Catholic news: The pope is making power moves.

Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. In a ceremony on Saturday, Francis formally welcomed 21 new cardinals into the church’s top leadership rank. A couple of the new cardinals have even refused the cardinals’ signature red vestments—choosing, in Francis’ model, to wear modest clothes as a symbol of humility. A new Brazilian cardinal told reporters on Saturday that the cardinals must advance “a church that is closer to the people, a church that is simpler, a poorer church.” A couple of days before that, the recently elevated Ukrainian Greek Catholic cardinal living in Australia promised to advocate for Ukraine and stressed that Russia “should be punished.” A new British cardinal is famous for challenging the church to embrace LGBTQ+ acceptance and more rights for women in the church; he told reporters that “all the church offers is love.” There have been plenty of moments when progressive Catholics have been disappointed by Francis’ leadership, including when he was defensive about a Chilean bishop accused of sexual abuse. He is so widely reviled by radical traditionalist Catholics that some conservative Catholic groups have launched a multiday event to pray for the pope’s “conversion.” If Francis fails to live up to his own ambitions for his papacy, he may hope that his successor, picked by his allies, can be even bolder.