Cardinals created by Francis
Pope Francis (r. 2013–present) has created cardinals at ten consistories held at roughly annual intervals beginning in 2014, most recently on 7 December 2024.
[a] His appointments include the first Scandinavian since the Reformation, the first from Goa since an episcopal see was established there in 1533, the first from Latin America's indigenous peoples, the first from India's Dalit class, and the first active head of a religious congregation.
Francis has shifted membership in the College of Cardinals away from Europe, making it all but certain that the conclave to choose his successor will be the first where Europeans do not account for a majority of electors.
[h] In the June 2018 consistory, Francis again increased the number of cardinal electors to 125,[2] and the count only fell to 120 after ten months.
[27] John L. Allen said the choices made the February meeting the "Consistory of the Periphery", noting the "broad global distribution" of the new cardinals.
[28] Of the nomination of the archbishop of Perugia rather than those of more prestigious dioceses like Turin and Venice, La Stampa said: "Any career planners in the Church who had the path from the seminary to the cardinalship set out very clearly in their minds will have to think again.
"[29] Pope Francis sent a letter to each cardinal-designate that said:[30] The cardinalship does not imply promotion; it is neither an honour nor a decoration; it is simply a service that requires you to broaden your gaze and open your hearts....
He doffed his zucchetto when Pope Francis came down the nave of St. Peter's Basilica to greet him,[31][32] and took a seat in a row with several cardinals using a chair the same as theirs.
Federico Lombardi said the list "confirms that the pope doesn't feel tied to the traditional 'cardinal sees'", like Turin and Venice, "which reflected historic reasons in various countries.
"[38] The selections continued the pattern Pope Francis established the previous year, showing a "preference for diocesan bishops" and for the southern hemisphere.
Only do so in a way that in these celebrations there does not creep in a spirit of worldliness that intoxicates more than grappa on an empty stomach, disorienting and separating one from the cross of Christ.
The only new cardinal unable to attend was Archbishop José de Jesús Pimiento Rodríguez, whose health prevented him from traveling to Rome.
I clearly feel that they have something to teach us.All the new cardinals attended the consistory on 19 November except Lesotho Bishop Khoarai, who was 87 and unable to travel.
[56][9] According to the National Catholic Reporter, Gregorio Rosa Chávez is "believed to be the first auxiliary bishop to have been made a cardinal in at least the modern era.
[62] Those named were an international group, as is typical of Francis, including prelates from Pakistan, Japan, and Madagascar, countries unrepresented in the College since 1994, 2007, and 2010, respectively.
[o] At the consistory, Sako addressed Francis on behalf of the new cardinals, thanking him for the concern he has shown for the small, persecuted Catholic population of the Middle East.
[70] On 1 September 2019, Pope Francis announced that he would hold a consistory to create thirteen new cardinals on 5 October, including ten who are young enough to participate in a papal conclave.
[q] The individuals named represent the international character of the Church, including prelates from Guatemala and Indonesia, as well as those with expertise on the care of migrants and relations with Islam; those from Luxembourg and Morocco were the first cardinals from those countries.
The appointments include the first cardinals from East Timor,[97] Mongolia,[98] Paraguay,[99] and Singapore,[100] the first ordinary of Goa since its erection in the 16th century,[101] the first from India's Dalit caste.
[citation needed] In June, Pope Francis granted the request of one of those he had named, Lucas Van Looy, Bishop emeritus of Ghent, that he not be made a cardinal.
Van Looy cited renewed criticism of his handling of charges of sexual abuse by priests when he was Bishop of Ghent.
[106] The consistory coincides with a meeting of the entire College of Cardinals previously scheduled for 29–30 August to consider the new apostolic constitution, Praedicate evangelium, which took effect on 5 June.
Among the new electors, including the first cardinal from South Sudan, there are three Curial officials, two papal nuncios, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, both a coadjutor archbishop and an auxiliary bishop, and the superior of the Salesians.
[113] Aguiar's appointment while an auxiliary of Lisbon was called "a genuine novelty"[116] and some speculated Francis would move him to the Roman Curia shortly.
[121][122] He received his cardinal's regalia on 11 October 2023 from Archbishop Mirosław Adamczyk, Apostolic Nuncio to Argentina, at a ceremony in the cathedral of Buenos Aires.
[127] Francis said: "Their provenance expresses the universality of the church, which continues to announce the merciful love of God to all men on earth."
In a letter to those he named, Francis welcomed them to "the Roman clergy" and counseled them "to love more expansively", pray for discernment, and stay close to realities that "demand from you great compassion and mercy".
[130] Eleven were members of religious orders: three (originally four) Franciscans, two Dominicans, two Divine Word Missionaries, one Redemptorist, one Scalabrinian, and one Vincentian.
[128] On 22 October 2024, the Holy See Press Office announced that Pope Francis was accepting the request of Paskalis Bruno Syukur, Bishop of Bogor in Indonesia, to continue in his current mission and not be made a cardinal.
In place of a biretta, Bychok received a black koukoulion with red piping[135] and Koovakad a shash similar to the one given to Cardinal Sako in 2018.
