Cardinal

Cardinal. A high ecclesiastical office in the Catholic church, second only to that of the pope; a member of the Sacred College of Cardinals. New cardinals are appointed by the pope in a secret consistory of cardinals. From the late 16th century the number of cardinals was limited to 70, but in the 1960s the limit was raised by Pope John XXIII to over 100. The College of Cardinals has, since the 11th century, elected the new pope in conclave; it also serves as the advisory body on matters of church administration and assists the pope. Cardinals are in charge of the various sections of the Curia, one of which is the Congregation for Eastern Churches, which oversees the Ukrainian Catholic church and other Eastern Catholic churches. Ukrainian hierarchs who have been appointed cardinals are: Metropolitan Isidore of Kyiv, the metropolitans Mykhailo Levytsky and Sylvester Sembratovych of Halych, and Archbishops Major Yosyf Slipy, Myroslav Liubachivsky, and (since 2001) Liubomyr Huzar of Lviv.