Analysis: What Pope Francis’ new cardinals reveal about future conclave
Cardinals follow the ceremony during the ordinary public consistory for the creation of new cardinals at St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, Dec. 7, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA Rome Newsroom, Dec 8, 2024 / 18:36 pm (CNA). A record 140 cardinals may attend an eventual conclave in the Sistine Chapel. There would have been 141, but Cardinal Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot’s death on Nov. 25 reduced the number by one. In all, the Sacred College of Cardinals now has 255 members.The number of cardinal electors is the most critical data point to emerge from this weekend’s consistory. Of the 140 cardinal electors, 110 have been created by Pope Francis, 24 by Pope Benedict XVI, and six by St. John Paul II. At the end of the year, on Dec. 24, Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias, created cardinal by Benedict XVI in 2007, will reach 80 years of age and will, therefore, no longer be able to participate in a conclave.Another 14 cardinals will turn 80 in 2025. They are Cardinals Christoph Schöenborn, Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, Celestino Aós Braco, George Alencherry, Carlos Osoro Sierra, Robert Sarah, Stanisław Ryłko, Joseph Coutts, Vinko Puljić, Antonio Cañizares Llovera, Vincent Nichols, Jean-Pierre Kutwa, Nakellentuba Ouédraogo, and Timothy Radcliffe.Two of these were created by St. John Paul II, four by Benedict XVI, and eight by Pope Francis.However, it will be necessary to wait until May 2026 to return to the figure of 120 cardinal electors established by St. Paul VI and never abrogated.Pope Francis’ choicesFor the first time, there is now a cardinal in Iran, Archbishop Dominique Matthieu of Tehran-Ispahan, a Belgian missionary. It is also the first time there is a cardinal in Serbia, with Archbishop Ladislav Nemet of Belgrade receiving the red hat.Pope Francis has created cardinals from 72 different nations, and 24 of those nations have never had a cardinal before.Pope Francis has also shown that he does not choose based on the traditional seats of cardinals. For example, there are no cardinals to lead the two historic European patriarchates of Lisbon and Venice, nor in Milan, Florence, or Paris.There are exceptions, however. In this consistory, Pope Francis created cardinals in the archbishops of Turin and Naples in Italy; Lima, Peru; Santiago de Chile; Toronto; and the vicar general of the Diocese of Rome.Naples entered the list somewhat surprisingly, with the pope’s decision communicated in a statement from the Holy See Press Office on Nov. 4. Archbishop Domenico Battaglia of Naples replaced Bishop Paskalis Bruno Syukur of Bogor, Indonesia, who had asked Pope Francis to remove him from the list of new cardinals for unspecified personal reasons.The geographical balance of the College of CardinalsThe pope did not decide to replace a possible Indonesian cardinal with another cardinal from Asia.Meanwhile, the percentage of Italian cardinals in the College of Cardinals is the lowest ever, at least in modern times. Only during the so-called Avignon Captivity (1309–1377) was the percentage of Italian cardinals so low.However, to Italy’s 17 must be added Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, who is included in the quota of Asia, and Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, ordinary of Mongolia, also in Asia.Cardinal Angelo Becciu is instead considered a non-elector, but this status is still being determined. Pope Francis had asked him to renounce his prerogatives as a cardinal but has continued to invite him to consistories and Masses, where he has always sat among the cardinals. If a decision is not made before then, the College of Cardinals, with a majority vote, will decide whether or not Becciu will be admitted to the conclave.Regional distributionThe balance crucially stays the same. Europe has received three more cardinals, in addition to the four Italians with the right to vote: Nemet of Belgrade, 58; Archbishop Rolandas Makrickas, 52, coadjutor archpriest of the papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore since March; and Dominican Father Timothy Radcliffe, 79. Europe now has 55 cardinals.Latin America has received five new cardinals. The purple has arrived in dioceses that have received it several times — with Archbishop Carlos Gustavo Castillo Mattasoglio, 74, in Lima, Peru, and Archbishop Fernando N. Chomali Garib, 67, in Santiago de Chile — or only once — with Archbishop Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera, 69, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and Archbishop Jaime Spengler, 64, who is also president of CELAM (the Episcopal Conference of Latin America), in Porto Alegre, Brazil.The red birretta to Archbishop Vicente Bokalic Iglic, 72, of Santiago del Estero, Argentina, is also a first. However, in this case, the ground had already been prepared by the recent decision to move the title of primate of Argentina from Buenos Aires to this seat. Overall, Latin America now has 24 cardinals (including Braco, emeritus of Santiago de Chile, born in Spain).Asia has received four new cardinals. The pope gave the red hat to Archbishop
Tomas Kauer 
Cardinals follow the ceremony during the ordinary public consistory for the creation of new cardinals at St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, Dec. 7, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Rome Newsroom, Dec 8, 2024 / 18:36 pm (CNA).
