On July 9 at the end of the Angelus prayer, Pope Francis announced a Consistory for the creation of new cardinals, which will be held on September 30. The Pope will elevate 21 men to the college of cardinals and the total number of cardinals will be 243, with 137 being cardinal electors. However, the following day the number will decrease to 136, as a Bengali cardinal will turn eighty and no longer be eligible to vote in a conclave.
Since his election in 2013, Pope Francis has created 121 cardinals from 66 countries at eight consistories. The last consistory to create new cardinals took place on Aug. 27, 2022. Ahead of the upcoming consistory, there are currently 121 cardinal electors, 81 (67%) of whom have been appointed by Pope Francis.
The Cardinal-elects hail from around the world reinforcing the Pope’s desire to expand the college of Cardinals to non-traditional sees and countries. According to ACI Stampa journalist Marco Mancini, “the choices made reflect the universality of the Church. The Pontiff himself stated this when announcing the Consistory. It’s interesting to see that many cardinals from religious orders are also part of this Consistory, particularly Franciscans and Jesuits who are Pope Francis’s confreres.”
Compared to other consistories, this one is more “ordinary” given the Holy Father’s decision to “appoint cardinals from practically all continents, except Oceania. He chose cardinals from the Roman Curia as expected, including the heads of three dicasteries: the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Congregation for Bishops, and the Congregation for the Eastern Churches” continued Mancini.
Among the cardinal-designates are the prefects of the Dicasteries for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernandez; of the Dicastery for Bishops, Archbishop Robert Francis Prevost; of the Dicastery for Oriental Churches, Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti.
The Holy Father also named as Cardinals, Bishop Stephen Chow Sau-yan of Hong Kong; Apostolic Nunzio to the United States, Archbishop Christophe Pierre; and the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Pierbattista Pizzaballa.
The new cardinals are the following:
Archbishop Robert Francis Prevost, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops (United States)
Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (Argentina)
Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the U.S. (France)
Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem (Italy)
Archbishop Emil Paul Tscherrig, apostolic nuncio to Italy (Switzerland)
Bishop Stephen Chow Sau-yan, SJ, bishop of Hong Kong (China)
Archbishop José Cobo Cano, archbishop of Madrid (Spain)
Archbishop Stephen Brislin, archbishop of Cape Town (South Africa)
Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches (Italy)
Archbishop Ángel Sixto Rossi, archbishop of Córdoba (Argentina)
Archbishop Luis Rueda Aparicio, archbishop of Bogotá (Colombia)
Archbishop Grzegorz Ryś, archbishop of Lodz (Poland)
Archbishop Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla, archbishop of Juba (South Sudan)
Archbishop Protase Rugambwa, coadjutor archbishop of Tabora (Tanzania)
Bishop Sebastian Francis, bishop of Penang (Malaysia)
Bishop François-Xavier Bustillo, bishop of Ajaccio (France)
Bishop Américo Emanuel Alves Aguiar, auxiliary bishop of Lisbon (Portugal)
Father Ángel Fernández Artime, rector major of the Salesian Order (Spain)
Three are over the age of 80:
Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, apostolic nuncio (Italy)
Archbishop Diego Rafael Padrón Sánchez, archbishop emeritus of Cumanà (Venezuela)
Father Luis Pascual Dri, OFM Cap, confessor at the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii in Buenos Aires (Argentina)
