Archbishop Jean-Paul Vesco, OP, Archbishop of Algiers (Algeria), Archbishop Francis Leo, Archbishop of Toronto (Canada) and Brother Timothy Radcliffe, OP, are among the 21 new Cardinals to be created by Pope Francis at the Consistory to be held on 8 December. The Pope made the announcement on Sunday 6 October, after praying the Angelus with the faithful and pilgrims present in St Peter’s Square.
Archbishop Jean-Paul Vesco, OP, was born in Lyon (France) in 1962. He entered the Order of Preachers in 1995 after studying law and working as a lawyer. He was ordained a priest in 2001. His first contact with Algeria took place a year later, when he was assigned to the Dominican convent of Tlemcen, in the diocese of Oran. In 2005, he was appointed Vicar General of the diocese of Oran, also serving as diocesan treasurer beginning in 2007. He returned to France at the end of 2010, upon his election as Prior Provincial of the Dominicans of France. He held this position for a few months, before being appointed Bishop of Oran by Benedict XVI on 1 December 2012. On 8 December 2018, Archbishop Vesco and the diocese hosted the beatification of the 19 martyrs of Algeria killed in 1996. The new blessed included Archbishop Pierre Claverie, former bishop of Oran and the monks of Tibhirine. Archbishop Vesco took part in the 2015 Synod on the Family held at the Vatican. On 27 December 2022, Pope Francis appointed him Metropolitan Archbishop of Algiers (Algeria). In 2023, in a presidential decree, the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, granted him Algerian citizenship.
Archbishop Francis Leo, a member of the Priestly Fraternity of St Dominic, was born in Montreal (Canada) in 1971. He was ordained priest in 1996. He has held various positions in teaching and parish ministry, also serving as a formator in seminaries, in court ministry, in the Diplomatic Service of the Holy See, as Secretary General of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and as Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia of the Archdiocese of Montreal. He entered the Dominican Third Order on 18 November 2007 in the Basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome, while in formation at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. He made his profession in the Priestly Fraternity of St Dominic on 11 May 2008 in this same convent of the Italian Dominicans. On that occasion, in what could be a fitting tribute to his Dominican connection, he quoted the motto of the Order of Preachers as expressed in the work of St Thomas Aquinas: “since it is better to enlighten than merely to shine, so it is better to share with others the truths contemplated than merely to contemplate.” On 16 July 2022, Pope Francis appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of Montreal and, on 11 February 2023, as Metropolitan Archbishop of Toronto.
Brother Timothy Radcliffe, OP, was born in London in 1945. He entered the Order of Preachers in 1965. He was ordained a priest in 1971. After studying at Oxford and Paris, he taught Sacred Scripture at Oxford University and at the Dominican Centre known as Blackfriars Hall. From 1982 to 1988, he served as Prior of the Oxford priory and was elected Prior Provincial of the Province of England in 1987. He then served as Master of the Order of Preachers from 1992 to 2001. An internationally renowned speaker, lecturer, preacher, writer and theologian, Br Timoty has received honorary degrees from Oxford University and other academic institutions in France, Italy and the United States. In 2007, he received the Michael Ramsey Award for his writings on theology. In 2023, Pope Francis commissioned him to preach the preparatory retreat for bishops from around the world participating in the Synod on Synodality. This year he was again appointed to lead the preparatory retreat for the second session of the Synod. The official Vatican media have published Br Timothy’s meditations.
The Dominican Family is pleased by the announcement of the consistory for the appointment of new Cardinals. In the words of Pope Francis, the diversity of the new cardinals “expresses the universality of the Church which continues to announce the merciful love of God to all people on earth”. The Holy Father continues, “Their inclusion in the Diocese of Rome manifests, moreover, the indissoluble bond between the See of Peter and the particular Churches scattered throughout the world.” The pope asked for prayers for the new cardinals, so that, “confirming their attachment to Christ, merciful and faithful High Priest”, they may help him “in the ministry of Bishop of Rome for the good of all God’s holy people.” We are united in prayer for the new Cardinals and commend the ministry and mission of our brothers to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary and of our Father St Dominic.
