VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI told his six new cardinals to resist the allure of power and instead be like Jesus and focus their work on spreading the Christian faith.
Benedict celebrated a Mass on Sunday in St. Peter’s Basilica with the cardinals he formally elevated a day earlier. The six hail from Colombia, India, Lebanon, Nigeria, the Philippines and the U.S. — a broad geographic mix that helps even out the Europe-heavy College of Cardinals who will elect 85-year-old Benedict’s successor.
In his homily, Benedict told his new collaborators that Jesus had no political ambitions. He said: “To be like Jesus, then, means not letting ourselves be allured by the worldly logic of power, but bringing into the world the light of truth and God’s love.”