Pope Benedict XVI created 15 new cardinals from 11 countries March 24, praying that the red garments they now wear would inspire them to an even more “passionate love for Christ, for his Church and for all humanity.”

The pope told the new cardinals they would be called upon to work closely with him “and this will mean for you a more intense participation in the mystery of the cross as you share in the sufferings of Christ.”

US Cardinal William J Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was the first to receive his red hat and the scroll attesting to his membership in the College of Cardinals.

As the top-ranking member of the new group, the former archbishop of San Francisco was called to address the pope on behalf of the new cardinals.

In accepting their new status, Cardinal Levada said, the new cardinals renew their commitment of “total love and unconditional fidelity to Christ the Lord and to the Christian people.”

“This love for Jesus Christ and his Church, this fidelity to humanity which has a burning thirst for truth, we want to place into your hands,” he told the pope, pledging also “our loving and devoted fidelity without any limit or reserve, free from concern for ourselves or our own lives.”

In his homily at the prayer service, Pope Benedict told the entire College of Cardinals, which now numbers 193 members, that he counts on them “to proclaim to the world that God is love.”

“Ensure that the principle of love will spread far and wide and will give new life to the Church,” he said.

Cardinal Sean P O'Malley of Boston was the ninth prelate dressed in a new red cassock to approach and kneel before the pope. Behind him was Polish Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow , Pope John Paul II's long-time personal secretary.

As Pope Benedict read the name of each cardinal out loud, pilgrims from that cardinal's country cheered and waved their nation's flag.

Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun of Hong Kong was 12th in line. Among the thousands of cheering pilgrims in St Peter's Square were about 300 Chinese Catholics from around the world, including 100 clergy and nuns from mainland China studying in Rome . During the ceremony a special prayer was offered in Chinese “for all those who still suffer because of their Christian faith.”

The oldest of the new cardinals, 87-year-old Cardinal Peter Poreku Dery, retired archbishop of Tamale , Ghana , was seated in a wheelchair and was carried up the steps of St Peter's Square to the pope.

The last cardinal created was 82-year-old French Cardinal Albert Vanhoye, a noted biblical scholar.

Cardinal Vanhoye told the Catholic newspaper Avvenire that he got a call from Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state, a couple of days before Pope Benedict announced the new cardinals.

“I asked myself, why are they looking for me? What exegetical errors did I make in my writings?” he said.

The news that Pope Benedict was about to name him a cardinal, and not that he was about to be called on the carpet, “fell from the sky; I could not believe it,” he told the newspaper.

(CNS)