VATICAN CITY
Times of Malta
Pope Francis said today he will elevate 19 prelates from 12 nations to the rank of cardinal on February 22, his first appointments to the elite group of men who can one day elect his successor.
Sixteen of the new cardinals are under 80 and will have the right to vote to choose a successor. Three will be made cardinal emeritus, without voting rights, for their service to the church.
The following will be cardinals with voting rights:
1. Archbishop Pietro Parolin, Italian, Vatican Secretary of State.
2. Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, Italian, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops.
3. Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Muller, German, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
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