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Pope Francis exhorts cardinals to 'roll up sleeves' and seek out shunned individuals

The Pontiff said the church should be "welcoming" and was not "a closed caste"

Matilda Battersby
Sunday 15 February 2015 14:46 GMT
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Pope Francis attends a Mass with newly appointed cardinals at St. Peter's Basilica on February 15, 2015 in Vatican City
Pope Francis attends a Mass with newly appointed cardinals at St. Peter's Basilica on February 15, 2015 in Vatican City

Pope Francis today urged new cardinals to “go out in search” of people marginalised by the church or society.

He exhorted 20 men, who were yesterday ordained as cardinals, to ''[roll] up [their] sleeves and not stand by passively watching the suffering of the world."

Celebrating Mass in St. Peter's Basilica the Pope said: ''The way of the Church is not to condemn anyone for eternity."

Elected pope in 2013, Francis has sought to make church hierarchy less judgmental and less dominated by its Vatican-based bureaucratic workings.

His picks for cardinals included some from far-flung place such as Myanmar and Tonga.

One new cardinal, Archbishop John Dew, from New Zealand, recommended in an interview with Vatican Radio that prelates working in the Curia, the Vatican's Rome-based administration, be assigned to the field, in dioceses. There he said, they can ''meet people who are very often struggling in life" and obtain ''real on-the-ground experience."

Many Catholics will be watching to see if Francis's determination to lead a more merciful church impacts their lives.

Divorced Catholics who remarried are hoping Francis will change policy so they will be able to receive Communion instead of being seen as ''living in sin."

Homosexual Catholics are wondering if his leadership will result in more openness toward them. Church teaching condemns homosexual activity.

Francis told the cardinals the Church must not be a ''closed caste." He instructed them to "see the Lord in every excluded person ... even in those who have lost their faith, or turned away from the practice of their faith."

Additional reporting by PA

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