The preparation for the festivity started since January 4 when, to the surprise of all, the Augustinian Recollect Bishop José Luis Lacunza was named Cardinal by Pope Francis. The date scheduled for the imposition of cardinal’s hat and other distinguishing features of a Cardinal was February 14. The following day, Sunday, a special Eucharistic celebration would be held at Basilica of St. Peter. Two days before, 12 and 13, all the Cardinals of the Church were gathered together to continue studying how to implement the reform of the Roman Curia.
February 14, Consistory
It was an ordinary public Consistory, that is, a reunion of the entire College of Cardinals in which the Pope was to publicly create 20 new Cardinals. Even if according to the dynamics of the Church it is something ordinary, for the Augustinian Recollects it was an event that was all together extraordinary, since, in thier 427 years of history, they had never had a Cardinal. For this reason the Prior General had invited the other 17 Bishops of the Order to the event.
Due to lack of time, not all the Recollect Bishops could travel. Yes, the three Bishops of Peru were present (Emiliano Cisneros, Carmelo Martínez and Fortunato Pablo) and two of Colombia (Javier Pizarro and Alejandro Castaños). The other two Recollect Bishops of Panama (José Agustín Ganuza and Anibal Saldaña) and the Emeritus of the United States (David Arias) also attended. Likewise the Auxiliary Bishop of Mexico (Carlos Briseño) and that of Spain (Eusebio Hernández) travelled. The five Bishops of Brazil (Javier Hernández, Joaquín Pertiñez, José Luis Azcona, Jesús Moraza and Jesús María Cizaurre), of Costa Rica (Angel San Casimiro) and Archbishop Mario Molina of Guatemala did not make it. Five of the eight Prior Provincials of the Order, as well as the seven fellow novices of the Cardinal elect joined the Bishops who were present.
Invitations were also sent to the two Prior Generals of the Augustinian Family: Alejandro Moral, of the Order of Saint Augustine and Gabriele Ferlisi, of the Descalzed Agustinians. Both were present, as well as the General Prioress of the Servants of Mary.
The ceremony of February 14 took place in a Basilica of Saint Peter filled to overflowing. The protagonists were, together with Pope Francis who presided the celebration, the 19 of the 20 new Cardinals, who together with him entered in procession already with their red purple vestments. The ceremony basically consisted of, first, the reading of the Hymn of Charity of Saint Paul (1 Cor 12:31-13:13), followed by the homily. In it, the Pope presented charity as the path of the Church and the obligatory commitment of every Cardinal.
Then, the new Cardinals made profession of faith and pledged fidelity and obedience to the Holy Father. Afterwards they formed line before him to receive the red cap of their rank and to receive the ring that represents their special love for the Church. At that moment the Roman Church that is assigned to each of them as the seat of their title was announced to them; in the case of Cardinal Lacunza, the Parish of Saint Joseph of Cuppertino, in the area of the Laurentina, has been entrusted to him. The only thing that remained to be done was that the newly installed Cardinals be incorporated into the College, present there in full. The way of representing it was through a personal greeting, one by one, to all the two hundred Cardinals, headed by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who did not want to be absent from such a significant ceremony.
Visits of affection
After the celebration of a little more than an hour, the time for lunch had come, which was held in a restaurant around the Vatican. In which the table of honor was composed of along with the new Cardinal and the President of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela, the other two Cardinals of Central America, Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga and José Leopoldo Brenes, besides Cardinal Juan Bautista Re, who is proud of being an old friend of the Augustinian Recollects.
Re was the first to ask for the microphone to show his joy and congratulate the new Cardinal, Panama and the Order. Then the Father General and the President of Panama did the same thing. And, at the end, Lacunza made the closing remarks. He made a brief review of his life, giving thanks first to his family, and then to his Recollect brothers and to Panama.
And he had already to absent himself somewhat hastily because the hour for the “visita di calore” or visits of Affection was coming down on him. It is something habitual in the Vatican, when there are new Cardinals. A concrete place is assigned to them through which all those who would wish to congratulate them would fall in line. Lacunza, and the majority of the other Cardinals, had been assigned a place at the Aula of Paul VI. There, for almost three hours and standing, the Cardinal of Panama entertained the newspaper men, personalities, religious, faithful and all sorts of people, who did not stop falling in line congratulating, asking statements, blessings and even autographs. It was already the 19th hour when -tired but happy – he could finally rest, in his residence of Casa Santa Marta (The House of Martha).
15 of February, Eucharistic Celebration
On Sunday, February 15 a Eucharistic celebration presided by the Pope was scheduled. As specified by the official brochure, it was a Holy Mass with the new Cardinals and the College of Cardinals. Once again, the Basilica was full. The Augustinian Recollect Bishops in bloc, got up early in order to occupy the best place possible. And the rest of the faithful had also search for a way to find a good place: some in the so-called “papal chapel”, and many others among the priests who would distribute communion.
The liturgy corresponded to the 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time. The Gospel of Saint Mark (1:40-45) was about the cure of a leper. Pope Francis took issue from the condition of being marginalized of this person in order to complete his teaching of the day before on charity, of the nature of the Church and the function of a Cardinal. He spoke about the two logics of thinking and faith: the fear of losing the saved and the desire to save the lost”. Once again he insisted on that “the path of the Church is that of leaving one’s grounds in order to go out in search of those who are far away at the outskirts of existence”. He stressed to the new Cardinals that “the total availability to serve others is our distinctive feature, is our only title of honor”. And he concluded sharply by exhorting them “to serve the Church in such a way that the Christians may not be tempted to be with Jesus, without desiring to be with the marginalized, being isolated in a caste that has nothing of what is truly ecclesial.