” “A welcome, blessings and prayers have marked the time, today, of Benedict XVI’s audience with the new cardinals and their relatives and friends that ended the Consistory, the first one in his ponitificate, begun on March 24th. Benedict XVI greeted the new Cardinals one by one, thanking them all. “You, venerable brothers said the Pope to the Italian cardinals Agostino Vallini, Carlo Caffarra and Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo are crowned today by so many beloved people, whose presence, as well as a sign of friendship and affection, is also visible evidence of the fruitful communion of good that enlivens the Church. May the Lord make each one of you the increasingly generous witness of His love”. Benedict XVI greeted the French cardinals Jean-Pierre Ricard and Albert Vanhoye, thanking the latter for his “fruitful exegetic work” for “many generations of young people”. To the English-speaking cardinals William Levada, Gaudencio Rosales, Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk, Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, Peter Dery, Sean O’Malley, the Pope gave a “brotherly welcome” and offered prayers for “their mission in the service of the universal Church”. (to be continued)
