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Brunei bishop among 13 new cardinals announced

Archbishop Jose F. Advincula of Capiz, Philippines, is the other Asian bishop in the list
Brunei bishop among 13 new cardinals announced

Bishop Cornelius Sim of Brunei is among 13 new cardinals named (Photo: wikipedia.org)

Published: October 25, 2020 02:04 PM GMT
Updated: October 26, 2020 05:35 AM GMT

Pope Francis announced he will create 13 new cardinals on Nov. 28, including Bishop Cornelius Sim, apostolic vicar of Brunei.

The pope made the announcement at the end of his Angelus address Oct. 25, telling the crowd in St. Peter's Square the names of the nine cardinals under the age of 80, who will be eligible to vote in a conclave, and the names of four elderly churchmen whose red hats are a sign of esteem and honor.

Bishop Sim, 69, was born in Seria, Brunei, and is of Chinese and Dusunic descent.

An engineering graduate from Scotland, he worked in Brunei for seven years before starting his priestly studies. When ordained in 1989, he was Brunei's second local priest.

He was named vicar general of Brunei in 1995 and two years later, Prefect of the Apostolic Prefecture of Brunei.

In 2004, Pope John Paul II appointed him Vicar Apostolic of Brunei, and he received episcopal consecration in 2005.

Archbishop Jose F. Advincula of Capiz in the Philippines is the other Cardinal-designate from Asia.

The 68-year-old was ordained a priest in 1976. He was appointed Bishop of San Carlos on July 25, 2001. Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Archbishop of Capiz a decade later.

The archbishop speaks English and the local languages of Tagalog and Ilonggo.

Once the consistory is held in late November, the Catholic Church will have 128 cardinals under 80, and eligible to vote in a conclave. Pope Francis will have created just over 57% of them.

Sixteen of the cardinals created by St. John Paul II will still be under 80 as will 39 of the cardinals created by Pope Benedict XVI; Pope Francis will have created 73 of the electors.

Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, whom the pope dismissed as prefect of the congregation for saints in late September, is 72 but renounced the rights of a cardinal, including the right to enter a conclave to elect a new pope.

Italians will continue to have an outsized portion of the electors, rising to 22 of the 128; the United States will stay at nine voters with Cardinal-designate Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory taking the place of Cardinal Donald William Wuerl, who was Washington archbishop until 2018.

Here is the full list of the new cardinals, in the order named by the pope:

-- Maltese Bishop Mario Grech, 63, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops.

-- Italian Bishop Marcello Semeraro, 72, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes.

-- Archbishop Antoine Kambanda of Kigali, Rwanda, who will turn 62 Nov. 10.

-- Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Washington, United States,  72.

-- Archbishop Jose F. Advincula of Capiz, Philippines, 68.

-- Archbishop Celestino Aos Braco of Santiago, Chile, 75.

-- Bishop Cornelius Sim, apostolic vicar of Brunei, 69.

-- Italian Archbishop Paolo Lojudice of Siena, 56.

-- Franciscan Father Mauro Gambetti, custos of the Sacred Convent of Assisi in Assisi, who was to celebrate his 55th birthday Oct. 27.

-- Retired Bishop Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel of San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico, 80.

-- Retired Italian Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, a former nuncio, 80.

-- Italian Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the papal household, 86.

-- Italian Father Enrico Feroci, 80, former director of Rome's Caritas.

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