Pope Appoints 20 New Cardinals

THE Pope has appointed 20 new cardinals, boosting the number of men from developing countries in the group that will elect his successor.

   The new cardinals include the first prelates from Myanmar, Tonga and Ethiopia.

   Fifteen are under 80, making them eligible to vote for the next pope.

   For the first time, there are more non-European than European cardinals in the electoral body as the Pope seeks to reflect the Church globally.

   With the appointments, made during a colourful celebration at the Vatican, the Pope has underlined his determination to change the balance of power in the Church and make it more representative, says the BBC.

  When he announced the appointments in January, the Pope said the naming of cardinals from 14 countries from every continent in the world showed the Vatican’s “inseparable link” with Catholics around the world.

   One of the new cardinals, Soane Patita Paini Mafia, hails from Tonga, a Pacific island where a tiny Catholic community of some 17,000 is threatened with losing its home because of climate change.

   Another, Cardinal Francesco Montenegro, presides over an archdiocese that includes Lampedusa, the first European landfall for tens of thousands of migrants crossing the Mediterranean.

   Also notable among the new appointments is Cardinal Jose Luis Lacunza Maestrojuanan from Panama, who has campaigned to protect indigenous peoples.

   The latest members of the College of Cardinals include five retired bishops who are over 80 and so cannot take part in a papal election.

   It is the second time Pope Francis has announced the appointment of new cardinals from a wide variety of countries.