Pope announces 17 new cardinals, including three from U.S.

Pope Francis will conclude the Year of Mercy by creating 17 new cardinals, including three from the United States: Archbishop Blase Cupich of Chicago; Bishop Kevin Farrell, prefect of the new Vatican office for laity, family and life; and Archbishop Joseph Tobin of Indianapolis.

Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich is pictured in a June 29 photo. (CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Catholic New World)
Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich is pictured in a June 29 photo. (CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Catholic New World)

Announcing the names of the new cardinals Oct. 9, Pope Francis said, “Their coming from 11 nations expresses the universality of the church that proclaims and witnesses the good news of God’s mercy in every corner of the earth.”

The new cardinals — 13 of whom are under the age of 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope and four over 80 being honored for their “clear Christian witness” — will be inducted into the College of Cardinals Nov. 19, the eve of the close of the Year of Mercy.

The next day, Nov. 20, they will join Pope Francis and other cardinals in celebrating the feast of Christ the King and closing the Year of Mercy, the pope said.

Shortly after the pope’s announcement, Archbishop Tobin tweeted: “I am shocked beyond words by the decision of the Holy Father. Please pray for me.”

The first of the new cardinals announced by the pope was Archbishop Mario Zenari, who, the pope explained, “will remain apostolic nuncio to the beloved and martyred Syria.”

Bishop Kevin J. Farrell, who headed the Dallas Diocese from 2007 until mid-August, talks with other bishops at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' building in Washington Sept. 13. The bishop is the new head of the Vatican's Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life. (CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn)
Bishop Kevin J. Farrell, who headed the Dallas Diocese from 2007 until mid-August, talks with other bishops at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ building in Washington Sept. 13. The bishop is the new head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life. (CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn)

The last of the cardinals he named was Albanian Father Ernest Simoni, an priest of the Archdiocese of Shkodre-Pult, who will turn 88 Oct. 18. He had moved Pope Francis to tears in 2014 when he spoke about his 30 years in prison or forced labor under Albania’s militant atheistic regime.

Ordained in 1956, he was arrested on Christmas Eve 1963 while celebrating Mass and was sentenced to death by firing squad. He was beaten, placed for three months in solitary confinement, and then tortured because he refused to denounce the church.

He was eventually freed, but later arrested again and sent to a prison camp, where he was forced to work in a mine for 18 years and then 10 more years in sewage canals.

In creating 13 cardinal-electors — those under the age of 80 — Pope Francis will exceed by one the 120 cardinal-elector limit set by Blessed Paul VI. The number of potential electors will return to 120 Nov. 28 when Cardinal Theodore-Adrien Sarr of Dakar, Senegal, celebrates his 80th birthday.

Archbishop Joseph Tobin of Indianapolis speaks last year during the spring general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in St. Louis. (CNS photo/Lisa Johnston, St. Louis Review)
Archbishop Joseph Tobin of Indianapolis speaks last year during the spring general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in St. Louis. (CNS photo/Lisa Johnston, St. Louis Review)

In addition to Cardinals-elect Cupich, Farrell, Tobin, Zenari and Simoni, the other new cardinals announced by Pope Francis Oct. 9 are:

• Dieudonne Nzapalainga of Bangui, Central African Republic.

• Archbishop Carlos Osoro Sierra of Madrid.

• Archbishop Sergio da Rocha of Brasilia, Brazil.

• Archbishop Patrick D’Rozario of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

• Archbishop Baltazar Porras Cardozo of Merida, Venezuela.

• Archbishop Jozef De Kesel of Malines-Brussels, Belgium.

• Archbishop Maurice Piat of Port-Louis, Mauritius.

• Archbishop Carlos Aguiar Retes of Tlalnepantla, Mexico.

• Archbishop John Ribat of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

• Retired Archbishop Anthony Soter Fernandez of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

• Retired Archbishop Renato Corti of Novara, Italy.

• Retired Bishop Sebastian Koto Khoarai of Mohale’s Hoek, Lesotho.

Author: Catholic News Service

Catholic News Service is the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ news and information service.

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