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By Marco Mancini, Matthew Bunson, Catholic World Report - Out of the 21 cardinals who will be created Dec. 7 in Pope Francis’ 10th consistory at the Vatican, 10 new cardinals — almost half — are members of religious congregations or institutes... Since the pope himself belongs to the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and has consistently considered the presence of men religious in the College of Cardinals during his consistories, it’s not surprising that he would choose new cardinals from among the Church’s many congregations and institutes for men religious.

By Kevin Wells, Crisis Magazine - Bishop Strickland knows that what appears “losing’ in this world is actually the Lord’s way of “winning.” Those who engage in the necessary and relentless work of shouldering Christ’s Cross are those closest to the agonized face of Ecce Homo. Bishop Strickland’s home now, in a real way, are the forlorn places in the landscapes of the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary. It is at those brokenhearted stations where his might and power grow. Why? Because he’s huddled closely to the broken-bodied Christ, who, like him, had nowhere to lay His head.

By Gene Thomas Gomulka, Complicit Clergy - The recent U.S. presidential election demonstrated how pollsters often get it wrong. Will this also happen in the case of the next papal conclave? Just as many political analysts like to compare the outcomes of different elections, so too might we compare similarities in the current college of cardinals to papabile of another time. This will require that we set the dials on our time machine and travel back to Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the famed “Castle Church Door.”