One by one 11 senior churchmen, including two U.S. citizens — Cardinals Wilton D. Gregory of Washington and Silvano M. Tomasi, a former Vatican diplomat — knelt before Pope Francis to receive their red hats, a cardinal’s ring and a scroll formally declaring their new status and assigning them a “titular” church in Rome.

“I am a pastor,” Cardinal-designate Enrico Feroci, 80, said after Pope Francis announced he would make him a cardinal. “I hope to continue being a pastor.”

Cardinal-designate Tomasi, a Scalabrinian, said Pope Francis has not explained why he chose him, but he thinks one reason is that he belongs “to a small religious family that for over a century has been working with migrants and refugees and displaced people and people on the margins of society

In a 5-4 decision issued just before midnight Nov. 25, the Supreme Court lifted the pandemic restrictions on congregation sizes at houses of worship imposed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Cardinal-designate Tomasi, a Scalabrinian, said Pope Francis has not explained why he chose him, but he thinks one reason is that he belongs “to a small religious family that for over a century has been working with migrants and refugees and displaced people and people on the margins of society

While confusion has arisen in recent days in the media over “the moral permissibility” of using the COVID-19 vaccines just announced by Pfizer Inc. and Moderna, it is not “immoral to be vaccinated with them,” the chairmen of the U.S. bishops’ doctrine and pro-life committees said Nov. 23.

But for many in Mexico, the elevation is seen as the recognition of a prelate who continued the pastoral work of his towering predecessor in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Bishop Samuel Ruiz. Cardinal-designate Arizmendi’s project of building a native church in a mostly indigenous diocese caused conflict with the church hierarchy and land-owning elites, but has found new appreciation since the election of Pope Francis.

As Washington’s new cardinal and with a Catholic soon to be living in the White House, Cardinal-designate Wilton D. Gregory said he hopes to collaborate where possible while respectfully pointing out where President-elect Joe Biden’s policies diverge from Catholic teaching.

Although he had a degree in mechanical engineering, Cardinal-designate Mauro Gambetti decided to dedicate his life’s journey to a different kind of builder, St. Francis of Assisi.

While the coronavirus lockdowns and restrictions have interrupted people’s lives and brought suffering on a global scale, every individual — including the pope — has or will experience traumatic interruptions in their lives, Pope Francis said in a new book.