· In the Vatican Basilica Pope Francis celebrates Mass with the new cardinals created on Saturday mo

[Haia]

“God’s way of acting” must become “the norm for our own”. Pope Francis gave this advice to the 19 cardinals created in the Consistory on Saturday. The Holy Father celebrated Mass with 18 of them on Sunday, 24 February, in St Peter's Basilica.

“We love,” he said, “those who are hostile to us; we bless those who speak ill of us; we greet with a smile those who may not deserve it. We do not aim to assert ourselves; we oppose arrogance with meekness; we forget the humiliations that we have endured. May we always allow ourselves to be guided by the Spirit of Christ, who sacrificed himself on the Cross so that we could be 'channels' through which his charity might flow. This is the attitude of a Cardinal, this must be how he acts”. He added: “A Cardinal — I say this especially to you — enters the Church of Rome, my brothers, not a royal court. May all of us avoid, and help others to avoid, habits and ways of acting typical of a court: intrigue, gossip, cliques, favouritism and partiality. May our language be that of the Gospel: 'yes when we mean yes; no when we mean no'; may our attitudes be those of the Beatitudes, and our way be that of holiness”.