• March 18
  The Press Office of the Holy See informed that the Holy Father named Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Special Papal Envoy to the National Eucharistic Congress in the Democratic Republic of Congo, programmed in Lubumbashi on June 7-14, 2020.

• March 18
  The Press Office of the Holy See informed that the Holy Father Named Cardinal Daniel Fernando Sturla Berhouet, S.D.B., Archbishop of Montevideo, Uruguay, member of the Cardinalitial Commission of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See.

• March 11
  The Press Office of the Holy See informed that the Holy Father accepted the resignation from the pastoral government of the Archdiocese of São Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, presented by Murilo Sebastião Ramos Krieger, S.C.I.. To succeed him the Holy Father named Cardinal Sérgio da Rocha, until then Archbishop of Brasília.

• March 6
  The Press Office of the Holy See informed that the Pope accepted the resignation from the pastoral government of the Archdiocese of Lyon, France, presented by Cardinal Philippe Barbarin.

• March 3
  L'Osservatore Romano, 03 marzo 2020, informed that cardinal Juan José Omella Omella, Archbishop of Barcelona, Spain, was elected President of the Spanish Episcopal Conference for the quadrienium 2020-2024. Also, Cardinal Carlos Osoro Sierra, Archbishop of Madrid, was elected Vice-President of the Episcopal Conference for the same term.

• February 28
  The Press Office of the Holy See informed that Pope Francis has launched a task force to help bishops' conferences prepare and update child protection guidelines.
  The initiative is following up on a plan announced at last year's Meeting for the Protection of Minors in the Church which ran from February 21 to 24, 2019.
  The task force was established "in order to assist the Episcopal Conferences in the preparation and updating of guidelines for the protection of minors," Vatican News reported.
  It will be supervised by Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, the Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, together with the members of the organizing Committee for last year's Meeting: Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay, India; Cardinal Blase Joseph Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, United States of America; Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta and Deputy Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; and Father Hans Zollner, S.I., Dean of the Institute of Psychology of the Pontifical Gregorian University and member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.
  The task force itself is composed of a Coordinator, Dr. Andrew Azzopardi, head of the Safeguarding Commission of the Maltese Bishops (established by the Archdiocese of Malta, the Diocese of Gozo, and the Conference of Religious Major Superiors); and a number of canon law experts of different nationalities.
  The Coordinator will report quarterly to the Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State on the work undertaken by the task force.
  According to a Vatican communiqué, the task force will assist Episcopal Conferences, as well as Religious Institutes and Societies of Apostolic Life, in preparing and updating guidelines for the protection of minors, in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and current canonical legislation, especially the motu proprio Vos estis lux mundi.
  The task force's mandate will last for two years, beginning February 24. It will be supported by a special fund established by benefactors.

• February 25
  Cardinal Béchara Boutros Raï, O.M.M., Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites, turned eighty years old and, according to the regulation in the seventh paragraph of the introduction of the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici gregis, lost the right to participate in the Conclave.
  The number of Cardinals is 223. The Cardinal electors are now 123; and the Cardinal non-electors are now 100.

• February 21
  The Press Office of the Holy See informed that the Pope included among the Members of the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia the following Cardinals:
  
  1) In the Congregation for the Oriental Churches Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, President of the Pontifical Council for the Interreligious Dialog (Spain);
  
  2) In the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples Cardinals Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo, Archbishop of Jakarta (Indonesia); and Michael Czerny, S.I., Under-Secretary of the Dicastery for the Service of the Integral Human Development (Czech Republic);
  
  3) In the Congregation for the Clergy Cardinal Juan de la Caridad García Rodríguez, Archbishop of San Cristóbal de La Habana (Cuba);
  
  4) In the Congregation of the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, O.F.M.Cap., Archbishop of Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo);
  
  5) In the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life Cardinal Álvaro Leonel Ramazzini Imeri, Bishop of Huehuetenango (Guatemala);
  
  6) In the Dicastery for the Service of the Integral Human Development Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, Archbishop of Bologna (Italy);
  
  7) In the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialog Cardinal Cristóbal López Romero, S.D.B., Archbishop of Rabat (Morocco);
  
  8) In the Pontifical Council for Culture Cardinals José Tolentino Calaça de Mendonça, Archivist and Librarian of the Holy Roman Church (Portugal); and Jean-Claude Höllerich, S.I., Archbishop of Luxembourg (Luxembourg).

