Italian media outlets are predicting that Pope Benedict will call a consistory to create new cardinals this November, and that among those receiving red hats will be Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York and Archbishop Raymond Burke, late of St. Louis and now head of the Vatican’s supreme court.
A consistory in November is very likely, since by that time no more than 101 of the current cardinals will still be younger than 80 and thus eligible to vote for the next pope.
That would give Benedict 19 vacancies to fill, assuming he chooses to honor the limit of 120 cardinal electors established by Pope Paul VI. At his last consistory, in November 2007, Benedict named 18 cardinal electors.
(Benedict could safely name a few more than 19 cardinal electors this November, since another eight from the current College will hit retirement age over the course of the subsequent year.)
As for who will be on the list, Burke is almost a sure bet, since his position at the Vatican traditionally entails a red hat.
The archbishop of New York is ordinarily a cardinal too. (He is also informally known as the “American Pope,” a nickname that NCR‘s John Allen has chosen as the title of his forthcoming Dolan biography, interestingly scheduled for publication in October.)
Some informed observers have predicted that Dolan will have to wait for the retirement of his predecessor, Cardinal Edward Egan, who won’t turn 80 till April of 2012.
Popes generally prefer not to have two cardinal electors at a time from the same episcopal see.
That’s assumed to be the reason Washington’s Archbishop Donald Wuerl was passed over at the last consistory, when his predecessor Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was still only 77.
Baltimore’s former archbishop, Cardinal William Keeler, will still be a few months shy of 80 this November, which may or may not keep his successor, Archbishop Edwin O’Brien, standing at the threshold of the College of Cardinals.
On the other hand, the pope can do whatever he chooses in this matter. Predictions at this point are either speculation or wishful thinking or both.