accepted in February 2011. Woelki has been criticised by some German politicians for his language on homosexuality, which has led them to question his suitability for the post of archbishop in a city with a significant gay population. In an interview with the Catholic journalist George Schwikart, he described homosexuality as an offence against the "order of creation". He was created Cardinal-Priest of San Giovanni Maria Vianney, becoming the youngest member of the College of Cardinals, in succession to Reinhard Marx of Munich. However, within the same year the creation of Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal and Luis Antonio Tagle as cardinals in November 2012 made Woelki the third youngest cardinal. With his elevation, Woelki became eligible to vote in future papal conclaves and will remain eligible to participate in any that begin before his 80th birthday on 18 August 2036. He was appointed a member of the Congregation for Catholic Education in addition to his duties in Berlin. In a speech in June 2012 Woelki said "I believe we should agree and indeed we do agree on the fact that in judging this type of relation or relationship there is a big difference in judgement when people take responsibility for one another, when engaged in a long-term relationship as couples do in heterosexual relationships." In October 2012 Woelki was nominated for a Respect Award by the Alliance Against Homophobia. He was praised by the group for speaking out in favour of a "new cooperation with homosexuals in society" and officially meeting the Association for Gays and Lesbians for talks. This, the alliance said, had "broken the tension between his Church and gays and lesbians and had laid the foundations for further exchange and for a constructive dialogue". He declined the nomination. In December 2012 Woelki unveiled a reorganisation in a pastoral letter for Advent to 105 local parishes. Woelki said the archdiocese's finances had "stabilized and improved" thanks to "courageous and responsible decisions" and "great sacrifices" by church institutions. He added that the archdiocese was forecast to lose a further third of its membership by 2030, and he said Catholic schools, nurseries, hospitals, elderly homes and information centers would also be reorganised to reflect this shift. He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2013 papal conclave that elected Pope Francis. Archbishop of Cologne On 11 July 2014 it was announced that Woelki would succeed Joachim Meisner as