By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-10-06 23:57:39 | Updated at 2024-10-07 02:24:38
2 hours ago
Pope Francis on Sunday announced the creation of 21 new cardinals to represent the Catholic faith’s worldwide reach, who will be nominated at a council held on December 8.
Isao Kikuchi, the archbishop of Tokyo, 65, will become the seventh Japanese to be appointed a cardinal, following Manyo Maeda, who was named in 2018. Cardinals have the right to vote in the conclave to select a new pope.
Born in Iwate Prefecture, northeastern Japan, Kikuchi will be installed at a consistory, a ceremony in which new cardinals are formally appointed, on December 8.
Five of the new cardinals come from the Argentine pontiff’s native Latin America while countries including Indonesia, Serbia, the Philippines and India will also be represented, according to a list published by the Vatican.
“I am pleased to announce to you that on December 8 I will hold a consistory for the nomination of new cardinals,” the pope declared as he delivered his Angelus prayer on St Peter’s Square.
