Mar 20, 2006 12:51 pm US/Eastern
Becoming A Cardinal: The Ceremony
(CBS4)
On Friday, Boston Archbishop Sean O'Malley will be elevated to cardinal in a Vatican ceremony. But what exactly will happen, and what does it all mean?
The name of Friday's ceremony is a consistory. This is not a Mass, because there will be no Eucharist, rather it is a Liturgy of the Word. 15 cardinals will be elevated by Pope Benedict XVI during Friday's consistory.
The consistory will be held in the Paul VI Audience Hall, next to St. Peter's Basilica at 10:30 a.m. Rome time, or 4:30 a.m. Eastern time
(Map). The entire ceremony lasts about two hours. All current cardinals are invited to be in attendance to witness the ceremony.
The 15 new cardinals will enter the hall in the new red vestments of a cardinal, though their heads will be bare.
Cardinal-designate William Levada, who is the former Archbishop of San Francisco, will have the honor of addressing the audience. As head of the Vatican's Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith, he is the senior-most member of the incoming cardinals.
During the consistory, each cardinal will be blessed by the pope, and will receive a red zuccetto (skull cap) and a red biretta to wear over it. These are not called hats in the Catholic faith. The color red of the cardinals' vestments and headwear signifies their willingness to die for their faith.
The service will be celebrated in Latin and Italian.
Each new cardinal is then assigned a room in the Apolistic Palace where they receive visitors for about two hours.
On Saturday, the new cardinals receive their rings during a Mass at St. Peter's Basilica. Every cardinal also is named the "titular" head (in title only) of a church in Rome. They learn their assignments during this Mass.
To learn more about what it means to be a cardinal, read
Becoming a Cardinal: What It Means.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Becoming A Cardinal: What Does It Mean?
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