During the Angelus prayer, the sovereign pontiff named the creation of 21 cardinals from around the world.
During the Angelus delivered this Sunday, Pope Francis announced the creation of 21 new cardinals. With these appointments, the pontiff has significantly increased the size of the college of cardinals, strengthening his influence on the group that will one day elect his successor.
A Ukrainian cardinal
The appointment of Bishop Mykola Bychok allowed Ukraine to obtain a cardinal. A strong message sent by the Pope as the war in Russia rages.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the Holy See, Andrii Yurash, welcomed the decision, although Francis preferred the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Australia to that of Kyiv, His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk.
Cardinals from all over the world
Among the cardinals appointed by the first Latin American pope in history are the heads of several major dioceses and archdioceses in South America. They are the Archbishop of Santiago del Estero, Argentina, Vicente Bokalic Iglic; of the Archbishop of Porto Alegre, Brazil, Jaime Spengler; of the Archbishop of Santiago, Chile, Fernando Natalio Chomali Garib; of the Archbishop of Guayaquil, Ecuador, Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera; and the Archbishop of Lima, Peru, Carlos Gustavo Castillo Mattasoglio.
The contrast is striking with the only new cardinal from North America: the Archbishop of Toronto, Francis Leo.
Francis also named the archbishop of Tehran, Iran, Monsignor Dominique Joseph Mathieu, and the bishop of Bogor, Indonesia, Monsignor Paskalis Bruno Syukor. Both belong to the Franciscan religious order and are two of the four new Franciscan cardinals.
In addition to Mgr Syukor, Asia has two other cardinals: Mgr Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, archbishop of Tokyo, and Mgr Pablo Virgilio Sinogco David, bishop of Kalookan, in the Philippines.
The Catholic Church also welcomed two new African cardinals: the archbishop of Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), Mgr Ignace Bessi Dogbo, and the bishop of Algiers (Algeria), Mgr Jean-Paul Vesco.
THE “consistory”celebrated on December 8
The new cardinals will receive their red hats during a ceremony, known as “consistory“, December 8, an important holiday that marks the official start of the Christmas period in Rome
This will be Francis’ tenth consistory for the creation of new princes of the Church.
