Pope Francis named 21 new cardinals on Sunday, including prelates from Jerusalem and Hong Kong, where Catholics are a minority, as he continues to leave his imprint on the body of churchmen who will choose his successor.
The pope announced his selections during his weekly public appearance in St. Peter’s Square, saying the ceremony to formally install the churchmen as cardinals will take place on Sept. 30.
Among those named are several prelates who hold or are about to assume major Vatican positions, including Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernandez of La Plata, Argentina, whom the pope recently appointed to head the Holy See’s powerful office for ensuring doctrinal orthodoxy and overseeing the processing of allegations of sexual abuse.
The new cardinals also include Hong Kong Bishop Stephen Sau-yan Chow and the Vatican’s top official in the Middle East, Monsignor Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.
Those two churchmen guide flocks in geopolitical areas of keen concern to the Vatican.
On Sunday, in remarks preceding his reading out of the list of new cardinals, Pope Francis expressed hope that Israeli and Palestinian authorities would take up “direct dialogue” to end the “spiral of violence” — a reference to recent deadly clashes.
For decades, the Vatican and China have experienced tensions alternating with improvement of relations over the Communist-led nation’s insistence that it has the right to appoint bishops and the jailing of priests who professed loyalty to the pope.
Cardinals serve as advisers to the pontiff on matters of teaching and administration, including the Vatican’s scandal-plagued finances. But their most crucial duty is gathering in a secret conclave to elect the next pontiff. Francis has named numerous batches of new cardinals in his 10-year papacy. That means, increasingly, the men who will vote for whoever succeeds him, in the event of his resignation or death, are churchmen supportive of his values, priorities and perspectives.
Other churchmen chosen to receive the cardinal red include those from Cape Town, South Africa; Juba, South Sudan, which the pope visited earlier this year on a pilgrimage; Penang, Malaysia; and Lodz, Poland.
Eighteen of the 21 new cardinals are younger than 80 and would be eligible to vote in a conclave.
