Francis, new cardinals pay a visit to Pope-Emeritus Benedict

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At the conclusion of the Consistory celebration on Saturday, Pope Francis made a visit to Pope-Emeritus Benedict XVI together with 16 of the 17 new cardinals he had just created. The 16 Cardinals in their new red hats, led by white-hatted Pope Francis, boarded two buses and made the short journey from St Peter’s Basilica around to the Chapel of the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican. There they were greeted by Pope-Emeritus Benedict XVI. The one new Cardinal missing from the group was the 87-year-old bishop from Lesotho, Africa – Sebastian Koto Khoarai, OMI. Cardinal Khoarai did not make the trip to Rome due to his advanced age and infirmity and shall receive the insignia of his new office by Papal emissary. Pope Francis created 17 new Cardinals on Saturday in St. Peter’s Basilica, during an Ordinary Public Consistory he had convoked for that purpose: 13 Cardinal-electors, and four Cardinals above the age of 80, who received the ‘Red Hat’ in recognition of their exemplary service to the Church and witness to the Gospel.

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