerbi: emeritus Apostolic Nuncio and the only one too old to vote in a conclave.
- Archbishop Carlos Gustavo Castillo Mattasoglio: Archbishop of Lima, Peru.
- Archbishop Vicente Bokalic Iglic C.M.: Archbishop of Santiago del Estero, primate of Argentina.
- Archbishop Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera, OFM: Archbishop of Guayaquil, Ecuador.
- Archbishop Fernando Natalio Chomali Garib: Archbishop of Santiago de Chile, Chile.
- Archbishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, S.V.D: Archbishop of Tokyo.
- Bishop Pablo Virgilio Siongco David: Bishop of Kalookan, Philippines.
- Archbishop Ladislav Nemet S.V.D: Archbishop of Beograd – Smederevo, Serbia.
- Archbishop Jaime Spengler O.F.M: Archbishop of Porto Alegre, Brazil.
- Archbishop Ignace Bessi Dogbo:Archbishop of Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
- Archbishop Jean-Paul Vesco O.P: Archbishop of Alger, Algeria.
- Bishop Mgr. Paskalis Bruno Syukur O.F.M: Bishop of Bogor, Indonesia.
- Archbishop Dominique Joseph Mathieu, O.F.M. Conv.: Archbishop of Tehran Ispahan, Iran.
- Archbishop Roberto Repole: Archbishop of Turin.
- Bishop Baldassare Reina: Auxiliary Bishop of Rome, formerly Vicegerent and, as of today, Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome.
- Archbishop Francis Leo, Archbishop of Toronto.
- Bishop Msgr. Rolandas Makrickas: Archpriest Coadjutor Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major.
- Bishop Mykola Bychok, C.S.R.: Bishop of the Eparchy Saints Peter and Paul of Melbourne of the Ukrainians.
- Father Timothy Peter Joseph Radcliffe, O.P..
- Father Fabio Baggio, C.S.: Under Secretary of the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development
- Mgr George Jacob Koovakad: Official of the Secretary of State, Responsible for Travel
With the December 8 consistory, Francis will thus render the College of Cardinals to be almost entirely composed of men he appointed.
As of today, 92 of the current 122 cardinals eligible to vote have been appointed by Francis. By the end of 2024, with the new cardinals and with two others aging out (reaching their 80th birthday and being too old to vote in a papal conclave), Francis will have created 111 of the 140 eligible voters.
Pope John Paul II’s document Universi Dominici Gregis sets the voting limit at 120 cardinals, though this number is now regularly exceeded at consistory time with popes taking into account cardinals who will age out of eligibility during the coming year.
Francis’ new picks are characteristic of his style throughout his 11-year pontificate, defying expectations and bypassing important sees which would historically have been cardinal sees.
Of note is that the only incoming cardinal from North America is Toronto’s Archbishop Leo, who was appointed to the see in March 2023.
The appointment of Fr. Baggio and Mgr. Koovakad straight from curial positions to the cardinalate is unexpected and similarly characteristic of Francis’ style, especially since the two have been involved with causes close to his heart – namely Baggio who leads the handling of migrants and Koovakad who has been heavily involved in organizing papal trips.
However, it is the inclusion of Fr. Radcliffe, O.P., which is the most notable and controversial. Radcliffe was master of the Dominican Order from 1992 to 2001, but his name is arguably more notorious for his prominent and persistent promotion of LGBT ideology, in contradiction with Catholic teaching.
Shortly before the Vatican issued its 2005 document reaffirming the ban on admitting men with “homosexual tendencies” into seminaries, Radcliffe publicly objected to the predicted ban. Writing to the London Times, Radcliffe argued that “[a]ny deep-rooted prejudice against others, such as homophobia or misogyny, would be grounds for rejecting a candidate for the priesthood, but not their sexual orientation.”
READ: Pro-LGBT Synod priest affirms his comments in support of admitting homosexuals to seminary
Then in an article for The Tablet, he said, “I have no doubt that God does call homosexuals to the priesthood, and they are among the most dedicated and impressive priests I have met.”
Months later, he encouraged Catholics to “accompany” and even live with homosexuals. “We must accompany [gay people] as they discern what this means, letting our images be stretched open,” he said in a 2006 religious education lecture in Los Angeles. “This means watching ‘Brokeback Mountain,’ reading gay novels, living with our gay friends and listening with them as they listen to the Lord.”
Replying to this correspondent during the 2023 Synod, Radcliffe appeared to still suggest that homosexuals could happily be priests, providing they did not make their sexuality “the most important part of their identity.”
In 2012, Radcliffe wrote in the dissident U.K. publication The Tablet, defending the Church teaching that same-sex “marriage” is impossible, but adding:
This is not to denigrate committed love of people of the same sex. This too should be cherished and supported, which is why church leaders are slowly coming to support same-sex civil unions. The God of love can be present in every true love.
READ: Vatican appointee says gay sex can express Christ’s ‘self-gift’
Subsequently, while contributing to the 2013 Anglican report on human sexual ethics, Radcliffe argued that homosexuality was to be understood in light of Christ’s gift of Himself in the Eucharist. He stated that “not every marriage is fertile,” and that “surely it is in the kind and healing words that we offer each other that we all share in fertility of that most intimate moment.”
How does all of this bear on the question of gay sexuality? We cannot begin with the question of whether it is permitted or forbidden! We must ask what it means, and how far it is Eucharistic. Certainly it can be generous, vulnerable, tender, mutual and non-violent. So in many ways, I would think that it can be expressive of Christ’s self-gift. We can also see how it can be expressive of mutual fidelity, a covenantal relationship in which two people bind themselves to each other for ever.
READ: Pro-LGBT Dominican consistently contradicts Scripture during retreat for Synod members
Radcliffe was one of the regular celebrants for the “LGBT Masses” held in London, the notorious “Soho Masses.”
Under Francis, Radcliffe has made a resurgence in prominence, particularly in the Synod on Synodality, at which he has been a preacher in 2023 and 2024 and participant of the event. He advocates for the divorced and “remarried” to receive Holy Communion, particularly in light of Pope Francis’ controversial apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia.
Francis appointed Radcliffe as a consultor for the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace in 2015. The notably pro-LGBT group New Ways Ministry welcomed Radcliffe’s appointment to the Pontifical Council, praising his “support for LGBT issues, which has been evident since at least the 1990s.”