Pope Francis has announced the appointment of 13 new cardinals, including archbishops from the U.S., Rwanda and the Philippines.
The appointments will be formalised in a consistory, a meeting of cardinals, on Nov. 28, the pontiff said during his yesterday Angelus message.
Nine of the appointees are under 80, and as long as they do not reach that age, they can take part in the next conclave, the council of cardinals that elects new popes.
The list includes Washington Archbishop Wilton Gregory, Kigali Archbishop Antoine Kambanda, representing one of the most Catholic countries in Africa, and Jose Fuerte Advincula, the Archbishop of Capiz in the Philippines, Asia’s most Catholic country.
The list also includes several Italians, including the head of the Vatican’s sainthood department, Bishop Marcello Semeraro, and the head of the Franciscan convent of Assisi, Fra Mauro Gambetti.