Pope Francis has announced the appointment of 13 new cardinals on Sunday, including archbishops from the U.S., Rwanda and the Philippines.
The pontiff who made this known during his Sunday Angelus message said the appointments will be formalised in a consistory, a meeting of cardinals, on Nov. 28.
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.
Also in the list are 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.
