Pope Francis announced his picks during his customary weekly appearance to the public in St. Peter’s Square, on Sunday (Jul. 09)
The clergymen are set to receive the cardinal's red three-cornered biretta hat from the Pope during a consistory inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican on September 30.
Three of the 21 new cardinals serve in Africa, a continent where the Church has experience growth in recent decades.
They are father Stephen Brislin, 66, archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa; father Protase Rugambwa, 63, co-adjutor archbishop of Tabora, Tanzania; and father Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla, 59, archbishop of Juba, South Sudan, which the pope visited earlier this year.
In announcing their names, Francis said the appointment of cardinals from across the globe "expresses the universality of the Church that continues to announce the merciful love of God to all men of the Earth."
Cardinals serve as advisers to the pontiff on matters of teaching and administration, including the Vatican's scandal-plagued finances.
One of their most crucial duties is gathering in a secret conclave to elect the next pontiff.
The clergymen are set to receive the cardinal's red three-cornered biretta hat from the Pope during a consistory inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican on September 30.
Three of the 21 new cardinals serve in Africa, a continent where the Church has experience growth in recent decades.
They are father Stephen Brislin, 66, archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa; father Protase Rugambwa, 63, co-adjutor archbishop of Tabora, Tanzania; and father Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla, 59, archbishop of Juba, South Sudan, which the pope visited earlier this year.
In announcing their names, Francis said the appointment of cardinals from across the globe "expresses the universality of the Church that continues to announce the merciful love of God to all men of the Earth."
Cardinals serve as advisers to the pontiff on matters of teaching and administration, including the Vatican's scandal-plagued finances.
One of their most crucial duties is gathering in a secret conclave to elect the next pontiff.