The Vatican confirms that two designated cardinals are absent from the consistory

The Vatican confirmed on Monday that two designated cardinals will not receive their red hats from Pope Francis in Rome this Saturday.

The Holy See press office said on November 23 that cardinal designate Cornelius Sim, apostolic vicar of Brunei, and cardinal designate Jose F. Advincula of Capiz, Philippines, would not be able to attend the November 28 consistory due to restrictions. related to the coronavirus pandemic.

The press office said that a representative of Pope Francis would present them the hat, the cardinal's ring and the title linked to a Roman parish "at another time to be defined".

He added that existing members of the College of Cardinals unable to travel to Rome for the consistory could have followed the occasion via live streaming.

The ordinary consistory for the creation of new cardinals will take place at 16.00 local time at the Altar of the Chair of St. Peter's Basilica, with a congregation of about one hundred people. The new cardinals will not follow the custom of receiving supporters after the ceremony due to coronavirus restrictions.

The new cardinals will concelebrate mass with the pope in St. Peter's Basilica at 10.00 local time on Sunday 29 November.

Pope Francis announced on October 25 that he would create 13 new cardinals, including Archbishop Wilton Gregory.

Gregory, who was named Archbishop of Washington in 2019, will become the United States' first black cardinal.

Other designated cardinals include Maltese bishop Mario Grech, who became general secretary of the Synod of Bishops in September, and Italian bishop Marcello Semeraro, who was appointed prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in October.

The Italian cappuccino Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, Preacher of the Papal Household since 1980. At 86, he will not be able to vote in a future conclave.

Cantalamessa told CNA on November 19 that Pope Francis had allowed him to become a cardinal without being ordained a bishop.

Archbishop Celestino Aós Braco of Santiago, Chile has also been appointed to the College of Cardinals; Archbishop Antoine Kambanda of Kigali, Rwanda; Mons. Augusto Paolo Lojudice, former Auxiliary Bishop of Rome and current Archbishop of Siena-Colle di Val d'Elsa-Montalcino, Italy; and Fra Mauro Gambetti, Guardian of the Sacred Convent of Assisi.

Gambetti was ordained bishop on Sunday in the Upper Church of the Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi.

Alongside Cantalamessa, the pope has nominated three others who will receive the red hat but will not be able to vote in conclaves: bishop emeritus Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico; Mons. Silvano Maria Tomasi, Permanent Observer Emeritus at the United Nations Office and the specialized agencies in Geneva; and Msgr. Enrico Feroci, parish priest of Santa Maria del Divino Amore in Castel di Leva, Rome.

Feroci was ordained bishop in his parish church by Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, vicar general of the diocese of Rome, on 15 November.

Cardinal-designate Sim has overseen the apostolic vicariate of Brunei Darussalam since 2004. He and three priests serve the approximately 20.000 Catholics living in Brunei, a small but affluent state on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia.

In an interview with Vatican News, he described the Church in Brunei as a "periphery within a periphery"