Pope Francis to Create 17 New Cardinals at November Consistory

By Edward Pentin
National Catholic Register
October 9, 2016

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/pope-francis-to-create-17-new-cardinals-at-november-consistory

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York is greeted by his brother cardinals after being elevated to the College of Cardinals inside St. Peter's Basilica, Feb. 18, 2012.

At the end of today’s Angelus, Pope Francis announced he will hold a consistory on Nov. 19 to create 17 new cardinals.

Among those to be elevated to the College of Cardinals include three Americans: Archbishop Blase Cupich of Chicago, Bishop Kevin Joseph Farrell, prefect of the new dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, and Archbishop Joseph William Tobin of Indianapolis.

Other recipients of the red hat will be the current apostolic nuncio to Syria, Italian Archbishop Mario Zenari, and nine archbishops and bishops from the southern hemisphere. Thirteen will be eligible to vote in the next conclave (under 80 years of age), taking the total number of cardinal electors to 121. 

At 49, Cardinal-elect Archbishop Dieudonné Nzapalainga of Bangui, Central African Republic, will become the youngest member of the College of Cardinals.  

Pope Francis said the consistory, which will take place on the eve of the closing of the Holy Door of Mercy and comprise cardinals from 11 nations and five continents, will show “the universality of the Church which proclaims and bears witness to the Good News of God's Mercy in every corner of the earth.”  

Nov. 20 is the Solemnity of Christ the King and the conclusion of the Holy Year of Mercy, on which the Pope will celebrate a Mass with the new cardinals in St. Peter’s basilica.

The new Princes of the Church, as read out by Pope Francis, are:

Archbishop Mario Zenari, currently Apostolic Nuncio “in the beloved and battered Syria” (Italy)

Archbishop Dieudonné Nzapalainga, C.S.Sp. of Bangui (Central African Republic)

Archbishop Carlos Osoro Sierra of Madrid (Spain)

Archbishop Sérgio da Rocha of Brasilia (Brazil)

Archbishop Blase J. Cupich of Chicago (U.S.A.)

Archbishop Patrick D'Rozario, C.S.C. of Dhaka (Bangladesh)

Archbishop Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo of Mérida (Venezuela)

Archbishop Jozef De Kesel of Mechelen-Brussels (Belgium)

Archbishop Maurice Piat of Port-Louis (Mauritius)

Bishop Kevin Joseph Farrell, prefect of the new dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life (U.S.A.)

Archbishop Carlos Aguiar Retes of Tlalnepantla (Mexico)

Archbishop John Ribat, M.S.C. of Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea)

Archbishop Joseph William Tobin, C.S.S.R. of Indianapolis (U.S.A.).

The Pope has also elevated to the College of Cardinals four others who have “distinguished themselves in their pastoral service” and offered “a clear Christian witness.”

They are:

Mons. Anthony Soter Fernandez, Archbishop Emeritus of Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)

Mons. Renato Corti, Archbishop Emeritus of Novara (Italy)

Mons. Sebastian Koto Khoarai, O.M.I, Bishop Emeritus of Mohale's Hoek (Lesotho)

Father Ernest Simoni, priest of the archdiocese of Shkodrë-Pult (Shkodra - Albania).

Notable eligible prelates omitted at the upcoming consistory include those from a number of sees that have traditionally been cardinalatial. In the U.S. these include Los Angeles and Philadelphia, headed respectively by Archbishops Jose Gomez and Charles Chaput. Instead, Pope Francis has chosen prelates whose views are closer to his, and in particular those who have been publicly and clearly supportive of his interpretation of his post-synodal apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia. 

In Italy, the patriarchate of Venice and the archdioceses of Turin and Bologna are among traditional cardinalatial sees that continue to be without a cardinal, part of the reason being the Pope's preference to choose new cardinals from the southern hemisphere where the faith is growing fastest, and those serving on the peripheries.

College of Cardinals Statistics (via Holy See Press Office)

Cardinals to be created at the consistory of Nov. 19, 2016:

17 cardinals – 13 electors – 4 non-electors

5 Europe, 4 North America, 2 Latin America, 3 Africa, 
2 Asia
, 1 Oceania.

5 are from nations that until now had no cardinals, of which three them now have cardinal electors (Central African Rep., Bangladesh, and Papua New Guinea) and 2 with cardinal non-electors (Malaysia and Lesotho).

The College of Cardinals as of Nov. 19: 

This takes into account that the following 3 cardinals will have 80th birthdays in the coming weeks: 
Ortega y Alamino (Cuba) Oct. 18; López Rodríguez (Dominican Rep.) Oct. 31, and Antonelli (Italy) Nov. 18. 

NB: Cardinal Keith Patrich O'Brien is considered a non-elector although he doesn't turn 80 until March 17, 2018. 

Composition of Geographical Area

Summary table of continents

In the College of Cardinals, 5 continents with 79 countries are represented, 59 of which have cardinal electors.

On Nov. 28, Cardinal Sarr (Senegal) turns 80, at which time the cardinal electors will number 120 from 58 countries.