Pope Francis announced on Sunday October 6 the appointment of twenty-one new cardinals from around the world. “I am happy to announce to you that on December 8 I will hold a consistory for the appointment of new cardinals”he declared at the end of the Angelus prayer. “Their provenance expresses the universality of the Church and (…) manifests the indissoluble link between the seat of Peter [le Vatican] and the particular Churches in the world »he added.
The Vatican subsequently published the list of names of the new cardinals and their origins. Italy, as a country, has the lion’s share with four new cardinals, but only three will be able to vote in an upcoming conclave. The fourth, born in 1925, has already exceeded the age limit – 80 years – to elect a pope.
Five of the new cardinals come from five Latin American countries (Peru, Argentina, Ecuador, Chile and Brazil), while the others come from countries as diverse as Indonesia, Japan, Serbia, Canada, the Philippines, India, Belgium or Ukraine. The cardinal of the latter country, Mykola Bychok, born in Ternopil, currently archbishop of Melbourne, Australia, and aged 44, will be the youngest of the new cardinals.
France is represented by the Archbishop of Algiers, Jean-Paul Vesco, according to the Vatican list.
