The Catholic Church will have 21 new cardinals. All will be electors except one. This was announced by the pope at the Angelus.
FRANCISCO
And now I am pleased to announce that next December 8 I will hold a consistory to appoint new cardinals. Their origin expresses the universality of the Church, which continues to proclaim God's merciful love to all people on earth.
Among the new cardinals are five from South America: specifically from Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina and Chile.
There is also the Archbishop of Tehran, the capital of Iran, and there is one from Ukraine, who will become the youngest in the College of Cardinals at 44 years of age.
Among the new cardinals there are several familiar faces in the Vatican: there is the Dominican Timothy Radcliffe, whose reflections were very present in the synod.
There is also Fabio Baggio, of the Vatican department in charge of attention to migrants.
George Jacob Koovakad, on the other hand, can often be seen at the pope's side on his international travels. He is the official of the Secretariat of State in charge of organizing them.
As of December 8, 141 cardinals will be eligible to vote in the event of a conclave. The rules establish a limit of 120. But in 2025, up to 13 of them will lose the right to vote because they will be 80 years old; therefore, if there is no other consistory, by the end of 2025 the number of electors will be 128.
