The return of the cardinal's hat to Armagh from Dublin with the nomination of Archbishop Sean Brady is an endorsement by the Pope of the symbolic importance of the historic see of St. Patrick as the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland in both the Catholic and Protestant traditions.That the decision was made by Benedict XVI gives it added significance, because, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he strongly supported the elevation in 2001 of Desmond Connell, the first Archbishop of Dublin to become a cardinal in over a century.
By returning the cardinal's hat to Armagh the Pope is in a sense acknowledging the personal nature of the honour bestowed on Connell.
The loss of the cardinalate to Dublin last time went down badly, and not only in the North, as Church historian, Oliver Rafferty, S J, explained at the time: "The hat came to symbolise the unity of the Church in the face of political disunity.
"Given the political complexity and the suffering of the last 30 years it is extraordinary that the hat has gone to Dublin. We now have ecclesiastical partition."
The Irish Bishops' Conference is unusual in that it straddles two political jurisdictions, whereas in Britain Scotland's conference is separate from that in England and Wales.
The Armagh diocese straddles the border, stretching from northwest of Lough Neagh to within 25 miles of Dublin.
Armagh's leadership role within the Irish Church is recognised by his fellow bishops by consistently electing the incumbent archbishop President of the Episcopal Conference.
However, it was widely assumed that since the cardinal's hat had been given to Dublin six years ago it would remain there this time, given the fact that the transformed political environment in the North appeared to lessen Armagh's strategic significance.
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin's strong Roman connections were also thought to be another significant factor.
Such speculation overlooked the fact that there had been a close affinity between Cardinal Connell and Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict.
He had been principally responsible for Connell's appointment as Archbishop of Dublin in 1986.
During his final illness, Connell's predecessor in Dublin, Kevin McNamara, made his views on the succession known to Ratzinger through an emissary.
Head of the powerful doctrinal congregation, Ratzinger was also the most influential member of the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops.
After McNamara's death, another member, Cardinal Tomas O Fiaich, went to a meeting of the congregation when the question of the Dublin appointment was on the agenda.
It became clear to him from the tenor of the discussion that the matter had already been decided.
Connell later became a member of the doctrinal congregation. It is thought that Ratzinger's influence was decisive in Pope John Paul's decision to create Connell a cardinal.
There are few surprises in Pope Benedict's choice of new cardinals. Of the 18 who qualify by age to vote in a papal election, half are from Europe.
This raises the continent's proportion among the 120 electors to almost 50 per cent.
However, Europe has only 26 per cent of the world's Catholics and the Vatican's statistical office euphemistically describes the situation of the Catholic population there as one of "practical stability".
In stark contrast, Africa is poorly represented.
The Archbishop of Nairobi is the continent's only nomination among the new cardinals.
Africa has been consistently the Catholic Church's major growth area.
In 2005, for example, there was a 3.1% increase in baptised Catholics there over 2004, exceeding the overall growth in the African population of 2.5% in the same year.
The continent now has over 13 per cent of the world's Catholics. Yet, it now has fewer cardinal-electors (eight) than at the time of Pope Benedict's election two years ago (11).
One of the new nominations gives me particular satisfaction. Archbishop John Foley, an Irish-American from Philadelphia, laboured for 23 years as head of the Vatican's Council for Social Communications without adequate support or recognition within the curia.
He saw his department's authority being progressively undermined as the powerful Secretariat of State garnered unto itself its most important function of dealing directly with the media.
As a former consultant of his Council, I was able to observe at close hand the myriad frustrations he had to endure in dealing with the bureaucracy and marvelled at his patience.
He left the Council post last June. It perhaps an ironic commentary in itself that he becomes a cardinal, not because of his unstinting work in the communications' department, but because he has since become Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, established in the 13th century with the ostensible object of preserving the faith in Palestine.
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