Pope Francis names new cardinals, including prelates based in Hong Kong and Jerusalem

I can’t help but think of the riff Robin Williams did about choosing new leadership. Huddled in a room, smoking special “incense” you want to do it? Nah, you do it. Nope, not me, short straw gets it. We have a winner, send up the white smoke.

The Pope is one of most far reaching powers of the world. PO1 William "Chip" Nagel

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."On Sunday, in remarks preceding his reading out of the list of new cardinals, Pope Francis expressed hope that Israeli and Palestinian authorities would take up “direct dialogue” to end the “spiral of violence” — a reference to recent deadly clashes.

Francis repeatedly has cited the hardships of the Christian minority in the Middle East in recent decades.

In an interview in April with The Associated Press, Pizzaballa, an Italian prelate who is the top Catholic churchman in the Holy Land, said that the region’s 2,000-year-old Christian community has come under increasing attack, with the most right-wing government in Israel’s history emboldening extremists who have harassed clergy and vandalized religious property at a quickening pace.

For decades, the Vatican and China have experienced tensions alternating with improvement of relations over the Communist-led nation's insistence that it has the right to appoint bishops and the jailing of priests who professed loyalty to the pope.

Earlier this year, the Hong Kong bishop, who, like Francis, is a Jesuit, made the first visit to mainland China in nearly 30 years by a prelate in that post.

In announcing their names, Francis said the appointment of cardinals from across the globe “expresses the universality of the Church that continues to announce the merciful love of God to all men of the Earth.”"