POPE BENEDICT XVI NAMES 24 NEW CARDINALS, 2 FROM THE UNITED STATES - BUT ONE MAJOR AMERICAN ARCHBISHOP SEEMINGLY OVERLOOKED ?????,,,,,,,,,,

Last Wednesday October 20, at the end of his weekly General Audience in the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI, announced the appointment of 24 new members of the College of Cardinals.  Two of the twenty four are Americans : The Most Reverend Raymond Burke, former Archbishop of St. Louis, Missouri, now Head of a Roman Tribunal; and Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C.  The 24 new Cardinals include in addition to the 2 Americans, 10 Italians, 2 Germans, 1 Brazilian, 1 Congolese, 1 Coptic, 1 Ecuadorean, 1 Guinean, 1 Polish, 1 Spanish, 1 Swiss, 1 Sri Lankan, and 1 Zambian.  However, there seems to be one gross oversight on this list.  One obvious American Archbishopric, traditionally an all but automatically Red Hat See for it's occupant in the first Consistory of Cardinals, following his appointment was not included.  That Archdiocesan See being New York.  Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who has served as Rector of the North American College in Rome from 1994-2001; was Auxiliary Bishop of St. Louis, Missouri, 2001-2002; and  Archbishop of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from 2002-2009; was appointed Archbishop of New York, in 2009.  He is certainly as experienced and qualified to receive a Cardinal's Red Hat, as any of the 24 new Cardinals.  So why then is he being passed over at this time ?  According to the British publication, "The Economist", Pope Benedict XVI, is following a well practiced precedent, of not appointing new Cardinals to Sees, where the predecessor Cardinal is still under the age of 80.  Why 80 ?  Because until a retired Cardinal turns 80, he has a vote in the next Conclave to elect a Pope.  Archbishop Dolan's predecessor, Archbishop Emeritus Edward Cardinal Egan, is 78 years old, and able to vote in a papal conclave for the next year and a half.  So for now, Archbishop Dolan and the faithful of New York, will have to wait until a new Cardinal is chosen for their American See...........Best Wishes To Those Preparing To Receive Red Hats As Cardinals Of The Church,   Fr.  Troy