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Pope Francis in Rome: The new cardinals are to be appointed at the end of August
Photo: Vatican Media / ZUMA Wire / IMAGO
The number of cardinals in the Catholic Church is set to increase – Pope Francis announced in Rome that he would appoint new cardinals.
At the end of August, another 21 clergymen are to join the 208 so far.
The head of the Catholic Church announced the names to the faithful in St. Peter's Square after the Regina Coeli prayer.
16 of these new cardinals, under the age of 80, are likely to elect the next pope in a conclave.
There is no German-speaking priest or bishop in the group.
The consistory – that is, the assembly of cardinals – to accept the new members is to take place in Rome on August 27th.
The new 16 cardinals with voting rights in the conclave include Arthur Roche of Britain and Lazzaro You Heung-sik of South Korea, both prefects of two congregations in the Roman Curia.
The Spaniard Fernando Vergez Alzaga is also planned as head of the Vatican's state administration.
There is also the Archbishop of Marseille, Jean-Marc Aveline, and other clergymen from Europe, Africa, Asia, North and South America.
A pope has a free hand in appointing cardinals, and any ordained priest can be admitted to the college of cardinals.
Through the composition of that college, a pontifex can influence the next conclave and thus the choice of his successor, because a pope must be found from among the cardinals.
117 cardinals eligible to vote
With the death of longtime Cardinal Dean Angelo Sodano on Friday, there are currently 208 living cardinals.
As the Vatican announced, the second most important man in the Holy See for many years died in Rome on Friday at the age of 94.
Of the 208 living cardinals, however, only 117 are currently eligible to vote for the conclave.
67 of them were "created" by Francis, i.e. created, as it is called in church language.
There are currently ten cardinals from Germany, Austria and Switzerland;
The Germans Gerhard Ludwig Müller, Reinhard Marx and Rainer Maria Woelki, the Austrian Christoph Schönborn and the Swiss Kurt Koch would currently be eligible to vote in the conclave.
sep/dpa/AFP