Pope elevating 13 new cardinals in ceremony marked by COVID

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis is preparing to formally elevate 13 new cardinals, including the first African-American to receive the rank, in a ceremony marked in every way by the coronavirus pandemic: Two of the cardinals stayed home, the rest eschewed the usual celebrations and St. Peter’s Basilica was practically empty for Saturday's service.

The ceremony, known as a consistory, is the seventh of Francis’ pontificate and once again reflected the Argentine pope's effort to name cardinals from places that have never had them before or whose service to the church he wants to highlight. Nine are under age 80 and eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope, further solidifying the majority of Francis-appointed prelates in the College of Cardinals.

Cardinal-designate Wilton Gregory, archbishop of Washington D.C., is becoming the first African-American cardinal. He told The Associated Press ahead of the ceremony that he viewed his appointment as “an affirmation of Black Catholics in the United States, the heritage of faith and fidelity that we represent.”

Gregory’s appointment comes after a year of racial protests in the U.S. sparked by the latest killing of a Black man by a white police officer. Francis has endorsed the protests and cited the American history of racial injustices.

“There is awareness now of the need for racial reconciliation, an awareness that I have not seen at this level and at this intensity before," Gregory said.

Another social justice-minded cardinal is the retired archbishop of Chiapas, Mexico, Cardinal-designate Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel, who has championed the rights of Mexico’s indigenous peoples and spearheaded efforts to translate the Bible and liturgical texts into native languages.

Francis visited Chiapas in 2016 and has long championed the rights of indigenous peoples....