In July of 2023, Pope Francis announced the appointment of our confrere, the Most Reverend François-Xavier BUSTILLO RÍPODAS, Bishop of Ajaccio, Corsica, France, as a cardinal of the Holy Church.
Friar François was born November 23, 1968, in Arre, a town near Pamplona in the Province of Navarra, northern Spain. Friar François carried out his Franciscan and academic formation in Elizondo, Spain; Padua, Italy; and Toulouse, France. He served as the Custos of the Provincial Custody of St. Bonaventure in France-Belgium for a long time and held several important positions in the Dioceses of Narbonne and Lourdes in France.
On Friday September 29, 2023, at 6:00 p.m., the eve of the council of cardinals, Friar François presented a book he had co-written with Archbishop Edgar PEÑA PARRA, Substitute of the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, entitled: “Le coeur ne se indivise pas” [The Heart Is Not Divided]. The event took place in the chapel of the palace of the apostolic chancellery, which was packed with friends from Narbonne and Corsica, along with other figures of the Church and the world of culture.
On Saturday morning, September 30, 2023, the main celebration took place in which Friar François received the biretta and the cardinal’s ring from Pope Francis, who presided. In his address, the pope emphasized the grace of the universality of the Church and the symphonic and synodal vocation of the Church in its many ministries. Our Cardinal confrere was entrusted with the regency of the Basilica of Santa Maria Immacolata di Lourdes a Boccea in Rome.
On Sunday, October 1, 2023, Cardinal BUSTILLO launched his new ministry by presiding over Mass at the Basilica of the Twelve Holy Apostles in Rome. Those attending included the Minister General, Friar Carlos TROVARELLI, many friar priests and brothers from Padua, France, Spain and from our General Houses in Rome, and a multitude of faithful from the cardinal’s Diocese. After the Mass, the cardinal had lunch in the refectory of the General Curia, together with his mother and other family members and many attending friars.
We sincerely wish that His Eminence, Cardinal BUSTILLO, may have a fruitful ministry for the good of the universal Church.
Friar Joaquín Ángel AGESTA CUEVAS
