I often have to remind people that I am not accredited to the Vatican City State, but to the Holy See. This is an important difference. It means being accredited to the governance of the global Catholic Church including its 5,000 bishops, its capillary networks of nuncios, priests, religious and Catholic NGOs around the world, as well as the curial offices here in Rome.
The decision by Pope Benedict XVI to create six new cardinals, none of them from Europe, underlines that message. It may, I believe, be the first time ever that no European cardinal will be created at a Consistory. And it sends out an important signal to Catholic lay people, other governments, indeed all organisations, states and institutions with which the Holy See has business, that the Roman Catholic Church and the Holy See are concerned and engaged across the world.
It is also a sign of change within the Church itself. Africa is where organised religion, including the Catholic Church, is growing most rapidly (a recent international survey argued that Africa may now have more practising Christians than Europe). America is the continent with the highest number of baptised Catholics. Asia is the continent where, arguably, greatest enthusiasm for the teaching of the Church is expressed. And the Middle East is the cradle of Christianity, at the centre of world (and Church) attention for political and humanitarian reasons.
So it is right that there are six new cardinals from Lebanon, the Philippines, Colombia, the US, Nigeria and India. And it is right that the College of Cardinals is now better balanced between Europe and the rest of the world (in fact, Europe and Italy remain over-represented). When the Holy See speaks of the universal Church, it should indeed be reflected in its leadership.