Pope Francis names new cardinals from around the globe, none from U.S.

"The new nominations confirm that the pope is not bound to the traditions of the 'cardinalatial sees,'" says Vatican spokesman.

Cardinals listen during Pope Francis' grandiose inauguration Mass on Tuesday (March 19) at St. Peter's Square in the Vatican. RNS photo by Andrea Sabbadini
Pope Francis named  20 new cardinals Sunday (Jan.4 ) including 15 eligible to elect his successor. RNS photo by Andrea Sabbadini.

Pope Francis named 20 new cardinals Sunday (Jan.4 ) including 15 eligible to elect his successor. RNS photo by Andrea Sabbadini.

Pope Francis nominated 15 new cardinals Sunday from 14 different nations but leaving several leading U.S. archbishops off the list.

Speaking to a crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the pontiff named each cardinal, noting they came from every continent and “show the indelible tie with the church of Rome to churches in the world.”  At least three are from nations that have never had a church member in the role.


Five of the cardinals come from Europe, three from Asia, three from Latin America and two each from Africa and Oceania. 

The nations of Cape Verde, Tonga and Myanmar received their first cardinals ever, Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi said in a statement.

The cardinals — whose most important task is to elect the next pope when needed — will be officially installed to their new posts on Feb. 14.

The fact that many of the new cardinals are from developing countries is in line with Francis’ attempts to reform the church and his belief that it should do more to help the poor.

This is the second group of cardinal named by Francis and the second time none are from the United States. The the U.S. currently has 18 living cardinals, 11 of whom are eligible to vote.

       READ: U.S. contenders overlooked

Francis also announced a meeting with all cardinals to be held Feb. 12-13 to discuss possible reforms of the Roman Curia, the church’s main bureaucracy.


Since his papacy began in March 2013, Francis has focused on rooting out problems within the Curia, going so far last month as to outline a “catalog of illnesses” plaguing the church’s central administration, including “spiritual Alzheimer’s” and gossipy cliques.

Among the new cardinals, only one is from the Roman Curia, Lombardi said, adding “Roman” cardinals continue to make up about a quarter of the electors — those under the age of 80 and eligible to vote for a new pope.

“The new nominations confirm that the pope is not bound to the traditions of the ‘cardinalatial sees’ — which were motivated by historical reasons in different countries,” Lombardi said. “Instead, we have several nominations of archbishops and bishops of sees that in the past have not had a cardinal.”

The youngest of the new cardinals is Monsignor Soane Patita Paini Mafi, bishop of Tonga, who was born in 1961.

Francis also announced five retired archbishops and bishops “distinguished for their pastoral charity in the service of the Holy See and of the Church” would be named cardinals. However, because they are over the age of 80, those nominees will not be eligible to vote for a new pope.

LIST OF NEW CARDINALS:

1. Monsignor, Dominique Mamberti, prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature, Vatican City


2. Monsignor Manuel Jose Macario do Nascimento Clemente, patriarch of Lisbon, Portugal

3. Monsignor Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel, C.M., archbishop of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

4. Monsignor John Atcherley Dew, archbishop of Wellington, New Zealand

5. Monsignor Edoardo Menichelli, archbishop of Ancona-Osimo, Italy

6. Mons. Pierre Nguyen Van Nhon, archbishop of Hanoi, Vietnam

7. Monsignor Alberto Suarez Inda, Archbishop of Morelia, Mexico

8. Monsignor Charles Maung Bo, S.D.B., archbishop of Yangon, Myanmar

9 . Monsignor Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij, archbishop of Bangkok, Thailand

10. Monsignor Francesco Montenegro, archbishop of Agrigento, Sicily, Italy

11. Monsignor Daniel Fernando Sturla Berhouet, S.D.B., archbishop of Montevideo, Uruguay

12. Monsignor. Ricardo Blazquez Perez, archbishop of Valladolid, Spain

13. Monsignor Jose Luis Lacunza Maestrojuan, O.A.R., bishop of David, Panama

14. Monsignor Arlindo Gomes Furtado, bishop of Santiago de Cabo Verde, Archipelago of Cape Verde

15. Monsignor Soane Patita Paini Mafi, bishop of Tonga, Tonga Islands

The following churchmen, 80 or older and thus ineligible to vote for the next pope, will also become cardinals:

1. Monsignor Jose de Jesus Pimiento Rodriguez, emeritus archbishop of Manizales, Colombia

2. Monsignor Luigi De Magistris, emeritus Vatican official

3. Monsignor Karl-Joseph Rauber, apostolic nuncio

4. Monsignor Luis Hector Villalba, emeritus archbishop of Tucuman, Argentina

5. Monsignor Julio Duarte Langa, emeritus archbishop of Xai-Xai, Mozambique

Contributing: The Associated Press

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