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For many people in Rome, Pope Francis' decision to schedule a consistory to create new cardinals in August was more surprising than the men he chose to receive the red hat.

VATICAN CITY -- One by one 11 senior churchmen, including two U.S. citizens -- Cardinals Wilton D. Gregory of Washington and Silvano M. Tomasi, a former Vatican diplomat -- knelt before Pope Francis to receive their red hats, a cardinal's ring and a scroll formally declaring their new status and assigning them a "titular" church in Rome.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis announced he will create 13 new cardinals Nov. 28, including Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Washington.

VATICAN CITY -- In a ceremony in which Canadian Michael Czerny was installed as a cardinal, Pope Francis reminded new and old members of the College of Cardinals how much their ministry and service depends on their realizing how much God loves them and has been compassionate with them.

VATICAN CITY -- After the consistory to create new cardinals in early October, Pope Francis will have chosen more than half of the men who will enter the Sistine Chapel to elect his successor.

The Pope, who is full of surprises, has done it again by announcing that a Canadian Jesuit priest will join 12 archbishops and bishops who will be made cardinals next month in Rome.

VATICAN CITY – The Catholic Church's five new cardinals received a warm reception from family, friends and the general public June 28 after Pope Francis inducted them into the College of Cardinals.

Pope Francis, in his homily at the Consistory which took place in St Peter������Ƶapp Basilica on Saturday, reflected on the Lord������Ƶapp “Sermon on the Plain,” found in the Gospel of St Luke.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis will preside over a consistory to approve the canonization of five men and women, including Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, the Vatican announced.

VATICAN CITY - The Middle East, especially Iraq and Syria, are experiencing "terrorism of previously unimaginable proportions" in which the perpetrators seem to have absolutely no regard for the value of human life, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY - Attending a consistory for new cardinals is something of an ambivalent thing. On balance it is a positive experience, a festive occasion to be sure. Yet there is also an uneasiness, for there are touches of worldliness about it which ought to make a Christian disciple wary.

A consistory is truly a celebration of something particularly Catholic, namely the Roman and Petrine dimensions of the Church. Such occasions of pride and joy strengthen the faith, as they reinforce the bonds of affection that unite Catholics with the successor of St. Peter. The link between the local bishop created a cardinal and the Bishop of Rome is evident enough, and it highlights the communion of all local bishops with the See of Rome, and therefore the unity of the Church universal.

VATICAN CITY - Along with statistics on the 22 new cardinals named by Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican press office offered journalists quick biographical notes -- mainly drawn from Wikipedia.

"If we'd had a week, we would have prepared official biographies," Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, told Catholic News Service Jan. 9.

The vast majority of profiles handed out Jan. 6 were brief and factual.

VATICAN CITY - In part to avoid giving the impression that becoming a cardinal is a sacrament or quasi-sacrament, Pope Benedict XVI will use a revised, streamlined prayer service to create 22 new cardinals in February.

"The rite used up to now has been revised and simplified with the approval of the Holy Father Benedict XVI," the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, reported Jan. 7.

The paper said there would not be a "ring Mass" the day after the consistory; the new cardinals will receive their red hats, their cardinal rings and the assignment of their titular churches in Rome during the same ceremony Feb. 18.