27 More Cardinals

Pope Paul VI is an austere intellectual who carefully calculates the effect of his every word and deed. Last week, when he called the first consistory of his pontificate for Feb. 22 and named 27 new cardinals, his choice of the men to be honored was clearly an example of thoughtful Pauline diplomacy: there was a token of reward for almost every shade of opinion in the church.

The new cardinals will raise the Sacred College to 103, highest total in history, and contribute further to the internationalization begun by Pius XII. The red hats will be bestowed on men from 21 countries, including Ceylon, Brazil, Upper Volta, Algeria, and the Union of South Africa. Only six of the appointments went to Italy, whose representation in the enlarged college will be reduced to an alltime low of 31% .

A Kindly Pastor. Among so many cardinals, at least one was sure to be an American, but the Pope's choice was close to being a surprise: shy, tiny (5 ft. 3 in.) Lawrence Joseph Shehan, 66, who has been Archbishop of Baltimore since 1961. He becomes the sixth U.S. cardinal, and the second in the history of the nation's oldest diocese.* A kindly pastor who still makes sick calls and regularly hears confession in Baltimore's Mary Our Queen Cathedral, Shehan is also a forceful worker for civil rights and Christian unity. He has banned all discrimination in Baltimore's

Catholic schools and institutions; in 1962 he created the nation's first di ocesan ecumenical commission.

If Shehan's elevation to the cardinalate was unexpected--there were Vatican observers who thought Philadelphia's energetic Archbishop John Krol a more plausible candidate--other appointments were not. Some of Paul's red hats went to men who govern ancient European sees that have come to expect cardinal-archbishops as a matter of course--Milan's Giovanni Colombo, for example, and Florence's Ermenegildo Florit. As Archbishop of Westminster, England's primatial Catholic see, John Carmel Heenan had a right to expect a cardinalate; so did Archbishop William Conway of Armagh, the Primate of All Ireland. It was also predictable that Paul would offer a sign of the church's esteem to Archbishop Enrico Dante, 80, the lean, gesticulating papal master of ceremonies, who has nudged and poked Bishops of Rome through the intricacies of pontifical rituals for 50 years.

A Red Hat Is Treason. Many appointments reflected Paul's special churchly concerns--most notably, union with Orthodoxy. Heading the list of new cardinals were three leaders of Oriental-rite churches that form a bridge between Rome and the East. Stephanos I Sidarouss is Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria. Lebanon's Paul Peter Meouchi is leader of the Maronite Christians. Maximos IV Saigh, Melchite Patriarch of Antioch, is a bearded churchly rebel who spoke French instead of Latin at the Vatican Council and three times previously refused a red hat on the grounds that "for a Patriarch to accept a cardinalate is treason."

The Pope did not forget the 65 million Catholics who live under Communism. Among those elevated to the purple were two prelates no longer in command of their sees: Ukrainian Metropolitan Josyf Slipyi, who came to Rome in 1963 after 18 years of Soviet imprisonment, and Czech Primate Josef Beran, who is still under virtual house arrest near Prague. One new East European cardinal who does govern his diocese is Yugoslavia's Primate, Archbishop Franjo Seper of Zagreb. His careful policy of accommodation with Tito may lead to a restoration of diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Yugoslavia.

Effective Representation. The biggest surprise on Paul's list was the elevation of three European priests who have never governed a diocese and probably never will. Belgian Monsignor Joseph Cardijn was founder of the worldwide Young Christian Workers movement, a pioneer in theologically exploring the role of the layman in the church. Monsignor Charles Journet of Fribourg is a respected ecumenical theologian. Father Giulio Bevilacqua was the Pope's confessor during his seminary days, but now serves as pastor of a poor church in the northern Italian city of Brescia. Bevilacqua assured his parishioners that he would continue to wear his plain black cassock, stay on as their parish priest.

The Pope has indicated that he will appoint even more cardinals, probably at the close of the Vatican Council's final session next fall. His appointments cut short the widespread Roman speculation that he might let the College of Cardinals fall into disuse in favor of a new senate of bishops, an idea discussed at the council. Typically, Paul accepted the innovation halfway: there will probably be no new senate, but the college would be expanded to give a voice to Catholics everywhere.

-The first: James Gibbons (1834-1921).

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