You are here
Pope creates 21 new cardinals from around the world
By AFP - Oct 06,2024 - Last updated at Oct 06,2024
Francis has looked past Europe to name more cardinals from Africa, Asia and the Americas (AFP photo)
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Sunday announced the creation of 21 new cardinals to represent the Catholic faith's worldwide reach, who will be nominated at a council held on December 8.
Five of the new cardinals come from the Argentine Pontiff's native Latin America while countries including Indonesia, Japan, Serbia, the Philippines and India will also be represented, according to a list published by the Vatican.
"I am pleased to announce to you that on December 8 I will hold a consistory for the nomination of new cardinals," the pope declared as he delivered his Angelus prayer on St Peter's Square.
"Their provenance expresses the universality of the Church and manifests the indissoluble bond between the seat of St Peter and the wider Churches of the world," the 87 year old added.
Italy will nonetheless take the lion's share with four new cardinals, although only three will be able to vote in elections for Francis's successor as the fourth has already passed the age limit for papal ballot eligibility.
At 44 years of age, Mykola Bychok, the Ukrainian current archbishop of Melbourne in Australia, is the youngest to be tapped for the high clerical mantle.
Related Articles
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis thanked those who prayed for him during his illness on Sunday, as he kicked off the holiest week in the Ch
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis led the funeral of his predecessor Benedict XVI on Thursday in front of tens of thousands of mourners in St Pete
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Tuesday revolutionised the procedure for Roman Catholics to get marriage annulments, making them faster and s