Pope Benedict conducts mass with new cardinals
- 12 years ago
ROUGH CUT ONLY - NO REPORTER NARRATION)
Pope Benedict on Sunday asked the 22 new Roman Catholic cardinals from around the world to base all their actions and decisions on faith as they exercise greater responsibility and power.
Pope Benedict, 84, celebrated a solemn mass in St Peter's Basilica together with the new cardinals, a day after he raised them to the highest rank in the church under him.
Cardinals, known as the "princes of the church", are the pope's closest aides in the Vatican and around the world, and those under 80 are part of the exclusive group who will one day elect one of their own to succeed him as leader of the world's 1.3 billion Roman Catholics.
They lead major archdioceses and run key Vatican departments that help the Pope decide church policy and doctrine that can affect the lives of Catholics world-wide.
Pope Benedict on Sunday asked the 22 new Roman Catholic cardinals from around the world to base all their actions and decisions on faith as they exercise greater responsibility and power.
Pope Benedict, 84, celebrated a solemn mass in St Peter's Basilica together with the new cardinals, a day after he raised them to the highest rank in the church under him.
Cardinals, known as the "princes of the church", are the pope's closest aides in the Vatican and around the world, and those under 80 are part of the exclusive group who will one day elect one of their own to succeed him as leader of the world's 1.3 billion Roman Catholics.
They lead major archdioceses and run key Vatican departments that help the Pope decide church policy and doctrine that can affect the lives of Catholics world-wide.