Pope to Cardinals-elect: Keep your eyes raised, your hands joined, your feet bare

By Christopher Wells

Pope Francis wrote a personal letter letter to the 21 men – bishops and priests from around the world – whom he will elevate to the cardinalate during a consistory set for December 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Noting that their elevation to the College of Cardinals will associate them with the Roman clergy, the Bishop of Rome reminds them that membership in the College “is an expression of the unity of the Church and of the bond which unites all the Churches to this Church from Rome. .”

“Eyes raised, hands clasped, feet bare”

In his letter, Pope Francis invites the cardinals-elect “to embody the three attitudes with which an Argentine poet (Francisco Luis Bernárdez) once characterized Saint John of the Cross, and which are also applicable to us: “eyes raised, hands clasped “. , barefoot.’”

Explaining these three attitudes, the Holy Father told the future cardinals that their new service within the Church will require them to “lengthen the gaze and broaden the heart” to see further and love with more fervor.

They must keep their hands folded in prayer to enable them to “shepherd Christ’s flock well,” the Pope said, adding that prayer is “the realm of discernment” that helps to discern God’s will and follow it. .

Finally, the Pope said, they must keep their feet bare “because they touch on the harsh realities of all those regions of the world overwhelmed by pain and suffering,” which will require “great compassion and mercy” from the new cardinals. .

Concluding his letter, Pope Francis thanked the cardinals-elect for their generosity and assured them of his prayers “so that the title of ‘servant’ (deacon) increasingly eclipses that of ’eminence’.”