The US Is Getting Skunked In Pope Francis' Cardinal Appointments

REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi Pope Francis waves as he delivers a "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and world) message from the balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square at the Vatican December 25, 2013.

Americans are getting shut out of the new group of bishops appointed by Pope Francis to the Vatican's College of Cardinals.

While the College, which serves as an advisory council to the Pope and appoints new Popes, already has 11 Americans, Candida R. Moss, a professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of Notre Dame, told the New York Times' Jim Yardley that it was "noteworthy" that no American cardinals were named "The disproportionate representation of wealthy nations in the College of Cardinals is something that Francis is trying to rectify here, in keeping with his general concern for the poor," she said in an email.

Six new cardinals come from Latin America and the Caribbean, including Brazil, Nicaragua, Haiti, Chile and the island of Saint Lucia. Bishops from the Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, the Philippines and South Korea were also appointed.

Only four appointments came from the Curia, the Vatican's governing body, a sign the Pope also wants to quash "careerism and the idea of automatic appointments," Gerald O'Connell, a Rome-based contributor to the online publication Vatican Insider, told the LAtimes Tom Kington.

Read Yardley's full write-up at NYTimes.com »