It Just Wasn't In The Cards

Well obviously, there were no new Cardinals named yesterday. However, just because there's nothing now, doesn't mean nothing's coming.

The other "Petrine" feast day, the Solemnity of Sts Peter & Paul, is June 29th, and a consistory on that day would still give B16 some time before any announcement had to be made. In addition, if you look at the ages of some of the Cardinals approaching the age of 80 (when they lose their conclave voting rights), there are four whose birthdays are fast approaching and, in fact, will take place before June 29. If the Holy Father is still intent of keeping the maximum number of Cardinal-electors at 120, then holding off until the end of June allows him to create 15 nuovi Cardinali, rather than 11.

Other reasons? Well, this June will also mark the 30th anniversary of the public consistory in which Pope Paul VI gave a red biretta to the then-Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Joseph Ratzinger (albeit on June 27, 1977, not the 29th). So there is a sentimental reason right there. But more than that: one of my YF sources (with reliable sources of his own) says that some recently made metropolitan Archbishops, who normally receive their white Pallia from the Pope in a big public Mass on June 29, have been told to hold off making any large pilgrimage plans that usually accompany the event. No reasons given, only not to buy non-refundable tickets.

Finally, speaking of things that didn't happen yesterday, what's with the ever-elusive "Universal Indult" which devotees of the 1962 Missal keep saying is coming? Waiting for this indult has pretty much become akin to a Passover Seder, where each year a seat is kept empty at the table in case the prophet Elijah shows up (though there's really no need to worry about making extra noodle kugel, since you're pretty sure it's not gonna happen). In the meantime, the YF Priests can all come to appreciate the 2000 Missal, and learn to celebrate that rite well and correctly. It is, after all, the new Mass.

By the way, if any YFs out there were planning on ordering something from Gammarelli, Barbiconi, Mancinelli, or Euroclero, feel free to put the order in; they've got no one else higher on the food chain whose sartorial needs will bump your order down the line.