On Sunday, May 29th, 2022, Pope Francis announced that he would appoint 21 new cardinals in August, including a Ghanaian, the Bishop of the Wa Diocese, Most Rev. Bishop Richard Kuuia Baawobr.
Of the 21, 16 are cardinal electors under 80 years old and thus eligible to enter a conclave to elect their successor after his death or resignation.
After the Aug. 27 ceremony to officially install them, known as a consistory, Francis will have appointed about 83 of some 133 cardinal electors, increasing the possibility that his successor will be a man reflecting his position on key issues.
The new electors include Archbishop Giorgio Marengo, an Italian who is currently the Catholic Church’s administrator in Mongolia. The country borders with China, where the Vatican is trying to improve the situation for Catholics.
Other cardinal electors come from France, Nigeria, Brazil, India, the United States, East Timor, Italy, Ghana, Singapore, and Paraguay.
Once again, Francis passed over the archbishops of major cities that traditionally had cardinals before his election in 2013, preferring to appoint men in far-flung places where the Church is small or growing.
Below is the list of cardinals to be appointed:
• Artur Roche, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
• You Heung Sik, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy
• Fernando Vergez, President of the Governorate of SCV
• Jean-Marc Nol Aveline, Archbishop of Marseille
• Peter Ebere Okpaleke, Bishop of Ekwulobia (Nigeria)
• Leonardo Ullrich, Archbishop of Manaus
• Blacks António Sebastio Filipe do Rosário Ferro, Archbishop of Goa (India).
• Robert McElroy, Archbishop of San Diego,
• Virgilio do Carmo Da Silva, Archbishop of East Timor
• Oscar Cantoni, Bishop of Como
• Anthomy Poola, Archbishop of Hyderabad (India).
• Cesa Paulo Costa, Brasilia’s Archbishop
• Richard Kuuia Baawobr, Bishop of Wa (Ghana)
• William Goh, Archbishop of Singapore
• Martines Adalberto Flores, Archbishop of Asuncion.
• Giorgio Marengo, Apostolic Prefect of Ulan Bator
