Pope Francis to Create 17 New Cardinals at November Consistory

Archbishops Cupich of Chicago, Tobin of Indianapolis and Bishop Kevin Farrell to be U.S. recipients of red hats and are among 13 new cardinal-electors.

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York is greeted by his brother cardinals after being elevated to the College of Cardinals inside St. Peter's Basilica, Feb. 18, 2012.
Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York is greeted by his brother cardinals after being elevated to the College of Cardinals inside St. Peter's Basilica, Feb. 18, 2012. (photo: Alan Holdren/CNA)

At the end of today’s Angelus, Pope Francis announced he will hold a consistory on Nov. 19 to create 17 new cardinals.

Among those to be elevated to the College of Cardinals include three Americans: Archbishop Blase Cupich of Chicago, Bishop Kevin Joseph Farrell, prefect of the new dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, and Archbishop Joseph William Tobin of Indianapolis.

Other recipients of the red hat will be the current apostolic nuncio to Syria, Italian Archbishop Mario Zenari, and nine archbishops and bishops from the southern hemisphere. Thirteen will be eligible to vote in the next conclave (under 80 years of age), taking the total number of cardinal electors to 121. 

At 49, Cardinal-elect Archbishop Dieudonné Nzapalainga of Bangui, Central African Republic, will become the youngest member of the College of Cardinals.  

Pope Francis said the consistory, which will take place on the eve of the closing of the Holy Door of Mercy and comprise cardinals from 11 nations and five continents, will show “the universality of the Church which proclaims and bears witness to the Good News of God's Mercy in every corner of the earth.”  

Nov. 20 is the Solemnity of Christ the King and the conclusion of the Holy Year of Mercy, on which the Pope will celebrate a Mass with the new cardinals in St. Peter’s basilica.

The new Princes of the Church, as read out by Pope Francis, are:

Archbishop Mario Zenari, currently Apostolic Nuncio “in the beloved and battered Syria” (Italy)

Archbishop Dieudonné Nzapalainga, C.S.Sp. of Bangui (Central African Republic)

Archbishop Carlos Osoro Sierra of Madrid (Spain)

Archbishop Sérgio da Rocha of Brasilia (Brazil)

Archbishop Blase J. Cupich of Chicago (U.S.A.)

Archbishop Patrick D'Rozario, C.S.C. of Dhaka (Bangladesh)

Archbishop Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo of Mérida (Venezuela)

Archbishop Jozef De Kesel of Mechelen-Brussels (Belgium)

Archbishop Maurice Piat of Port-Louis (Mauritius)

Bishop Kevin Joseph Farrell, prefect of the new dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life (U.S.A.)

Archbishop Carlos Aguiar Retes of Tlalnepantla (Mexico)

Archbishop John Ribat, M.S.C. of Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea)

Archbishop Joseph William Tobin, C.S.S.R. of Indianapolis (U.S.A.).

The Pope has also elevated to the College of Cardinals four others who have “distinguished themselves in their pastoral service” and offered “a clear Christian witness.”

They are:

Mons. Anthony Soter Fernandez, Archbishop Emeritus of Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)

Mons. Renato Corti, Archbishop Emeritus of Novara (Italy)

Mons. Sebastian Koto Khoarai, O.M.I, Bishop Emeritus of Mohale's Hoek (Lesotho)

Father Ernest Simoni, priest of the archdiocese of Shkodrë-Pult (Shkodra - Albania).

Notable eligible prelates omitted at the upcoming consistory include those from a number of sees that have traditionally been cardinalatial. In the U.S. these include Los Angeles and Philadelphia, headed respectively by Archbishops Jose Gomez and Charles Chaput. Instead, Pope Francis has chosen prelates whose views are closer to his, and in particular those who have been publicly and clearly supportive of his interpretation of his post-synodal apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia

In Italy, the patriarchate of Venice and the archdioceses of Turin and Bologna are among traditional cardinalatial sees that continue to be without a cardinal, part of the reason being the Pope's preference to choose new cardinals from the southern hemisphere where the faith is growing fastest, and those serving on the peripheries.