• February 19
  Communiqué of the Holy See Press Office about the Cardinals Council Meeting, 02.19.2020
  The Council of Cardinals met again for three years: Monday l7, Tuesdy 18, Wednesday 19 of February, 2020. Present were Cardinals Pietro Parolin, Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, S.D.B., Reinhard Marx, Seán Patrick O’Malley, O.F.M.Cap., Giuseppe Bertello and Oswald Gracias. Also present were the Secretary of the Council, Bishop Marcello Semeraro, and the Adjunct Secretary, Bishop Marco Mellino.
  The Holy Father participated in the works with the exception of Wednesday morning, due to the General Audience.
  The last meeting of this session will take place this afternoon with the presence of Holy Father Francis.
  The text of the new Apostolic Constitution, redone according to the constributions offered by the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia and of some experts, has been the object of a profound reading and revision by the Council, as well as by some suggestions made in recent weeks by Cardinals residing in Rome who had not been able to send their proposals.
  The reading of the text will continue in the next session of April 2020.

• February 17
  L'Osservatore Romano, Anno CLX n. 39 (48.363), Città del Vaticano, lunedì-martedì 17-18 febbraio 2020, p. 7, informed that in the morning of Sunday February 16, 2020, Cardinal Jean-Claude Höllerich, S.I., archbishop of Luxembourg, solemnly took possession of the Title of San Giovanni Crisostomo in Monte Sacro Alto. In the Roman Church in via Emilio De Marchi, the Jesuit Cardinal, President of the Commission of the Episcopates of the European Union (Comece), was welcomed by the Pastor, Don Massimo Tellan, who brought him the Crucifix for the kissing and veneration. Successively, the Cardinal presided over the Holy Mass, concelebrated by the Cardinal Almoner, Konrad Krajewski; by Mariano Crociata, Bishop of Latina-Terracina-Sezze-Priverno, first Vice-president of Comece; and by Father Manuel Enrique Barrios Prieto, Secretary General of Comece; together with other prelates and the Pastor of the Church and several Jesuit priets. Before the rite, directed by Pontifical cerimoniere Massimiliano Matteo Boiardi, a choir of children from the Paul VI peer school performed a song and gave a pastoral shaft which was then used by the Cardinal in the celebration. Among those present: the Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Guillaume Jean Joseph Marie, with his wife, Stéphanie de Lannoy; the cardinal's mother, Marie Anne Höllerich-Wester; Bishop Guerino Di Tora, auxiliary for the Northern sector of Rome; and some ambassadors.
  Likewise, the Vatican newspaper informed that on the morning of Sunday February 16, 2020, Cardinal Cristóbal López Romero, S.D.B., archbishop of Rabat, Morocco, solemnly took possession of the Title of Saint Leo I. In the Roman church of via Prenestina the Salesian Cardinal was welcomed by the parish pastor Don Vito Di Nuzzo, who presented him the Crucifix for kissing and veneration. The Spanish cardinal then presided over the Concelebrated Sunday Mass together with the clergy of the parish community and some of his Salesian confreres. At the beginning of the rite - directed by the pontifical ceremoniere Ján Dubina - the Parish Priest read the Papal Bull of assignment.

• February 17
  The Press Office of the Holy See informed that the 33rd Meeting of the Council of Cardinals began this morning in the presence of the Holy Father Francis.
  The works will continue until Wednesday February 19, 2020.

  The previous meeting of the Council were held on October 1-3 and December 3-5, 2013; February 17-19, April 27-30, July 1-4, September 15-17 and December 9-11, 2014; February 9-11, April 13-15, June 8-10, September 14-16, and December 10-12, 2015; February 8-9, April 11-13, June 6-8, September 12-14, and December 12-14, 2016; February 13-15, April 24-26, June 12-14, September 11-13, and December 11-13, 2017; February 26-28, April 23-25, June 11-13, September 10-12, and December 10-12, 2018; February 18-20, April 8-10, June 25-27, September 17-19, and December 3-5, 2019.

• February 15
  Additional information has been included in the biographical entries of Cardinals Vitaliano Visconti (1666); Domenico Bartolucci (2010); and Prosper Grech, O.S.A. (2012), kindly provided by Mr. Eman Bonnici, from Malta.

