Pope Francis has announced that he will create 15 new cardinals from 13 countries who will have the right to vote in the next conclave, almost all are bishops of dioceses from all continents, and several are from  ‘the peripheries’ of the world.

He will also give the red hat to 5 retired archbishops and bishops who are over the age of 80 and are “distinguished for their pastoral charity in the service of the Holy See and of the Church”.

Significantly, abiding by past practice, he has not named any new cardinal-elector from a see where there is still a cardinal under the age of 80, and so he has not given the red hat to the archbishops of Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Madrid or Sydney.

At the time of the announcement there were 10 vacant places in the College of Cardinal Electors, which according to the norms set by Paul VI and approved by his successors should have a total of 120 members.  Pope Francis, however, has decided to exceed that number by 5, and so on the day he holds the Consistory, if my calculations are correct, there will be  a total of 125 cardinal electors.

57 of these electors will be European, among them 26 Italians. Africa will have 15,  Asia will have 14,  North America will have 18 (Canada 4, USA 11, Mexico 3),  Central and South America 19, Oceania 2

Only one of the new cardinals is from the Roman Curia and he is head of a major Vatican dicastery:  Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the head of the Vatican’s Supreme Tribunal  (the Apostolic Segnatura). Born in Morocco, he was incardinated into a French diocese.

Apart from him, four of other the new cardinal electors are from Europe  (including two Italians): Patriarch of Lisbon (Portugal) and the Archbishop of Valledolid (Spain). Perhaps the surprise is that he has named two more Italian cardinals, though not from dioceses where the bishop has traditionally received the red hat.

He has named two new cardinal electors from Africa: the archbishop of Addis Abeba (Ethiopia) and the archbishop of Santiago de Cabo Verde   (Archipelago of Cape Verde).

It came as no surprise that he has named 3 new Asian cardinals: one each from Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar.

He has named three from the Americas also: Mexico, Panama and Uruguay.  While from the Oceania he has decided to give red hat to the archbishop of Wellington, New Zealand, and to the bishop of Tonga.

He made the announcement shortly after midday on Sunday, January 4, and said he will hold the consistory to make the new cardinals on February 14.

Below, please find the complete text – from Vatican Radio - of the Pope’s announcement, with the names of all those set to be elevated to the Cardinalate:

“As was already announced, on February 14 next I will have the joy of holding a Concistory, during which I will name 15 new Cardinals who, coming from 13 countries from every continent, manifest the indissoluble links between the Church of Rome and the particular Churches present in the world.

“On Sunday February 15 I will preside at a solemn concelebration with the new Cardinals, while on February 12 and 13 I will hold a Consistory with all the Cardinals to reflect on the orientations and proposals for the reform of the Roman Curia.

“The new Cardinals are:

Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura

Archbishiop Manuel José Macario do Nascimento Clemente, Patriarch of Lisbon (Portugal)

Archbishop Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel, C.M., of Addis Abeba (Ethiopia)

Archbishop John Atcherley Dew of Wellington (New Zealand)

Archbishop Edoardo Menichelli of Ancona-Osimo (Italy)

Archbishop Pierre Nguyên Văn Nhon of Hà Nôi (Viêt Nam)

Archbishop Alberto Suàrez Inda of Morelia (Mexico)

Archbishop Charles Maung Bo, S.D.B., of Yangon (Myanmar)

Archbishop Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij of Bangkok (Thailand)

Archbishop Francesco Montenegro of Agrigento (Italy)

Archbishop Daniel Fernando Sturla Berhouet, S.D.B., of Montevideo (Uruguay)

Archbishop Ricardo Blázquez Pérez of Vallodolid (Spain)

Bishop José Luis Lacunza Maestrojuán, O.A.R., of David (Panamá)

Bishop Arlindo Gomes Furtado, of Santiago de Cabo Verde (Archipelago of Cape Verde)

Bishop Soane Patita Paini Mafi of Tonga (Island of Tonga)

“Additionally, I will join to the Members of the College of Cardinals five Archbishops and Bishops Emeriti who are distinguished for their pastoral charity in the service of the Holy See and of the Church. They represent so many Bishops who, with the same pastoral solicitude, have given witness of love for Christ and for the people of God in particular Churches, in the Rome Curia, and in the Diplomatic Service of the Holy See.

“They are:

José de Jesús Pimiento Rodriguez, Archbishop Emeritus of Manizales  (Colombia)

Archbishop Luigi De Magistris, Major Pro-Penitentiary Emeritus  (Italy)

Archbishop Karl-Joseph Rauber, Apostolic Nuncio  (Germany)

Luis Héctor Villaba, Archbishop Emeritus of Tucumán  (Argentina)

Júlio Duarte Langa, Bishop Emeritus of Xai-Xai   (Mozambique)

“Let us pray for the new Cardinals, that, renewed in their love for Christ, they might be witnesses of His Gospel in the City of Rome and in the world, and with their pastoral experience they might support me more intensely in my apostolic service.