For the first time, the majority of cardinals will have been chosen by Benedict. The list strategically highlights one of the key themes of Benedict's papacy: his push to revitalize the faith in lands where it is flagging, says church historian Matthew Bunson, a biographer of Benedict and editor of The Catholic Almanac.
The Americans who were named "princes of the church" — key advisers to the pope who elect his successor — are Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and former Archbishop of Baltimore Edwin O'Brien, who was recently named Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, overseeing the Vatican's role in the Holy Land....
Dr. Alan Cairns | 8/3/2009
