Pope announces 17 new cardinals, including three from U.S.

Friday, Oct. 14, 2016

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis will conclude the Year of Mercy by creating 17 new cardinals, including three from the United States: Archbishop Blase J. Cupich of Chicago; Bishop Kevin J. Farrell, prefect of the new Vatican office for laity, family and life; and Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin of Indianapolis.

Announcing the names of the new cardinals Oct. 9, Pope Francis said, “Their coming from 11 nations expresses the universality of the Church that proclaims and witnesses the good news of God’s mercy in every corner of the earth.” 

The new cardinals – 13 of whom are under the age of 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope and four over 80 being honored for their “clear Christian witness” – will be inducted into the College of Cardinals Nov. 19, the eve of the close of the Year of Mercy.

The next day, Nov. 20, they will join Pope Francis and other cardinals in celebrating the feast of Christ the King and closing the Year of Mercy, the pope said.

The new cardinals in the order in which Pope Francis announced them are:

 Archbishop Mario Zenari, apostolic nuncio to Syria, 70. Dieudonne Nzapalainga of Bangui, Central African Republic, 49.  Archbishop Carlos Osoro Sierra of Madrid, 71. Archbishop Sergio da Rocha of Brasilia, Brazil, who will be 57 Oct. 21. Archbishop Cupich, 67. Archbishop Patrick D’Rozario of Dhaka, Bangladesh, 73. Archbishop Baltazar Porras Cardozo of Merida, Venezuela, 72. Archbishop Jozef De Kesel of Malines-Brussels, Belgium, 69. Archbishop Maurice Piat of Port-Louis, Mauritius, 75. Bishop Farrell, 69. Archbishop Carlos Aguiar Retes of Tlalnepantla, Mexico, 66.  Archbishop John Ribat of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 59. Archbishop Tobin, 64. Retired Archbishop Anthony Soter Fernandez of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 84. Retired Archbishop Renato Corti of Novara, Italy, 80.  Retired Bishop Sebastian Koto Khoarai of Mohale’s Hoek, Lesotho, 87. Father Ernest Simoni, a priest of the Archdiocese of Shkodre-Pult.