consistory

Pope Francis announced he will create 21 new cardinals Aug. 27, including 68-year-old Bishop Robert W. McElroy of San Diego, California.

One by one 11 senior churchmen, including two U.S. citizens — Cardinals Wilton D. Gregory of Washington and Silvano M. Tomasi, a former Vatican diplomat — knelt before Pope Francis to receive their red hats, a cardinal’s ring and a scroll formally declaring their new status and assigning them a “titular” church in Rome.

Despite quickly shifting travel restrictions in place during the global pandemic, the majority of cardinals-designate were planning to attend the Vatican ceremony to receive their red hats and cardinal’s rings.

On Oct. 5, a consistory led by Pope Francis for the creation of 13 new cardinals was held in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.

After the consistory to create new cardinals in early October, Pope Francis will have chosen more than half of the men who will enter the Sistine Chapel to elect his successor.

Pope Francis announced he will create 13 new cardinals Oct. 5, choosing prelates from 13 different nations as a sign of “the missionary vocation of the church that continues to proclaim the merciful love of God to all men and women of the earth.”

Pope Francis will preside over a consistory to approve several canonizations, the Vatican announced.

The Catholic Church’s 17 new cardinals must dedicate their lives to being ministers of forgiveness and reconciliation in a world — and sometimes a church — often marked by hostility and division, Pope Francis said.