Pope to Cardinals-designate: Being a Cardinal is not a prize
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a letter to each of the 20 Churchmen who will be elevated to the College of Cardinals during the consistory on February 14th in the Vatican. In his letter, the Pope reminded the prelates that being a Cardinal is a vocation to serve and stressed the need to be humble.
“Staying humble, whilst serving is not easy,” he said, when people consider the cardinalate “as a prize, or the peak of one’s career,” a dignified position of power or of superior distinction. The Pope urged them to strive every day to stay away from such considerations. And when celebrating the elevation to your new vocation, he continued, do so with humility and ensure that these celebrations are not contaminated by the spirit of worldliness which can intoxicate more than drinking brandy on an empty stomach, and can separate one from Christ’s Cross.