• February 10
  L'Osservatore Romano, CLX n. 33 (48.357), Vatican City, Monday-Tuesday 10-11 February 2020, p. 8, informed that on the afternoon of Saturday February 8, 2020, Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, M.C.C.J., president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, solemnly took possession of the deaconry of San Girolamo della Carità. The rector, Don Filippo Goyret, welcomed him at the entrance of the Roman church in via di Monserrato, for the kiss and veneration of the Crucifix. The Papal Bull of Assignment was read by Father Felipe Luis Navarro Marfá, rector of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, who concelebrated Holy Mass with the Spanish cardinal, together with Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa de Chinchetru, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, and with Monsignor Indunil Janakaratne Kodithuwakku Kankanamalage and Father Paulin Batairwa Kubuya, respectively secretary and sub-secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. Twenty priests also concelebrated, including the collaborators of Cardinal Ayuso Guixot in the dicastery and some Comboni Missionaries, the religious family to which the Cardinal belongs. Among those present were Archbishop Francisco-Javier Lozano, Apostolic Nuncio, and the Slovak community based in the church of San Girolamo della Carità. The rite was directed by Monsignor Vincenzo Peroni, pontifical ceremoniere.

• February 10
  The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff informed that on Sunday February 16, 2020, at 11 a.m., Cardinal Jean-Claude Höllerich, S.I., Archbishop of Luxembourg, will take possession of the Title of San Giovanni Crisostomo a Monte Sacro Alto, Via Emilio De Marchi, 60, Rome.
  The Office of Liturgical Celebrations also informed that on Sunday February 16, 2020, at 11:30 a.m., Cardinal Cristóbal López Romero, S.D.B., Archbishop of Rabat, will take possession of the Title of San Leone I, Via Prenestina, 104, Rome.

• February 4
  The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff informed that on Saturday February 8, 2020, at 6:30 p.m., Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, M.C.C.J., President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligios Dialog, will take possession of the Deaconry of San Girolamo della Carità a Via Giulia, Via Monserrato, 62/A, Rome.

• February 1
  The Press Office of the Holy See informed that the Pope named Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, member of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints.

• January 30
  The Press Office of the Holy See informed that the Pope named Cardinal Daniel Fernando Sturla Berhouet, S.D.B., Archbishop of Montevideo, Uruguay, Special Papal Envoy to the celebrations of the 500th Anniversary of the first Mass in Argentinian territory, which will take place in the city of Puerto San Julián, province of Santa Cruz, Argentina, on March 31 - April 1, 2020.

• January 27
  L'Osservatore Romano, Anno CLX n. 21 (48.345), Città del Vaticano, lunedì-martedì 27-28 gennaio 2020, p. 7, reported that on the morning of Sunday January 26, 2020, the Lithuanian Cardinal Sigitas Tamkevičius, S.I., Archbishop Emeritus of Kaunas, solemnly took possession of the title of Sant'Angela Merici, on the eve of the liturgical memory of the founder of the Ursulines. In the Roman church of the Nomentano district the Cardinal was welcomed by the parish priest, Don Danilo Spagnoletti, who presented him the Crucifix for the kissing and the veneration. On reaching the presbyteral seat, the cardinal handed the bill of assignment to Monsignor Lucio Bonora, cleric prelate of the Apostolic Chamber, who read it out. After which the cardinal presided over the Holy Mass, concelebrated, among others, by Algirdas Jurevičius, Titular Bishop of Materiana, Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Kaunas; by Monsignor Rolandas Makrickas, of the Secretariat of State; by the Rectors of the Pontifical Lithuanian College in Rome and of the Archdiocesan Seminary of Kaunas; and by numerous priests of the Baltic nation. Among those present at the rite - directed by the papal ceremoniere Marco Agostini - was the Ambassador of Lithuania to the Holy See, Zapolskas Petra.

• January 27
  The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff informed that on Saturday February 1, 2020 at 6:30 p.m., Cardinal Michael Louis Fitzgerald, M. Afr., Apostolic Nuncio, will take possession of the Deaconry of Santa Maria in Portico, Piazza di Campitelli, 9, Rome.

