TheCable

Pope Francis has announced the selection of 21 new cardinals.

The pope unveiled the cardinals during his customary weekly appearance at St. Peter’s Square, Vatican City, on Sunday.

He said the installation ceremony of the cardinals will be held on September 30, 2023.

Among the new cardinals is 59-year-old Victor Manuel Fernández, archbishop from La Plata, Argentina, whom the pope recently appointed to lead the enforcement of doctrinal orthodoxy and oversee the processing of allegations of sexual abuse against clergy worldwide.

Archbishop Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla of Juba, South Sudan, Coadjutor Archbishop Protase Rugambwa of Tabora, Tanzania, and Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town, South Africa are the three Africans on the list.

Stephen Sau-yan Chow, a Hong Kong Bishop and the Vatican’s top official in the Middle East, and Monsignor Pierbattista Pizzaballa of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem were also appointed.

The pope said the appointment of cardinals from across the globe “expresses the universality of the Church that continues to announce the merciful love of God to all men of the earth”.

The cardinals, who will serve as advisers to the pontiff on matters of teaching and administration, will also be critical in choosing a successor for the current pope upon resignation or death.

Here are the new cardinals:

Bishop Robert Prevost, Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops

Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, Prefect of the Dicastery for Eastern Churches

Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith

Archbishop Emil Tscherrig, Apostolic Nuncio to Italy

Archbishop Christoph Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States

Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Patriarch of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem

Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town, South Africa

Archbishop Ángel Sixto Rossi S.J. of Córdoba, Argentina

Archbishop Luis Rueda Aparicio of Bogotá, Colombia

Archbishop Grzegorz Ryś of Łódź, Poland

Archbishop Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla of Juba, South Sudan

Archbishop Jose Cobo Cano of Madrid, Spain

Coadjutor Archbishop Protase Rugambwa of Tabora, Tanzania

Bishop Sebastian Francs of Penang, Malaysia

Bishop Stephen Chow of Hong Kong

Bishop François-Xavier Bustillo of Ajaccio, France

Auxiliary Bishop Américo Manuel Alves Aguiar of Lisbon, Portugal

Father Ángel Fernandez Artime, Major Rector of the Salesians

Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, apostolic nuncio emeritus

Archbishop Diego Padron Sanchez, archbishop emeritus of Cumaná, Italy

Father Luis Pascual, confessor in the shrine of Our Lady Pompei in Buenos Aires

In May 2022, TheCable reported that the pope announced 21 cardinals including Peter Okpaleke, a Nigerian Catholic bishop of Ekwulobia, Anambra state.