Archbishop DiNardo named Cardinal Designate

John Allen reports... here is the complete list... The Archdiocese responds here.

We're very happy about this... I expected this might happen, seeing as how there has been speculation about a Cardinal in the American South for quite some time. But as John Allen observes, the pick indicates that the pope recognizes "the shifting center of the Catholic population in the United States from the East Coast to the Southwest."

Personally speaking, DiNardo is a very approachable pastor. My wife and I have run into him several times (even randomly); times which have given us opportunities for discussions with him. I also appreciate that he is a patristics scholar, having earned his license in patristics at the Pontifical University Augustinianum in Rome. It's not uncommon, even in general conversation, to hear him quote the early Church fathers or hear him quote the Gospel in Greek and then translate it for you.

Please use this opportunity to pray for Archbishop DiNardo and continue to do so...