Pope Appoints 28 New Cardinals--Including 2 Prelates From U.S.

Pope John Paul II, bolstering the Roman Catholic Church in embattled areas, today named 28 new cardinals, including the top churchmen in Marxist Ethiopia and Nicaragua and an outspoken pro-Solidarity archbishop in his native Poland.

Among the other new princes of the church are Archbishops John J. O’Connor of New York and Bernard F. Law of Boston.

The new cardinals, who come from 19 countries, will be formally elevated at a consistory at the Vatican on May 25.

John Paul named cardinals from Ethiopia and Nicaragua for the first time ever and promoted the Rome-based leader of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, Archbishop Myroslav Ivan Lubachivsky, who is a U.S. citizen.

Affection for New York

In New York, O’Connor issued a statement saying: “I am deeply grateful to the Holy Father for the extraordinary honor extended to me. I consider this a mark of his affection for the people of all New York, of all religious persuasions.”

He said it was “a source of great personal joy” that his friend the archbishop of Boston also had been appointed.

“That’s an awesome, awesome role in the life of the church, and one doesn’t think of oneself in that role,” Law said in an interview. “It’s a strange feeling to consider that you’ve been named a cardinal.”

A number of major archdioceses traditionally headed by cardinals had had no leadership of that rank because of deaths or retirements since John Paul’s last consistory in 1983.

Maximum Number

The promotions will bring the number of cardinals under the age of 80 and therefore eligible to vote for a new Pope to 120--the maximum under church rules.

The Pope, making the announcement in St. Peter’s Square, said other churchmen “deserved to be included on the list” but that he did not want to go above the limit set by Pope Paul VI.

The pontiff chose the archbishop of Wroclaw in his native Poland, Henryk Roman Gulbinowicz, who was a firm supporter of the now outlawed Solidarity labor union and is known to take a hard line toward the communist government.

Also named a cardinal was Archbishop Miguel Obando Bravo of Managua, who originally supported the Sandinistas in Nicaragua in their struggle against the Somoza family. But since they took power in 1979, he has spoken out against actions that tighten control over the country. He also joined other church leaders in proposing direct talks between the Sandinistas and the contras, a proposal the government has called church “meddling” in political affairs.

The new cardinal from Ethiopia is Archbishop Paulos Tzadua of Addis Ababa.