College of Cardinals Statistics (via Holy See Press Office)

 

Cardinals to be created at the consistory of Nov. 19, 2016:

ZENARI Mario

05.01.1946

Italy

Europe

NZAPALAINGA Dieudonné, C.S.Sp.

14.03.1967

Central African Rep.

Africa

OSORO SIERRA Carlos

16.05.1945

Spain

Europe

da ROCHA Sérgio

21.10.1959

Brazil

Latin America

CUPICH Blase J.

19.03.1949

U.S.A.

North America

D’ROZARIO Patrick, C.S.C.,

01.10.1943

Bangladesh

Asia

PORRAS CARDOZO Baltazar Enrique

10.10.1944

Venezuela

Latin America

DE KESEL Jozef

17.06.1947

Belgium

Europe

PIAT Maurice

19.07.1941

Mauritius

Africa

FARRELL Kevin Joseph

02.09.1947

U.S.A.

North America

AGUIAR RETES Carlos

09.01.1950

Mexico

North America

RIBAT John, M.S.C.

09.02.1957

Papua New Guinea

Oceania

TOBIN Joseph William, C.SS.R.

03.05.1952

U.S.A.

North America

FERNANDEZ Anthony Soter

22.04.1932

Malaysia

Asia

CORTI Renato

01.03.1936

Italy

Europe

KHOARAI Sebastian Koto, O.M.I,

11.09.1929

Lesotho

Africa

SIMONI Ernest

18.10.1928

Albania

Europe

17 cardinals – 13 electors – 4 non-electors

5 Europe, 4 North America, 2 Latin America, 3 Africa, 
2 Asia
, 1 Oceania.

5 are from nations that until now had no cardinals, of which three them now have cardinal electors (Central African Rep., Bangladesh, and Papua New Guinea) and 2 with cardinal non-electors (Malaysia and Lesotho).


The College of Cardinals as of Nov. 19: 

This takes into account that the following 3 cardinals will have 80th birthdays in the coming weeks: 
Ortega y Alamino (Cuba) Oct. 18; López Rodríguez (Dominican Rep.) Oct. 31, and Antonelli (Italy) Nov. 18. 

Cardinals created by:

Electors

Non-electors

Total

Bl. Paul VI

0

1

1

St. John Paul II

21

73

94

Benedict XVI

56

22

78

Francis

44

11

55

Living cardinals

121

107

 

228

 

NB: Cardinal Keith Patrich O'Brien is considered a non-elector although he doesn't turn 80 until March 17, 2018. 


Composition of Geographical Area

Summary table of continents

In the College of Cardinals, 5 continents with 79 countries are represented, 59 of which have cardinal electors.

Continents

Electors

Non-electors

Total

Europe

54

58

112

North America

17

10

27

Central America

4

4

8

Latin America

13

14

27

Africa

15

9

24

Asia

14

10

24

Oceania

4

2

6

Total

 

121

 

107

228

On Nov. 28, Cardinal Sarr (Senegal) turns 80, at which time the cardinal electors will number 120 from 58 countries.

A cardinal's red biretta is seen at a Vespers service in St. Peter's Basilica on April 11, 2015.

20 New Cardinals and an Extraordinary Consistory (Aug. 27)

This is a week of consistories at the Vatican. Three separate consistories were scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 27 – one for Pope Francis to place a red biretta on the heads of 20 new cardinals, a second to approve the canonization of new saints, and a third extraordinary consistory, for which all the cardinals of the Church were invited to Rome to discuss the governance changes brought by the Roman Curia’s new constitution, Praedicate evangelium. EWTN News’ executive editor Matthew Bunson is covering these events in Rome. Before his trip Matthew gave us a preview on what to expect during this unusually busy August at the Vatican. Then Andrea Picciotti-Bayer talks Religious Liberty across the globe, with a look at China, Nicaragua and Nigeria.