Pope Appoints 20 Cardinals; Ignores US, Again

For the second time Pope Francis has appointed a new batch of cardinals to take their seats (and their red hats) in the august College of Cardinals which charts the direction of the Catholic Church and chooses future popes.

And for the second time the Pope has gone far beyond the usual territories to pick his new cardinals, reaching as one observer put it "into the bleachers" to select cardinals from Africa and Asia.

And, once again the Pope chose to ignore America, pointedly skipping over the US in his choice of cardinals.

And even in his choice of two new Italian cardinals the Pope ignored obvious candidates (the Italian cardinalatial see) while turning to two residential picks in the country (the archbishops of Ancona and Agrigento).

What's more, the Pope selected cardinals for the first time ever from Myanmar, Cape Verde, Panama and Tonga. And he also turned to long-neglected areas for cardinals such as New Zealand, Thailand, Ethiopia and Uruguay. Beyond all that, the Pope elevated three diocesan bishops* who are not overseeing major metropolitan areas - another unusual move.

Pope Francis likes to surprise and even startle. We already know that.

But this latest round of choices is a real stunner.

The Pope appears determined to put his own imprint on what he may envision as a new kind of Catholic Church -- less European, less traditional, less old world and not as western. And, decidedly less influenced by all things American.

As far as we can tell, save for his friend Cardinal O'Malley of Boston, the Pope does not seem to be terribly fond of most of the American cardinals and is not interested in increasing their numbers.

The Pope sees this new approach as a grad for "universality" and he cautions against any sense of grandeur or pomp among the cardinals, both present members and those just appointed.

Indeed, Francis warned the cardinals-designate to view their appointments "far from any expression of worldliness or from any form of celebration contrary to the evangelical spirit of austerity, sobriety and poverty."

"The cardinalate," he concluded, "does not imply promotion."

Here is the complete list of the appointees:

Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, 62, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura.
Archbishop Manuel José Macário do Nascimento Clemente, 66, Patriarch of Lisbon
Archbishop Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel CM, 66, of Addis Ababa
Archbishop John Atcherley Dew, 66, of Wellington
Archbishop Edoardo Menichelli, 75, of Ancona-Osimo (Italy)
Archbishop Pierre Nguyên Văn Nhon, 76, of Hànôi
Archbishop Alberto Suárez Inda, 75, of Morelia (Mexico)
Archbishop Charles Maung Bo SDB, 66, of Yangon (Myanmar)
Archbishop Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij, 65, of Bangkok
Archbishop Francesco Montenegro, 68, of Agrigento (Italy)
Archbishop Daniel Fernando Sturla Berhouet SDB, 55, of Montevideo (Uruguay)
Archbishop Ricardo Blázquez Pérez, 72, of Valladolid (Spain)
Bishop José Luis Lacunza Maestrojuán OAR, 70, of David (Panamá)*
Bishop Arlindo Gomes Furtado, 65, of Santiago de Cape Verde*
Bishop Soane Patita Paini Mafi, 53, of Tonga*