"Holy Father, from tomorrow, our Cardinal College will be made up of 193 Members, 120 of whom will be Electing Cardinals, while the others have already exceeded the ripe old age of 80. Of course, from the members who were part of our College during last year’s Conclave, it is necessary to deduct Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who came to St. Peter’s throne". With those words, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the Cardinal College, addressed Benedict XVI this morning, during his speech at the meeting, welcoming the members of the Cardinal College. Cardinal Sodano also recalled the four cardinals, Sin, Caprio, Scheffczyk and Taofinu’u, who "will now pray for us from heaven. We feel their spiritual presence here", and he added: "In the name of all the beloved Cardinal Brothers, arriving here from various countries in the world, I would also like to say to the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, that we all feel close to him, every day, through our prayer and our love for Christ, the Supreme Shepherd of our souls".