• January 25
  The Press Office of the Holy See informed that on January 18, 2020, the Holy Father approved the election - done by the Cardinals of the Order of Bishops – of the Dean of the College of Cardinals, in the person of Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, of the Title of the Suburbicarian See of Sabina-Poggio Mirteto, who will also assume the Title of the Suburbicarian see of Ostia.
  Likewise, on January 24, 2020, the Supreme Pontiff appoved the election of the Vice-Dean of the same College of Cardinals, in the person of Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, of the Title of Ss. Biagio e Carlo ai Catinari, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.

• January 20
  L'Osservatore Romano, Anno CLX n. 15 (48.339), Città del Vaticano, lunedì-martedì 20-21 gennaio 2020, p. 8, informed that on the morning of Sunday January 19, 2020, Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.I., under-secretary of the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development (Dssui), solemnly took possession of the deaconry of San Michele Arcangelo. In the Roman church of Pietralata, in Largo Geltrude Comensoli, the Jesuit cardinal was welcomed by the parish priest Don Gianmarco Merlo, who presented him the crucifix for the kiss and veneration. After that, the Cardinal presided over the Holy Mass, concelebrated by Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, prefect of the Dssui; by the bishop of Azul in Argentina, the Jesuit Hugo Manuel Salaberry Goyenche; and by a dozen prelates, among them Monsignor Lucio Adrián Ruiz, secretary of the Dicestery for Communications, the Jesuit Diego Fares, writer of "La Civile Cattolica"; and by Don Merlo himself, who also read the papal bull. The rite was directed by Monsignor Diego Ravelli, pontifical ceremoniere.

• January 20
  The Press Office of the Holy See informed that on Sunday January 26, 2020, at 11:00 a.m., Cardinal Sigitas Tamkevičius, S.I., archbishop emeritus of Kaunas, Lithuania, will take possession of the Title of Sant'Angela Merici, Via di Sant’Angela Merici, 57, Rome.

• January 13
  L'Osservatore Romano, Anno CLX n. 9 (48.333), Città del Vaticano, lunedì-martedì 13-14 gennaio 2020, p. 8, informed that on the afternoon of Saturday January 11, 2020, Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, archbishop of Bologna, took possession of the Title of Sant'Egidio.
  In the Roman church of Piazza Sant'Egidio, the cardinal was greeted by the Vicar of the Parish of Santa Maria in Trastevere, Don Francesco Tedeschi, who presented him with the crucifix for the kiss and veneration. After sprinkling the people with Holy Water, the Cardinal went to the presbytery, where he received the greeting address of Father Tedeschi, who also read the Papal Bull with which the Church of Sant'Egidio in Trastevere was raised to the rank of cardinalitial presbyteral title and the Bull of assignation. The rite was directed by the pontifical ceremoniere Monsignor Diego Ravelli. Among those present were Archbishops Vincenzo Paglia and Agostino Marchetto; Andrea Riccardi and Marco Impagliazzo, respectively founder and president of the Community of Sant’Egidio; and Guzmán Carriquiry Lecour, secretary in charge of the vice presidency of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
  At the end of the ceremony, Cardinal Zuppi went to the nearby basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, of which he was a pastor for a long time, for the celebration of Holy Mass.

• January 13
  The Press Office of the Holy See informed that on Sunday January 19, 2020, at 11:30 a.m., Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.I., Under-Secretary of the Section for Migrants and Refugees of the Dicastery for the Service of the Integral Human Development, will take possession of the Deaconry of San Michele Arcangelo, Largo Geltrude Comensoli, 6, Rome.

• January 10
  Additional information has been included in the biographical entries of Cardinals Domenico Pignatelli di Belmonte, Theat. (1802); Jean de Dieu Raymond de Boisgelin de Cucé (1803); Anton Theodor von Colloredo-Waldesee Mels (1803); Pietro Antonio Zorzi, C.R.S. (1803); Diego Gregorio Cadello (1803); Jean Baptiste de Belloy (1803); Etienne Hubert de Cambacères (1803); and Joseph Fesch (1803), kindly provided by Mr. Francisco Vázquez, from Valencia, Spain.

• January 9
  The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff informed that on Saturday January 11, 2020, at 7:30 p.m., Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, Archbishop of Bologna, will take possession of the Title of Sant’Egidio, Piazza di Sant’Egidio, 3/A, Rome.

