Cardinal Rule to Serve the Poor

There has been a lot written, including by me, about the signs of a different attitude and approach emanating from the Vatican since the election of Pope Francis. You may have seen last week that Francis appointed the first group of cardinals since he assumed the papacy and the demographics are interesting. About a quarter of the world's RC's are in Europe but more than half the cardinals are European. The church has looked more "Roman" than "Catholic" or global through the centuries. There was a shift in these appointments with more from what is called the "global south" or developing nations. Francis is from Latin America himself and has a life-long affinity with the poor. It looks as though he wants the church he leads to reflect the realities of Roman Catholic membership and a gospel imperative to respond to the marginalized. Take a look at this Pew Research piece on this shift.http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/01/21/geography-of-catholics-and-cardinals/

Are you encouraged by this? Does our denominational leadership represent the poor of our society?