By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff | February 22, 2006
Pope Benedict XVI today announced in Rome that Boston Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley will be made a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church in a ceremony at the Vatican late next month.
O'Malley is among 15 new cardinals included in the first set of appointments by Benedict of so- called "princes of the church." The new cardinals -- who will receive the red hats, or birettas, that signal the rank at a consistory in Rome March 24 -- will help oversee the Vatican's bureaucracy through service on oversight committees, and ultimately many of them could have a vote in the selection of Benedict's successor. ...
In Boston, O'Malley has had a difficult and contentious tenure. He won widespread praise for settling more than 500 legal claims brought by victims of clergy sexual abuse in late 2003. But his decision to close scores of parishes, citing shortages of priests, money, and worshipers, has been controversial, and six closed parishes have been occupied, in some cases for more than a year, by protesters.
The elevation to cardinal is certain to be viewed by many Catholics as a strong vote of confidence by the Vatican in O'Malley's handling of the clergy sexual abuse crisis and the parish closings. The elevation could also help quiet persistent speculation among local Catholic priests and laypeople that O'Malley intended to leave Boston.