Solo en Inglés - Pope Benedict XVI reflects diversity in Catholic Church with Cardinal selections

Shortly after announcing he was creating six new cardinals, Pope Benedict XVI said he was doing so to show that "the church is a church of all peoples, (and) speaks in all languages."

The six new "princes of the church" hail from six different countries in North America, Latin America, Africa and Asia, and represent both the Latin-rite of the Catholic Church as well as two of the Eastern Catholic Churches.The six new cardinals that received their red hats and cardinal rings are: U.S. Archbishop James M. Harvey, 63, prefect of the papal household; Lebanon's Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai, 72; Indian Archbishop Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, 53, head of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church; Nigerian Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja, 68; Colombian Archbishop Ruben Salazar Gomez of Bogota, 70; and Philippine Archbishop Luis Tagle of Manila, 55.

A greater variety of nations, languages, spiritual and liturgical traditions in the College of Cardinals obviously means a more "catholic" group of participants in the cardinals' most solemn responsibility: electing a new pope. But the variety also has a very real impact on the Roman Curia because each cardinal becomes a member of one or more Vatican congregations or councils, bringing his experience to bear on decisions that impact the universal church.

These new additions to the College of Cardinals also reflect the diversity in the church here in the Catholic Diocese of Dallas. The diocese contains a Syro-Malankara parish and a Maronite parish (both Rites saw their leaders ascend to the rank of Cardinal this weekend), as well as three Syro-Malabar parishes, a Byzantine parish and personal parishes for speakers of the Chinese, Polish, Korean, and Vietnamese languages. Masses are celebrated in many languages throughout the diocese as well, including French, Hungarian, Latin, Nigerian, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Here are some of the many parishes in our diocese that reflect the richness of our Catholic liturgy and heritage.

Source: CNS, with additional content from the Diocese of Dallas