For example, for the vacant see of Cuenca in 1478 she rejected the Italian cardinal appointed by the pope, who four years later accepted her alternative Spanish candidate.
Father García spoke with Cardinal Errázuriz about the matter, according to Mrs. Hamilton's testimony, and in June of that year the cardinal appointed the Rev. Eliseo Escudero to conduct the first investigation into Father Karadima.
The eight cardinals appointed in April by Francis come from all over the world, including the United States, Australia, India and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
But the next pope will be chosen by the same College of Cardinals that gave us Benedict – fortified by the 67 cardinals appointed by Benedict himself, which is more than half of those who will elect his successor.
Bertone's foes may have been further riled after a list of new cardinals appointed this year contained several allegedly pro-Bertone figures, increasing his influence in the college of cardinals when it votes for Benedict's successor.
"Some say it is preparation for a conclave -- no," Cardinal Danneels said, after noting that he and others had a chance to meet most of the 44 new cardinals appointed in February.
In a surprising postscript to the record number of 37 new cardinals appointed a week ago, Pope John Paul II today announced seven more, three of them in countries that were once part of the Soviet bloc.
He has set up a commission of lay experts and clerics to investigate the bank's running, and has replaced four of five cardinals appointed under Benedict on an oversight body.
Lombardi also announced that the eight cardinals appointed by Francis to advise him on overhauling the Vatican would begin their inaugural three-day meeting Tuesday.
Every Renaissance Pope who created cardinals appointed a relative to the College of Cardinals, and the nephew was the most common choice, although one of Alexander VI's creations was his own son.
"It takes three months to make one cassock," said Gammarelli, whose brother, Annibale, takes the measurements of popes and many of the dozens of cardinals appointed by John Paul in recent years.
