On Sunday, Oct. 9, the Angelus, His Holiness, Pope Francis, announced the convocation of a consistory at the end of the Extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy (on Nov. 19) for the naming of 17 new cardinals from 11 different countries – with eleven also coming from places never before included. Among those named was our own Archbishop Patrick D’Rozario of the Archdiocese of Dhaka. He is the first Cardinal from Bangladesh and the second religious of the Congregation of Holy Cross to be named to the College of Cardinals.
Our Superior General, Rev. Robert Epping, C.S.C., was in LeMans on Sunday and prayed for a moment at the tomb of our Holy Founder for Archbishop Patrick. Heasks that weremember Archbishop Patrick in these days at the end of the Holy Year of Mercy that God might always protect and sustain him in his new responsibilities to the Holy Father and the whole Church.
His elevation is a special honor for the Catholic Church and people of Bangladesh and for all our Holy Cross confreres in the Sacred Heart and St. Joseph Provinces.
Archbishop Patrick D’Rozario was born October 1, 1943 in Padrishibpur, Barisal, British India, now Bangladesh. He was ordained priest in the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1972. In 1990, Archbishop D’Rozario became Bishop of Rajshahi, in 1995 Bishop of Chittagong. In November 2010, he was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Dhaka by Pope Benedict XVI. In October 2011, he succeeded Archbishop Paulinus Costa as Archbishop of Dhaka. He is President of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Bangladesh.
Naming new cardinals is one of the most significant powers of the papacy, allowing a pontiff to put his stamp on the future of the 1.2-billion-member global Church. Cardinals under 80, known as cardinal-electors, can enter a secret conclave to choose a new pope from their own ranks after Francis dies or resigns. Francis, the former cardinal-archbishop of Buenos Aires, was elected in a conclave on March 13, 2013. The other cardinal-electors come from Italy, the Central African Republic, Spain, the United States, Brazil, Venezuela, Belgium, Mauritius, Mexico and Papua New Guinea.
The full list of those to be elevated are:
Archbishop Dieudonné Nzapalainga, C.S.Sp. of Bangui (Central African Republic)
Archbishop Carlos Osoro Sierra of Madrid (Spain)
Archbishop Sérgio da Rocha of Brasilia (Brazil)
Archbishop Blase J. Cupich of Chicago (U.S.A.)
Archbishop Patrick D’Rozario, C.S.C. of Dhaka (Bangladesh)
Archbishop Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo of Mérida (Venezuela)
Archbishop Jozef De Kesel of Mechelen-Brussels (Belgium)
Archbishop Maurice Piat of Port-Louis (Mauritius)
Bishop Kevin Joseph Farrell, prefect of the new dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life (U.S.A.)
Archbishop Carlos Aguiar Retes of Tlalnepantla (Mexico)
Archbishop John Ribat, M.S.C. of Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea)
Archbishop Joseph William Tobin, C.S.S.R. of Indianapolis (U.S.A.).
Mons. Anthony Soter Fernandez, Archbishop Emeritus of Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
Mons. Renato Corti, Archbishop Emeritus of Novara (Italy)
Mons. Sebastian Koto Khoarai, O.M.I, Bishop Emeritus of Mohale’s Hoek (Lesotho)
Father Ernest Simoni, priest of the archdiocese of Shkodrë-Pult (Shkodra – Albania)
