Prague Archbishop Duka Becomes Cardinal, Appointed by Pope

Czech Happenings
January 6, 2012

http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/zpravy/prague-archbishop-duka-becomes-cardinal-appointed-by-pope/737293


Prague - Prague Archbishop Dominik Duka has become cardinal, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI at the close of a mass today, the Prague Archbishopric told CTK.

To date the Czech Republic has had only one cardinal, Miloslav Vlk.

Duka has become the 22nd cardinal coming from the Bohemian and Moravian dioceses.

Duka, 68, will receive the appointing decree in February.

"By being appointed cardinal, Prague Archbishop Dominik Duka is becoming, along with another 22 newly appointed cardinals, the pope's collaborator and aide in church affairs," the archbishopric said.

President Vaclav Klaus has welcomed the pope's decision.

Cardinal Vlk, who was replaced with Duka at the head of the Prague archdiocese, will turn 80 this May.

As a result, he cannot take part in the election of the pope. Only cardinals under 80 years may take part in the conclave.

The new cardinals will obtain the decree on February 18.

The Presidential Office has told CTK it considers the pope's decision an obliging gesture towards the Czech Republic and an appreciation of Duka's previous work.

"I am glad that with the appointment, Benedict XVI has made it quite clear whom he wants to have by his side in the highest church hierarchy at the difficult moment of the contradictory world," Klaus said.