Pope Francis announced the appointment of 21 new cardinals on Sunday, October 6, significantly enlarging the College of Cardinals and solidifying his influence over the group that will eventually elect his successor.
Among the newly appointed cardinals are the leaders of several major dioceses and archdioceses in South America, including those from Santiago del Estero (Argentina), Porto Alegre (Brazil), Santiago (Chile), Guayaquil (Ecuador), and Lima (Peru).
The new cardinals will receive their red hats during a consistory ceremony on December 8, an important feast day that marks the official beginning of the Christmas season in Rome.
Prior to this announcement, Pope Francis had already appointed a substantial majority of the voting-age cardinals eligible to participate in a conclave to select his successor. According to Vatican statistics, he had named 92 of the under-80 cardinals eligible to vote, compared to 24 appointed by Pope Benedict XVI and six by St. John Paul II.
Among those named on Sunday were two Vatican officials who typically do not hold cardinal status: Rev. Fabio Baggio, who oversees the migrants section of the Vatican development office, and Rev. George Jacob Koovakad, who coordinates the pope’s foreign travels.
The newly appointed cardinals include Vicente Bokalic Iglic, archbishop of Santiago del Estero, Argentina; Jaime Spengler, archbishop of Porto Alegre, Brazil; Fernando Natalio Chomali Garib, archbishop of Santiago, Chile; Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera, archbishop of Guayaquil, Ecuador; and Carlos Gustavo Castillo Mattasoglio, archbishop of Lima, Peru.
In contrast, only one new cardinal was appointed from North America: Francis Leo, the archbishop of Toronto.
Additionally, the pope appointed Monsignor Dominique Joseph Mathieu, archbishop of Tehran, Iran, and Monsignor Paskalis Bruno Syukor, bishop of Bogor, Indonesia. Both are members of the Franciscan religious order and are among four new cardinals from that order.
Asia will welcome two more cardinals: Monsignor Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, archbishop of Tokyo, and Monsignor Pablo Virgilio Sinogco David, bishop of Kalookan in the Philippines.
From Africa, two new cardinals were appointed: Monsignor Ignace Bessi Dogbo, archbishop of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and Monsignor Jean-Paul Vesco, bishop of Algiers, Algeria.