A record 140 cardinals may attend an eventual conclave in the Sistine Chapel. There would have been 141, but Cardinal Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot’s death on Nov. 25 reduced the number by one. In all, the Sacred College of Cardinals now has 255 members.The number of cardinal electors is the most critical data point to emerge from this weekend’s consistory. Of the 140 cardinal electors, 110 have been created by Pope Francis, 24 by Pope Benedict XVI, and six by St. John Paul II. At the end of the year, on Dec. 24, Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias, created cardinal by Benedict XVI in 2007, will reach 80 years of age and will, therefore, no longer be able to participate in a conclave.Another 14 cardinals will turn 80 in 2025. They are Cardinals Christoph Schöenborn, Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, Celestino Aós Braco, George Alencherry, Carlos Osoro Sierra, Robert Sarah, Stanisław Ryłko, Joseph Coutts, Vinko Puljić, Antonio Cañizares Llovera, Vincent Nichols, Jean-Pierre Kutwa, Nakellentuba Ouédraogo, and Timothy Radcliffe.Two of these were created by St. John Paul II, four by Benedict XVI, and eight by Pope Francis.However, it will be necessary to wait until May 2026 to return to the figure of 120 cardinal electors established by St. Paul VI and never abrogated.Pope Francis’ choicesFor the first time, there is now a cardinal in Iran, Archbishop Dominique Matthieu of Tehran-Ispahan, a Belgian missionary. It is also the first time there is a cardinal in Serbia, with Archbishop Ladislav Nemet of Belgrade receiving the red hat.Pope Francis has created cardinals from 72 different nations, and 24 of those nations have never had a cardinal before.Pope Francis has also shown that he does not choose based on the traditional seats of cardinals. For example, there are no cardinals to lead the two historic European patriarchates of Lisbon and Venice, nor in Milan, Florence, or Paris.There are exceptions, however. In this consistory, Pope Francis created cardinals in the archbishops of Turin and Naples in Italy; Lima, Peru; Santiago de Chile; Toronto; and the vicar general of the Diocese of Rome.Naples entered the list somewhat surprisingly, with the pope’s decision communicated in a statement from the Holy See Press Office on Nov. 4. Archbishop Domenico Battaglia of Naples replaced Bishop Paskalis Bruno Syukur of Bogor, Indonesia, who had asked Pope Francis to remove him from the list of new cardinals for unspecified personal reasons.The geographical balance of the College of CardinalsThe pope did not decide to replace a possible Indonesian cardinal with another cardinal from Asia.Meanwhile, the percentage of Italian cardinals in the College of Cardinals is the lowest ever, at least in modern times. Only during the so-called Avignon Captivity (1309–1377) was the percentage of Italian cardinals so low.However, to Italy’s 17 must be added Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, who is included in the quota of Asia, and Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, ordinary of Mongolia, also in Asia.Cardinal Angelo Becciu is instead considered a non-elector, but this status is still being determined. Pope Francis had asked him to renounce his prerogatives as a cardinal but has continued to invite him to consistories and Masses, where he has always sat among the cardinals. If a decision is not made before then, the College of Cardinals, with a majority vote, will decide whether or not Becciu will be admitted to the conclave.Regional distributionThe balance crucially stays the same. Europe has received three more cardinals, in addition to the four Italians with the right to vote: Nemet of Belgrade, 58; Archbishop Rolandas Makrickas, 52, coadjutor archpriest of the papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore since March; and Dominican Father Timothy Radcliffe, 79. Europe now has 55 cardinals.Latin America has received five new cardinals. The purple has arrived in dioceses that have received it several times — with Archbishop Carlos Gustavo Castillo Mattasoglio, 74, in Lima, Peru, and Archbishop Fernando N. Chomali Garib, 67, in Santiago de Chile — or only once — with Archbishop Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera, 69, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and Archbishop Jaime Spengler, 64, who is also president of CELAM (the Episcopal Conference of Latin America), in Porto Alegre, Brazil.The red birretta to Archbishop Vicente Bokalic Iglic, 72, of Santiago del Estero, Argentina, is also a first. However, in this case, the ground had already been prepared by the recent decision to move the title of primate of Argentina from Buenos Aires to this seat. Overall, Latin America now has 24 cardinals (including Braco, emeritus of Santiago de Chile, born in Spain).Asia has received four new cardinals. The pope gave the red hat to Archbishop
