Next pope likely to be chosen before the end of March, Vatican spokesman says - @BBCBreaking
Update at 7.20 a.m. ET Saturday: Milwaukee Archbishop James Harvey and five others were made cardinals by Pope Benedict Saturday, Reuters reports. He reminded them that they wear red vestments because they must be ready to defend the faith "even to the shedding of your blood" in a ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica.
ROME — The red, or rather scarlet, carpet will be rolled in St. Peter's Basilica on Saturday for the elevation of six cardinals. The new so-called "princes of the church" will receive their ring, scarlet skullcap and the traditional biretta, a four-cornered hat, in a solemn ceremony presided by Pope Benedict XVI.
The ceremony won't only be a rare insight into one of the oldest and most colorful traditions in the Catholic Church, which with 1.1 billion adherents worldwide, represents more than half of the world's Christian population. It will also redefine the balance of power in the Catholic Church, and further increase the United States' influence in the election of the next pope.
Among the six cardinal-elects is James Harvey, an archbishop from Milwaukee who will become the 11th cardinal elector from the U.S., strengthening the country's position as the Vatican's second-largest voting bloc after Italy. Cardinal electors are the members of the College of Cardinals who have not reached their 80th birthdays on the day the pope dies and are thus able to vote for the new prelate.
But as American aut