International Pope Francis announces 21 new cardinals

Pope Francis wants to make 21 clergymen cardinals at the beginning of December. The appointment was announced by the head of around 1.4 billion Catholics after the Angelus prayer in front of the faithful in Rome.

This considerably expands the College of Cardinals that will one day elect Francis' successor. Once again, Germans are not among those chosen. The so-called consistory is planned for December 8 in Rome.

20 of the 21 churchmen would be eligible to vote in a possible conclave, i.e. a papal election. All cardinals under the age of 80 are allowed to vote in papal elections. The vast majority of the cardinals currently eligible to vote were appointed by the pontiff during his eleven-year term of office. After the consistory, there will be even more. With this appointment, Francis can exert great influence on the choice of his successor.

As in previous years, Francis has now opted more strongly for bishops and archbishops from non-European countries, such as Indonesia, Japan, Iran and Algeria. The first Latin American pope will also appoint churchmen from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Peru at the consistory in December.