Conclave: Who are the cardinals who use black in the Pope’s election?

An image caught the eye on Wednesday (7) during the cardinal oath for the beginning of the conclave in the Sistine Chapel. Three clerics wore a black cassock, unlike other colleagues, who are mostly wearing the well -known red and white garments.

One of them is Cleemis Thottunkal baselios of the Siro-Malankar Catholic Church. He even participated in the 2013 Conclave, which elected Pope Francis.

The color of the clothes he uses is different because he follows the oriental rite church, or oriental Catholic, which maintains his own liturgical rites, traditions and theologies, dating from the time before the division of Christianity (Great Schism, 1054).

They are autonomous, with their own organization and hierarchy, led by a patriarch, a larger or metropolitan archbishop, which rules with a synod of bishops.

The other cardinals in black are Louis Raphael Sako and George Jacob Koovakad, both from Caldeia Church.

According to the Vatican’s official news agency, the Assyrian Catholic Church has about 1 million faithful. Historically, it is the numerous Christian community in Iraq. In 2010, he had about 250,000 believers in the country.

The Assyrian-Caldeus is the descendants of the Assyrian people who inhabited Mesopotamia 6,700 years ago, and had for Nineveh capital. The Caldeia Liturgy has its origins in the fifth century in the city of Eessa.

In all, the Catholic Church is formed by 24 churches, including Caldeia and Siro-Malankar. This division concerns how the apostles were divided into the world to evangelize.

In some places, the rites have developed differently, but all these churches are in communion with the Pope.

Who is Cardinal Cleemis Baselois?

Cleemis Baselois was born on May 25, 1960 in Nedappally, India.

He joined the Minor Children Mary seminar in Tiruvalla on June 10, 1976. He was ordered deacon on March 22, 1986 and priest on June 11 of the same year.

Baselois obtained a doctorate in ecumenism at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

On June 18, 2001, he was appointed Chaialum bishop for the Siro-Malancares and Trivandrum assistant, as well as apostolic visitor to the faithful Malancares residing in North America and Europe. Received Episcopal Ordination on August 15, 2001.

On October 23, 2001, it was the New York as a apostolic visitor and founded the Mar Ivanois Catholic Center, Malankara.

On September 9, 2003, he returned to India and two days later, on September 11, 2003, he was appointed Bishop of Tiruvalla to Syrian Malankaras. He took office on October 2.

On May 15, 2006, Benedict XVI raised Tiruvalla’s effam to the Archbishop category and promoted him to archbishop dignity.

On February 8, 2007, he was transferred to the Trivandum Archdiocese to Syrian-Malankaras-from which he took office on March 5-and, on February 10, was elevated to the larger archbishop category.

He is a permanent member of the Congregation for Oriental Churches and the Federation of Episcopal Conferences of Asia.

He has been president of the Catholic Episcopal Conference of India (CBCI) since February 2014. Before that, he was the first vice president of the conference between 2010 and 2013.

Cardinal Thottunkal is the first cardinal of the Siro-Malankara Church.

Who is Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako?

Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako was born in Zākhō, Iraq, on July 4, 1948.

He completed his primary studies in Mosul and then attended the local Saint Jean seminar, managed by the Dominican priests.

He was ordained priest on June 1, 1974 and held his pastoral service at Mosul Cathedral until 1979.

He was sent to Rome, where he attended the Pontifical Eastern Institute, obtaining his doctorate in Eastern Patrology. Subsequently, he obtained his doctorate in history by Sorbonne in Paris.

He was elected Archbishop of Kerkūk on September 27, 2003. He received the Episcopal Ordination on November 14 of the following year.

On January 31, 2013, during the Synod summoned in Rome by Pope Benedict XVI after the patriarch’s resignation, his beatitude, Cardinal Delly, was elected patriarch, receiving the ecclesiastical communion of the same Pontiff on February 1, made public with the Eucharistic celebration in the Vatican Basilica on February 4.

On July 14, 2018, the Holy Father Francisco appointed him president of the XV Ordinary General Assembly on young people, faith and vocational discernment (October 2018).

He has published books on church priests and numerous articles.

In addition to Arabic and Caldeu, he knows German and speaks French, English and Italian.

Who is Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad?

Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad was born in Chethipuzha, India, August 11, 1973.

He was ordained priest on July 24, 2004 and incarnate in Changanacherry. After graduating in Canon Law, he entered the Holy See Diplomatic Service on July 1, 2006.

From 2006 to 2009, it served in the apostolic nunciature in Algeria as secretary. On March 2, 2009, he was transferred to the Apostolic Nunciature in Korea and, later, in 2012, to the Apostolic Nunciature in Iran.

On February 16, 2015, he was appointed counselor of the Apostolic Nunciature in Costa Rica, where he held the position by 2018. Subsequently, from 2018 to 2020, he acted as a nunciature counselor in Venezuela.

Since July 10, 2020, he has worked at the Secretariat of State, in the General Affairs Section. In 2021, Pope Francis took care of the organization of apostolic trips.

On October 25, 2024, he was appointed titular archbishop of Nísibis of the Chaldeans, receiving the Episcopal Ordination on November 24 from his Beatitude Rafael Thattil, Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly of the Siro-Malabares, in Changanacherry.

He was created and proclaimed Cardinal by Pope Francis in the consistory of December 7, 2024.

Since January 2025, he has been performing as mayor of the Dicker for the interreligious dialogue.

This content was originally published in Conclave: Who are the cardinals who use black in the Pope’s election? on the CNN Brazil website.

Source: CNN Brasil