Pope Francis will create his first cardinals during a consistory on Feb. 22, the feast of the Chair of St. Peter. Pope Francis’ first consistory also will offer clues about how he intends to use the College of Cardinals during his papacy, which, he has already shown, he sees as an instrumental advisory body. Frederico Lombardi, S.J., the Vatican spokesman, said on Oct. 31 that also in mid-February, the pope will have members of the governing council of the Synod of Bishops meet in preparation for the extraordinary session on the family in October 2014 and will have his Council of Cardinals, a group of eight advisers, hold what will be their third gathering. Father Lombardi said that the pope wanted to hold a consistory for the creation of new cardinals during the same time period as the cardinals’ other meetings “to facilitate all these appointments.”

This article appears in November 18 2013.