Vatican City, Oct 5, 2019 / 10:15 am (CNA).- Pope Francis created 13 new cardinals Saturday, encouraging each of them to ask for the grace to have a compassionate heart like Christ.

“The readiness of a cardinal to shed his own blood – as signified by the scarlet color of your robes – is secure if it is rooted in this awareness of having been shown compassion and in the ability to show compassion in turn,” Pope Francis said at the consistory Oct. 5.