Monday, February 24, 2014

Haiti's first Cardinal: 'I hadn't expected it at all'

The Bishop of Les Cayes, Chibly Langlois, will be the first cleric from Haiti to be made a Cardinal of the Catholic Church at a ceremony to take place at the Vatican on 22 February.

It is the first time since the start of the Papacy of Pope Francis that he has taken the chance to add new candidates to the prestigious and powerful "College of Cardinals".

The majority of those nominated are from outside Europe and North America. It is just one more sign, in a Church now led by an Argentinean Pope, that the centre of gravity in Catholicism is shifting in the direction of the global South.

Among the latest induction to the College are men from Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and the Philippines.

The BBC's Alan Johnston talked to Bishop Chibly Langlois in Rome, and asked him how he felt when he heard the news of his promotion.

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