In anticipation of the consistory on the weekend of the Immaculate Conception in December, the pope has addressed a letter to the 21 cardinal-elects.
The first thing Pope Francis reminded them of, was that from now on they will become part of the clergy of Rome. Secondly, he asked them to apply what an Argentine poet said of St John of the Cross, to keep their “eyes high, hands together, feet bare.”
Eyes high to widen our gaze and hearts, hands together because prayer is the ideal setting in which to discern God’s will and bare feet to touch the reality of those places where people suffer.
The pope’s message is usually in line with the homily that he typically delivers at each consistory, in which he warns against the temptations of pride or worldliness.
“Thus, for example, the purple red of the cardinal’s habit, which is the colour of blood, can become, by the worldly spirit, that of eminent distinction,” the pope said.
“You will no longer be the shepherd who is close to the people, because you will be ‘the eminence.’ When you feel this way, you will be out of the way.”
In the letter, Pope Francis told the cardinals that he prays for them not to be seduced by the importance of the title conferred on them.
He says he hopes they will like to be known more as servants than as eminences. He also stresses that the original meaning of the word deacon is not to be a cleric but to be a servant.