• January 7
  Catholic News Agency informed that former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (2001), has moved from the Capuchin St. Fidelis Friary in Victoria, Kansas, where he had been living since 2018, to an undisclosed location. He now lives in a residential community of priests who have been removed from ministry.

• January 4
  Additional information has been included in the biographical entries of Cardinals Sebastiano Baggio (1969); Jean-Louis Tauran (2003); Stephen Fumio Hamao (2003); Prosper Grech, O.S.A. (2012); and Quasi Cardinal Josip Uhač (1998), kindly provided by Mr. Eman Bonnici, from Malta.

• January 2
  L'Osservatore Romano, Anno CLX n. 1 (48.325), Città del Vaticano, giovedì-venerdì 2-3 gennaio 2020, p. 6, informed that the funeral of Cardinal Prosper Grech, deacon of Santa Maria Goretti, was held on Thursday morning, January 2, 2020, at the Altar of the Chair of the Papal Vatican Basilica. At the end, Pope Francis presided over the rite of the "ultima commendatio" and "valedictio". The Mass was celebrated by the Vice-dean of the College of Cardinals Giovanni Battista Re, Cardinal Bishop of the title of the Suburbicarian see of Sabina-Poggio Mirteto. Seventeen cardinals concelebrated, including the Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, six prelates - including the Archbishop of Malta, Charles Scicluna, Assistant Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the pro-secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, Mario Grech - and numerous prelates and priests, many of Maltese origin. Among those, the Prior General of the Augustinian Order Alejandro Moral Anton; and the Augustinian provincial of Malta, Leslie Gatt. With the members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited before the Holy See were Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States, and Monsignors Luigi Roberto Cona, assessor of the Secretariat of State, and Joseph Murphy, head of Protocol. The ceremony was attended by three cardinals and Archbishop Georg Gänswein, prefect of the Papal Household. Among those present were the President of the Republic of Malta, George William Vella, and his wife; the Minister of Foreign Affairs Carmelo Abela and the Ambassador of Malta to the Holy See, Frank Zammit. Numerous clergymen, religious - especially of the Order of Saint Augustine - and lay people participated together with some nuns, accompanied by the Abbess of the Roman monastery of the Holy Crowned Saints. The late cardinal will be buried in the Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetery in Paola, Malta, in the vaults of the Maltese Augustinian Province.

• January 1
  Additional information has been included in the biographical entries of Cardinals Diego Innico Caracciolo (1800); Ercole Consalvi (1800); Giuseppe Firrao (1801); Ferdinando Maria Saluzzo (1801); Luigi Ruffo-Scilla (1801); Bartolomeo Pacca, seniore (1801); Giovanni Filippo Gallarati Scotti (1801); Giulio Gabrielli (1801); Francesco Mantica (1801); Giuseppe Albani (1801); Marino Carafa di Belvedere (1801); Anton Felice Zondadari (1801); Lorenzo Litta (1801); Michelangelo Luchi, O.S.B.Cas. (1801); Carlo Crivelli (1801); Michele Di Pietro (1801); Francesco Maria Locatelli (1801); Giovanni Castiglione (1801); Charles Erskine (1801); and Quasi-Cardinal Paolo Luigi Silva (1801), kindly provided by Mr. Francisco Vázquez, from Valencia, Spain.

• As of January 1, 2020, the members of the College of Cardinals are 223; 124 are electors and 99 are non-electors, having lost their right to participate in the conclave when they turned 80 years old, according to the regulation in the seventh paragraph of the introduction of the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici gregis. During this year, four cardinals will turn 80. They are: Béchara Boutros Raï, O.M.M., February 25, 1940; Agostino Vallini, April 17, 1940; Lorenzo Baldisseri, September 29, 1940; and Donald William Wuerl, November 12, 1940

• From January 1 to December 31, 2019, the cardinals' site received 92,894 visits as well as numerous electronic messages with comments, corrections, and additional information, both textual and pictorial. The counter records only the initial visit to the site and not the ones to other sections on the same occasion. On January 1, 2020, the number of visitors to the site since January 1, 2002, was 2,460,262. The site contains the biographical entries of the 4,439 pre-cardinals, cardinals, quasi-cardinals and pseudocardinals identified between 494 and 2019.

©1998-2020 Salvador Miranda.