Pope Francis made an appearance at his studio window to give the traditional noon blessing to the faithful and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square at The Vatican on Sunday, October 6, 2024. As he appeared, a statue of the Virgin Mary was carried through the square. The Pope named 21 new cardinals during this event, significantly increasing the size of the College of Cardinals and solidifying his influence on the group of prelates who will one day elect his successor.
Among the new cardinals are Monsignor Angelo Acerbi, a 99-year-old retired Vatican diplomat who was once held hostage for six weeks in Colombia by leftist guerrillas, and Bishop Mykola Bychok, the 44-year-old head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Melbourne, Australia. This appointment is a nod to the ongoing war in Ukraine. The new cardinals will receive their red hats at a ceremony, known as a consistory, on December 8, an important feast day in Rome that marks the beginning of the Christmas season. This will be the 10th consistory held by Pope Francis and the largest group of voting-age cardinals to be added during his 11-year pontificate.
Of the 21 new cardinals, only one is over the age of 80 and therefore unable to vote for the next pope. This brings the total number of voting-age cardinals to 142, exceeding the usual limit of 120. The new cardinals come from various regions around the world, including South America, North America, Asia, and Africa. This reflects the universality of the Catholic Church and the growing presence of the church in these regions.
The new cardinals include the heads of several major dioceses and archdioceses in South America, such as the archbishop of Santiago del Estero, Argentina, Vicente Bokalic Iglic; the archbishop of Porto Alegre, Brazil, Jaime Spengler; the archbishop of Santiago, Chile, Fernando Natalio Chomali Garib; the archbishop of Guayaquil, Ecuador, Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera; and the archbishop of Lima, Peru, Carlos Gustavo Castillo Mattasoglio. The only new cardinal from North America is the archbishop of Toronto, Francis Leo.
Other new cardinals come from regions where the Catholic Church is growing, such as Asia and Africa. These include the archbishop of Tehran, Iran, Monsignor Dominique Joseph Mathieu, and the bishop of Bogor, Indonesia, Monsignor Paskalis Bruno Syukor, both of whom belong to the Franciscan religious order. Asia also gets two more cardinals in Monsignor Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, the archbishop of Tokyo, and Monsignor Pablo Virgilio Sinogco David, the bishop of Kalookan, Philippines. Africa is represented by two new cardinals: the archbishop of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Monsignor Jean-Pierre Kutwa, and the archbishop of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Monsignor Fridolin Ambongo Besungu.
The appointment of these new cardinals further cements Pope Francis’ mark on the College of Cardinals and reflects his commitment to diversity and inclusivity within the Catholic Church.
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